LED Lighting is a Refreshing Investment for London Swimming Pool

Many swimming pools still rely on traditional metal halide lighting – which becomes increasingly expensive to run and maintain as it ages and energy costs rise. LED specialist Earlsmann was recently invited by Approved Electrical Installations Limited to design and supply new LED lighting for the swimming pool at the Wavelengths Leisure Centre in Deptford, South London. The initial investment in the new lighting will be covered within two years through ongoing savings in energy and maintenance costs.

Before: the swimming pool was dark due to poor lighting performance and positioning	After: the new LED lighting creates a brighter, more welcoming atmosphere at the pool

Earlsmann and Approved Electrical – a proven partnership

Earlsmann and Approved Electrical recently completed a lighting upgrade at Edmonton Leisure Centre in north-east London, replacing failed metal halide emergency lighting with reliable LEDs that enabled the client to achieve substantial savings in maintenance and operation costs.

Following the success of this project, Approved Electrical Installations Ltd., invited Earlsmann to review the lighting over the 25m main pool at the Wavelengths Leisure Centre. The existing metal halide lights had been regularly repaired, but the old technology was energy-hungry and uneconomical to maintain. Following discussions with the client, it was clear that LED lighting would provide clear benefits, including a brighter, more pleasant environment for users and significant reductions in running costs.

Spot the difference: new LED lighting transforms light levels

The existing lighting was aimed upwards. While this can provide good uniformity, it uses double the energy of a down-lighting system. In addition to this, the existing lights were blocked by the air ventilation ducting, meaning that some areas of the pool were too dimly lit.

Earlsmann visited the site to identify the best solution, and developed an innovative proposal that involved relocating the lights to sit above the ducting and rotating them down. Earlsmann used Relux software to confirm that this technique would achieve the required light levels, modelling the pool to over 300 lux and 0.7 uniformity in line with CIBSE guidelines. With the new LED lighting in place, the pool area is more inviting. The brighter light also helps to create a safer environment for swimmers, as visibility is improved throughout and glare is reduced.

Tonnes of savings in energy use and carbon emissions

Energy use was reduced from 8.5kW to just 1.7kW – providing a massive saving of 38,000kW hours each year, reducing carbon output by over 20 tonnes.  The client will achieve payback on the initial investment in less than two years. The new LED lighting is extremely reliable and has a long lifespan, requiring minimal maintenance; Tim Norton of Approved Electrical commented that the lighting solution is “as close to ‘fit and forget’ as you can get”.

Earlsmann – your experienced partner in creating total LED lighting solutions

Earlsmann are a UK LED Lighting company and have many years’ experience in the LED marketplace, providing a comprehensive range of lighting solutions to suit every interior and exterior application. Our in-house designers use Relux modelling to create innovative solutions tailored to each clients requirements.

Find out more about Earlsmann’s commercial pool lighting solutions, call 08456 434 740 or email sales@earlsmann.co.uk.

You might also like to explore our other Leisure Centre and Swimming Pool projects.