Orion Energy Systems: Lighting inquiry pays off for window and door manufacturer

For further Information contact:

Dave Cary, Communication Specialist
Orion Energy Systems
dcary@oriones.com
920-892-2935

Gary Curtis, maintenance manager
Hawkins Window Division
Jeld-Wen Corporation
Hawkins WI
(715) 585-6311

Lighting inquiry pays off for
window and door manufacturer

Hawkins Window Division improves light, lowers
lighting cost with change to Orion lighting system

A change from outdated fluorescent lighting to a modern Orion Illuminator ™ system has given the Hawkins Window Division of Jeld-Wen Inc. the improved light it was looking for at three-quarters of the operating cost it had been used to. The change has also saved more for the company by freeing up capacity in its electrical system.

In a recent project, the Hawkins, WI company — known until recently as Norco Windows and Doors — replaced 457 T12 (1.5” diameter tubes) fluorescent fixtures in four buildings with 451 T8 (one inch diameter tubes) Illuminator ™ fixtures made by Orion Energy Services of Plymouth, WI.

“It was both quality of light and the energy savings that we were looking for,” said Gary Curtis the operation’s maintenance manager. “We had two-tier lighting in one building and we were trying to eliminate that, while shooting for a 50 foot-candle lighting level.”

“There were rebates available at the time through both our utility and Wisconsin Focus on Energy. So I found out about them — and Focus on Energy steered us toward Orion.”

“Years ago it had been proposed here to go to metal halides,” Curtis said. Metal Halide (MH) is a different type of lighting that, although common in industry, uses twice the power of Orion fixtures for about half the light.

“We never had time to go ahead with that project,” Curtis continued, “and it’s a godsend that we didn’t.”

The retrofit reduced the company’s annual lighting power usage by 79,825 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, dropping it to 246,267 kWh from its previous level of 325,092 kwh, a reduction of about one-fourth. Lighting power costs fell correspondingly.

Curtis said the reduction gave the window and door manufacturer added capacity in its electrical system. Over the years, he said, with the continual addition of electrical equipment the company had kept adding 110-volt circuits to its service panels.

“We’ve got one 2,500-amp service and one 1,500-amp service, and without this reduction we’d be talking about adding more power again. Since 1996 we added three transformers and put three 225-amp panels in — and we gobbled all three of them up. We’re adding something new all the time.”

“So it was kind of a necessity to reduce the load — adding a panel costs between three and four thousand dollars.”

“Everybody’s very impressed with the new lighting. Instead of a yellowish color it’s a nice, bright light,” Curtis said. “You turn them on and…WOW.”

The 79,825 kWh power reduction will also have a positive impact on the local environment. According to Federal EPA figures, not having to generate this amount of electric power will mean that 78 tons of carbon dioxide, 21 tons of carbon, three-tenths tons of sulfur dioxide and two-tenths tons of nitrogen oxides will not be released into the atmosphere each year.

This reduction is also the air-scrubbing equivalent of planting 15 acres of trees or removing 13 cars from the roads. It is also the conservation equivalent of saving 6,590 gallons of gasoline each year.

The environmental and cost savings involved are possible because Orion’s Illuminator™ fixtures have been engineered so they use a highly reflective, specially formed surface to ‘harvest’ light that is emitted from all sides of a fluorescent tube. The ‘harvested’ light is directed downward to where it is usable – and, as a result, The Illuminator™ fixture provides more light from far less energy than standard fixtures.

The Illuminator™ fixture is equipped with modern T8 full-spectrum fluorescent tubes and electronic ballasts. As a result, Orion systems turn on instantly, operate at a cool 120 degrees maximum, provide a much more natural type of light than older fluorescent types, and are more popular with employees in the typical workplace.

The Illuminator 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.

“It is nice to see savings on so many fronts,” commented Neal Verfuerth, Orion president. “Lower operating costs, less pollution, even less power demanded of the state’s power grid.”

“And the best thing we see is that Jeld-Wen didn’t have to give up something or ‘do without’ to get them. Their savings came with better lighting – and that’s the way we like to see things work.”

Jeld-Wen Inc. is an international company that specializes in production of windows, doors and stairs. The Hawkins Division (Formerly Norco Windows and Patio Doors) located in far the northern Wisconsin village of Hawkins, designs and manufactures wood and clad-wood windows and patio doors to be reliable, energy efficient and visually pleasing. These are available in a broad selection of shapes, sizes and decorative options. Visit the Jeld-Wen website at http://www.jeldwen.com./

Located in Plymouth, WI, Orion Energy Services 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 other awards as a company. For more information, visit http://www.oriones.com/