Boise Wyndham hotel makes transition to LED lighting
Heliodon Lighting found SSL replacement lamps or retrofit kits to allow the Wyndham Garden Hotel and Conference Center to make a complete energy-efficiency transition and to leverage rebates on the project.
Heliodon Lighting has announced a solid-state lighting (SSL) project at the Wyndham Garden Hotel and Conference Center in Boise, ID in which guest rooms and public areas were upgraded for energy efficiency. The 151,000-ft2 interior of the hotel had consumed 286,025 kWh and after the LED retrofit that number dropped to 71,456. Moreover, Heliodon found LED products that were mostly rebate eligible, thereby helping the hotel to afford the large-scale hospitality lighting project.
Interested in more articles & announcements on LED lighting applications?
Hotels have been a popular setting for LED usage since the earliest days of the SSL revolution due to the fact that the lighting in such settings is used for long hours. Indeed, the US Department of Energy (DOE) did a Gateway project all the way back in 2010 at a major San Francisco, CA hotel and documented a fast 1.1-year payback. Still, that DOE project and others have sometimes struggled to find LED-based products for all of the different elements of a hotel lighting system.
After, LED lighting was able to achieve 90% project rebates for the hotel.
Heliodon Lighting is a consultant and distributor that engaged with the Boise hotel to try and find all of the needed interior lighting with LED sources. “Heliodon Lighting worked to find an LED solution for every fixture I had,” said Nick Bhati, general manager at the Wyndham Garden Hotel and Conference Center. “They handled all the paperwork, conducted all inspections and audits, and funded the upfront cost of the project. When it was all said and done 90% of the project was rebated. I couldn’t be happier with the handling of the project and outcome.”
The largest replacement task involved 1319 65W A19 lamps located in the guest rooms and other areas. The hotel wanted a product that was both brighter and more efficient. Heliodon installed ESL Vision 13W LED lamps. Nick Sullivan, owner of Heliodon, said that light levels went from 2 to 5 fc in queen rooms and from 3 to 6 fc in king rooms. Sullivan did specify rather cool 4000K-CCT lamps in the guest rooms because the owner wanted the lighting to “flatter the new room décor.” But Sullivan said the lighting still has a “cozy feel” in the rooms.
Wall sconces in hallways and other public areas were the second largest part of the retrofit project. There were 230 such fixtures that used 26W compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and the hotel did not want to replace the fixtures. Heliodon selected 9W ESL-PL Series LED lamps for the sconces. The products will work with a ballast or directly from the AC line, but Sullivan said the ballasts were removed for better efficiency and lifetime. Light levels increased from 4 to 11 fc in the hallways.
Perhaps the most interesting element of the project involved nine 400W metal halide (MH) lamps located in an internal courtyard and pool area with 40-ft ceilings. The lights were especially problematic needing regular re-lamping in the high ceiling, and not producing enough light, while producing excessive heat. For those fixtures, Heliodon specified the EDL MUR Series retrofit kits. The 120W product required removal of the MH ballast and the addition of an LED driver. But the LEDs are rated for 60,000 hours and raised light levels from 2 to 10 fc. There were also 100W CFLs in the courtyard that were replaced with 35W WSL-CL Series corn-cob-style lamps.
The other application that included a large number of replacements was recessed cans in conference rooms, foyers, the restaurant, and the bar that used 65W BR 30 lamps. ESL-BR30 LED lamps at 13W provided the dimming support desired by the hotel along with the CRI desired. In the restaurant, maximum light levels went from 4 to 12 fc.
The before and after photos nearby show that the lobby area is now much more attractive with the new LED lighting — an important selling point to guests. According to Sullivan, the cost of the hotel project was just over $54,000 and rebates totaled about $49,000. Monthly savings are over $1200, resulting in a simple payback period of less than five months.
The Boise product did not involve exterior LED lighting at this time. But there have been a number of hotel projects that we have covered that were focused on exterior LED retrofits. For example, there was a very compelling project involving façade lighting at a Portland, ME hotel.
Maury Wright | Editor in Chief
Maury Wright is an electronics engineer turned technology journalist, who has focused specifically on the LED & Lighting industry for the past decade. Wright first wrote for LEDs Magazine as a contractor in 2010, and took over as Editor-in-Chief in 2012. He has broad experience in technology areas ranging from microprocessors to digital media to wireless networks that he gained over 30 years in the trade press. Wright has experience running global editorial operations, such as during his tenure as worldwide editorial director of EDN Magazine, and has been instrumental in launching publication websites going back to the earliest days of the Internet. Wright has won numerous industry awards, including multiple ASBPE national awards for B2B journalism excellence, and has received finalist recognition for LEDs Magazine in the FOLIO Eddie Awards. He received a BS in electrical engineering from Auburn University.
