Brighter classrooms, brighter minds
Providing the best learning environment for children and teachers may seem obvious, but many schools still have outdated, inefficient incandescent and fluorescent lighting. As well as emitting lower light levels in unfavourable yellow, such lights are always in need of replacement tubes and attract higher running costs. The opportunity to work in brighter classrooms, improve concentration levels, eliminate lighting maintenance, and deliver financial and environmental savings is significant. A fully-funded move to energy-efficient, brighter LED lighting can also reduce a school’s electricity bill by up to 60%.
LED lighting in schools
Energy efficiency
It’s not just our bodies that can work more efficiently as a result of LED lighting, our use of energy is more favourable too. With a lower demand for electricity, LED lighting can further save 75% on the energy consumed by the lighting. Using less energy is beneficial for school budgets, at a time when they’re being squeezed tighter than ever, but it’s also good news for the environment. Using less energy means producing less carbon, helping the nation in our mission to achieve net-zero by 2050. Carbon Brief, the environmental analysis body, believes the switch to efficient lighting has been one of the main drivers in our energy usage per capita dropping back to 1984 levels.
Reducing bills and risks
School lighting can be the first thing that’s switched on and the last thing that’s switched off. Some schools also run their external lighting 365 days a year. With an overall saving on electricity bills of up to 60%, switching to LED lighting makes a lot of sense.
In addition to the running cost reduction, maintenance bills are eliminated too. The expected lifespan of an inefficient, incandescent bulb can be as little as 750 hours, leading to multiple bulb changes each school year. Good quality LED lights have an expected lifetime in excess of 60,000 hours, which for a school can be over 30 years! No tube changes mean lower costs from caretakers or third-party maintenance teams, again impacting the overall spend by the school. Less working at height to change tubes brings lower safety risks too, so there’s no need for scaffolding or ladders that put users at risk, while also adding to the maintenance cost.
Primary schools can expect to save between £2,000 and £5,000 per year simply by switching to LED lighting – it all depends on the individual premises and requirements.
Funding new lighting
As with many projects for schools, the question of financing is often the first to be raised. Thanks to funding approved by the Department for Education, all maintained schools can access funding in the form of interest-free loans to implement energy efficiency measures. These loans are repaid using the energy savings, meaning no upfront or ongoing cost for schools.
Brighter learning for all
At Ineco Energy, our complete approach includes all aspects of project design and installation, including all the administration of the funding applications and we hold your hand through the entire process so there’s no drain on the school management team’s time or budgets.
Get in touch
If you’d like to learn more about how your school can benefit from brighter classrooms thanks to efficient LED lighting, please contact us.