Quatreus Ltd, Leiston

We were asked to survey the premises of Quatreus Ltd at Leiston and come up with a solution to upgrade the lighting in their Main Warehouse, First Floor Mezzanine and first floor Storage Rooms.

The warehouse had an existing lux level of around 100 lux, well below the recommended level. This was largely due to failed T12 tubes and switch start ballasts in several fittings in this unheated area where fluorescent fittings struggle to perform efficiently. T12 fluorescent tubes have been discontinued for some time, are difficult to obtain and also very expensive to run. The warehouse was under-lit and in need of a face lift also, on inspection, we found there was no emergency lighting in place. Quatreus Ltd chose to remedy all issues at the same time, replacing existing luminaires with new LED fittings for a fit-and-forget refurbishment with the addition of two wall mounted exit signs over the fire exits to ensure full compliance with BS5266.

We lit the main warehouse area with IP65 vapour proof fittings at high level, along with LED twin spots to give the emergency coverage over the stairs and warehouse areas. These luminaires come with a 5 year warranty and are also not affected by a cold warehouse environment. This upgrade resulted in increasing the lux level to 300 lux in the Main Warehouse improving the working environment, enabling all the labels on the boxes to be read with ease on the shelving and helping in the production assembly area. We replaced the lighting in the separate storage areas on the first floor with LED battens.

Further energy savings can be achieved by specifying these fittings with integral sensors, automatically turning the lighting off, or dimming the lighting to 10%, when an area is not being used.

It is also worth noting that any internal area over 60 sq. metres, when being refurbished, requires emergency lighting coverage to comply with BS5266.

If you have T12 fluorescent fittings in your premises contact Beacon Lights for an energy survey of your premises. You could save you over 70% on your energy bills by replacing them with LED fittings, and achieve an attractive payback on the cost of improvement.