Smart lighting saves County Durham manufacturer £80,000 a year

The company, which specialises in sustainable plastic packaging services for the food industry, expects the return on investment within just two years and is saving around £7,000 a month after appointing Washington-based firm Glowled to upgrade the unit’s entire lighting system.

Its previous lighting system provider had entered administration leaving PACCOR without control over its lights, which were operating at full brightness and no dimming function. The emergency lighting was also failing.

Paul Mordue, project manager at PACCOR said: “With no external support available we knew we needed to find a solution urgently. It was a big investment to change our entire lighting system, but Glowled forecasted we would reduce our annual energy costs by 76.5 percent. It was this evidence, along with reports demonstrating how it would help us meet our health and safety and legal obligations, that helped us decide to go ahead with the investment.”

The wirelessly networked and sensor-controlled LED lighting system has seen PACCOR’s annual energy consumption drop from 506,465 to 95,201 kilowatt hours and lighting costs fall from £86,099 per year to just £16,048.

Paul said: “Immediately after the new installation, we could tell the difference. The lighting is ten times better than before. LEDs produce a brighter light, which creates a safer, more comfortable environment and it’s had a huge impact on the morale and wellbeing of our staff.”

“We are big believers in sustainability and protecting the environment, and this project is an important step towards achieving this ambition. We were pleased to award the contract to Glowled, who were very professional and responsive throughout. The installation works did not impact our production and to minimise disruption on site they worked around our production and even over the Christmas holiday period.”

The upgrade also means the PACCOR team can monitor the energy usage and pinpoint where it is used most depending upon activity in the warehouse and production facilities.

Paul concluded: “Following the previous challenges with our lighting system, it was important we had the support of a local designer, supplier, and installer that we could trust, and the ongoing training and reporting tools they have given us is very helpful. This project has been a very positive experience from start to finish.”