Food shelf serving more families in need with energy savings

Mary Mitchell: We have a Facilities Committee of six who recommended lighting upgrades following a RETAP energy assessment. We had recently upgraded the lighting in a free-standing warehouse and decided it was time to do the same with our food shelf facility. The resulting cost savings benefit the community, as more money will be available to purchase food for area families.

For this project specifically, BCFS wanted to replace its existing fluorescent lighting with LEDs and add motion sensors in the bathrooms and warehouse. In the end, 440 fluorescent tubes (32 watt) were replaced with 440 LED tubes (17 watts) for an annual energy savings of 21,483 kWh and annual energy cost savings of over $2,000.

Mary Mitchell: The biggest impact has been in the warehouse. In the past, on days we are open, all the warehouse lights were on all day, even if no one was working in all three of the lighting zones. On days we are closed, if someone was working in the warehouse, they would automatically turn all the lights on. The light switches were not in proximity to the door between the store and the warehouse, which meant that one had to walk through the dark warehouse to access the light switches.

Now, all three zones are on sensors and the switches have been eliminated. It has been so great to be able to walk into the dark warehouse and have the lights pop on. Now, only the light zones in which someone is actively working come on. On days we are open, I often see only one zone lit, where in the past it would have been all three.

Mary Mitchell: I think that with the lighting rebate we received from Otter Tail Power and the CERTs Seed Grant for labor costs--not to mention the future energy and cost savings--this was a no brainer. I would encourage anyone with a significant lighting load to do a project like this, as the payback is quite short and the impacts are long-term.

The one thing I had not budgeted for was the disposal of the bulbs. I recommend that this be part of the conversation, as it could be costly. As it was, we were able to find a recycler who charged us a fraction of the disposal fee, but it was still an unplanned expense.

Mary Mitchell: The reaction of the public and our volunteers has been very positive. I hope we have inspired others to do something similar. We had several opportunities to showcase our lighting project. We had two groups tour the facility and talked about the lighting and the CERTs Seed Grant during the tours. I have showcased the project during orientations for at least three groups of volunteers. We also featured the project on Facebook and in our newsletter.