LED meets Tradeteam's green agenda

Temperature control specialist 1COLD has included low maintenance and long-life LED lights as part of an installation for Tradeteam. 1COLD installed LED Eco Lights 100W LED High Bay lighting units within a new beer keg store as an alternative to standard 400W metal halide lights at the company's food and drink distribution centre in Enfield.

1COLD supplies products and services to create hygienic and temperature-controlled environments to the food and pharmaceutical industries. Its installation for Tradeteam - part of DHL - had to satisfy a 'green agenda' and the decision to replace outdated metal halide lighting with LED lighting was a key part of this process.

The new lamps, supplied by Surrey-based LED Eco Lights, typically consume around 75% less energy than a standard metal halide lamp. There's no reduction in lux levels and their lifespan will be around five to ten times that of the metal halide option - up to 50,000 hours. The fact that they can be simply installed into existing fittings - like replacing a bulb - increases their appeal. So significant is the difference that LED lights can make, that the initial investment can be recouped in as little as 12 months.

Providing internal lighting in potentially harsh environments where temperature has to be strictly controlled can be a challenge.

Pharmaceutical products or industrial components may have to be stored at temperatures as low as - 20°C. As well as the green credentials of LED lighting, it offers a better quality of light than traditional gas discharge lamps and is more reliable.

LED lamps have no starter or control gear, making them extremely lowmaintenance.

They also switch on instantly and provide excellent colour-rendering, unlike some ecofriendly alternatives.

"Choosing the LED Eco Lights option for this installation was not a difficult decision," says Simon Gumery, operations director at 1COLD. "Their green credentials were obviously important to fit both the client's philosophy and our own.

But it was clear from our research that they were more efficient and more reliable than the existing lamps, and providing better quality light." 1COLD is one of the fastestgrowing companies in its industry, specialising in the design, manufacture and installation of food processing and manufacturing facilities, hygienic and temperaturecontrolled environments, coldstores, chillstores and freezer stores.