Ballast Shop Case Study: LEDs for an Auto Repair Shop

Opportunity

At Finsanto, a family owned and operated auto repair shop, there is a focus on keeping their customers involved at every level of service. With high-quality parts and service, their fair pricing allows them to retain their customers year after year.

When Finsanto’s fluorescent lighting fixtures went out, the general manager faced a challenge of improving lighting for his work area and reducing operating and maintenance costs while maintaining aesthetics and safety. Their existing fluorescent lighting system consisted of 36 high bay fixtures (20 feet above the floor) each containing six 54W T5 High Output (F54T5HO) bulbs.  

Solution

The general manager’s original plan was to replace only the ballasts of the 12 bays. He contacted BallastShop to purchase the ballasts, but our customer service reviewed their case and recommended pursuing LED tubes instead of fluorescent tubes due to the unreliability of fluorescent lamps and ballasts.

The team at BallastShop compared different LEDs based on their quality of light and total life cycle costs, which include installation, maintenance and energy usage.  After looking at several new LED fixtures, we concluded an LED retrofit was the best option. LED retrofits allow new technology and features to be added to an existing system, so there would be minimal replacement work needed. Within the retrofits, we determined the best value was a Hyperikon 22W LED tube that did not require a driver or ballast.  Using the existing sockets and wiring to bypass the current ballast permitted for a quick one-man installation that took less than a day and a half.  Although the mechanics were skeptical that a 22W LED tube could provide sufficient lighting, the directional lighting of 2200 focused lumens and CRI (color rendering index) of 80+ produced better quality light for fine tasks.  Unlike fluorescent tubes, LED tubes feature directional lighting, which enables the light to be aimed where necessary. CRI is a number that represents how well colors can be distinguished under the light. Together, these qualities improved the overall light levels despite the decrease in total power consumption.

Benefits

Finsanto’s decision to install 216 Hyperikon 22W LED retrofit tubes http://www.ballastshop.com/hyperikon-22w-f54t5ho-led-retrofit-tube.html in their 36 fixtures resulted in a reduction of 6,912 watts for its lighting system. Assuming 3,744 running hours per year, this translates into a total reduction 25,000 kWh of energy each year!

This energy usage reduction amounts to energy savings of over $3,100 per year on energy alone. Additional savings come from Hyperikon’s standard 5 year warranty and the longer lifespan of LED tubes, which prevents extra replacement costs for fluorescent lamps and ballasts. This leads to a payback period of approximately just 12 months!