For further Information contact:
Dave Cary, Communication Specialist
Orion Energy Services
1204 Pilgrim Rd.
Plymouth WI 53073
(920) 892-5804
dcary@oriones.com
Greg Horn, co-owner
Horn’s Sales and Service
Sheboygan WI
(800) 455-1259
sales@hornsrvcenter.com
RV sales firm drives down power usage by 27,510 kWh per year
“We’re very glad to receive this award,” said co-owner Greg Horn of Horn’s Sales and Service of the Environmental Stewardship Award presented to the RV firm recently by Orion Energy Services of Plymouth. The basis of the award was an annual reduction of 27,510 kilowatt hours (kWh) in the company’s electrical usage that was due to a lighting retrofit carried out recently with Orion products.
“In my experience most commercial or manufacturing people want to be good stewards of the environment,” Horn continued. “ I followed the story concerning the three power plants proposed near Milwaukee and realize we need to save on fuels, especially natural gas, through reducing electrical consumption. Large firms especially need to have stable energy prices, and energy-saving projects like the lighting are a good way to go. We’re glad you’re calling attention to it.”
“We’ve been very pleased with the quality of the light – our employees like it very much – and with the cost savings, of course,” Horn said. “The project will pay for itself in just a couple years.”
The 27,510 kWh saved by the large RV firm, according to Federal EPA calculations, is the environmental equivalent of planting five acres of trees per year, or, over the 20-year life of the Orion fixtures, a total of 101 acres. It is also the environmental equivalent of removing four cars a year (78 over the 20-year span) from area roadways or saving 2,501 gallons of gasoline per year, or 50,018 in the 20-yewar span.
Further, because the 27,510 kWh now does not need to be generated at all, it means that 21 tons per year (413 in the 20-year span) and six tons of carbon (113 tons in the 20-year span) will now not be released into the atmosphere.
The power saving came through the unique design of The Illuminator ™ fixture, Orion’s unique, patented lighting fixture. Heart of the Illuminator ™ fixture’s design is a highly reflective surface that ‘harvests’ light form all sides of a fluorescent tube and directs it downward, where it can be used. This typically lets The Illuminator ™ fixtures deliver twice the light for half the operating cost.
Illuminator™ fixtures are typically used with T-4 full-spectrum fluorescent tubes. These turn on and off instantly – in sharp contrast to many styles of industrial lighting – and deliver light that has the characteristics of sunshine at high noon. Besides rendering colors more naturally that other types of lighting, full spectrum light is usually preferred by workers in the typical workplace, who typically describe it as “clean” or “crisp.”
The Illuminator™ fixture has been awarded several U.S. patents and recently won for Orion Wisconsin’s prestigious Spirit of Ecology and Manufacturer of the Year awards, as well.
“We certainly agree with Greg Horn that we need to reduce electrical consumption or perhaps face higher power costs than we’d like,” commented Verfuerth. “And we’re glad to be able to help others do this. But it’s worth noting that Horn’s did not have to make do with less to cut their power usage – they actually have better lighting for less money. That is the way we feel energy efficiency should go — and we congratulate Horn’s Sales and Service on their noteworthy achievement.”
Horn’s Sales and Service is a third generation family-owned business that was Established in 1968, One of the Midwest’s largest and most awarded RV dealers, Horn’s offer over 35 years of industry knowledge, expertise and stability. Over the years, Horn has come to represent the industry’s leading RV manufacturers — established brands with strong histories and reputations for making the very finest RVs. A high-volume dealer, Horn’s consistently offers tremendous selection and savings. Horn’s award winning service department has a full staff of factory trained and certified technicians. Visit Horn’s website at http://www.hornsrvcenter.com/
Orion Energy Services, Plymouth WI, manufactures and markets energy efficient lighting solutions for the manufacturing, distribution center, warehousing, commercial, school, and gymnasium markets. Orion provides capacity displacement solutions for supply side management, transmission management, and demand side management for the electricity industry. Neal Verfuerth, Orion President, received one of Wisconsin’s most prestigious awards, the Ernst & Young 2004 Manufacturing Entrepreneur of the Year, and Orion has won numerous awards as a company. For more information, visit www.oriones.com.
