Churches across Minnesota and the country are looking at ways to reduce their energy costs while at the same time enhancing the comfort and safety of their buildings. We spoke with Tom Lenertz, a parishioner at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Crookston and an executive committee member with the University of Minnesota’s Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships, to find out about a lighting retrofit they have recently installed.
Joel Haskard: Why did the church decide to switch to LED lights?
Tom Lenertz: The reason for the change is that one of the lights sparked and damaged the unit when changing lights. We then learned that when the church was built, the lights were not installed according to the manufacturer’s specifications and we were lucky that the church didn’t burn down; the wires leading to the lights had been fried bare by the heat which also scorched the ceiling. It could have been a real disaster. The Church’s Finance Commission decided that with the energy savings of LED lights and the rebate from Otter Tail Energy we would repay the cost in short order by reducing the electrical costs!
Joel: Who installed the new lights?
Tom: We worked with Steve Saunders of RBB Electric in Grand Forks. They are the ones who installed the lights and worked with Otter Tail Power Company.
Joel: How do the new lights look? Have you heard others comment on them?
Tom: They look very nice and less than ½ the numbers of lights are needed due to the better light! We’ve heard positive comments about the brightness primarily.
Joel: Does your church have any more plans for further energy efficiency upgrades?
Tom: We hope that as some point in the near future we will be able to replace the canister lights with LED lights as well. We have done a lot of energy things in the past by installing new light fixtures in the school to replace the ones that were originally installed in the 1960’s; we replaced the lights in the gym with more efficient florescent lights about 5 or 6 years ago. Heating wise we are also turning down thermostats after school and on weekends which has reduced the heating costs. We hope to put in programmable thermostats at some point but as of now cleaning people check to see the thermostats are turned down regularly when they clean.
Joel: What would you suggest to other places of worship looking at lighting retrofits?
Tom: I would strongly suggest that they investigate LED lighting – we had to get the kind they developed for theaters as they have not made the LED spots for churches yet so the price should be cheaper when they develop spot lights for other uses like churches where you do not need the different types of lighting, etc. that a theater needs for plays and other events. They should save on energy for cooling as well as the lights do not get hot like incandescents! Changing lights also saves on cost, because LEDs last for many years.
Learn more about the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on their website >>
