A Georgia county school district is installing 24,000 LEDs.
Ware County School District in Ware County, Georgia, will be installing light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to help school lighting upgrades save millions over the course of the next several years on energy and maintenance costs.
The school district is partnering with a technology firm to retrofit and install 24,000 LEDs in 10 school buildings serving more than 5,000 students, according to a press release.
The new cost and energy efficient lighting systems are expected to pay for themselves in a little over a year and a half while the school will save millions on electricity bills and maintenance costs over the next nine years.
According to the Florida Times-Union, the savings could total $11 million after all of the existing lights are retrofitted and replaced.
The report stated the savings are expected to be triple the cost of the installation.
As part of the largest known lighting installation of its kind, the upgrades will take approximately six months to complete and the school district will partner with local contractors in order to install and maintain the new lighting system.
Before the plans for the upgrade were approved, the school system completed a pilot program that lasted six months and used LED tube lighting in conference rooms to test the cost-saving measures, according to the report.
“Making quality decisions for the Ware County School System begins with reducing operational expense,” said Ware County School Superintendent Joseph Barrow, Jr. “The money we save with maintenance and reduced energy costs can be applied to continual improvement of the quality of education we provide to our students as well as benefit the taxpayers who support our system. This program is another milestone in our goal to build on the foundation of excellence we have established in Ware County.”
LEDs are becoming a popular lighting solution for schools that are searching for ways to reduce energy consumption and cut maintenance costs. Improvements in LED technology are also contributing to the growing popularity of the light bulb because they use less wattage and have a longer lifespan than traditional light bulbs.
School officials considering a lighting upgrade to reduce energy and maintenance costs should consult the lighting specialists at Lumenistics.