A logistics company specialising in the distribution of food has made an annual saving of 70,000 kilowatt hours (kW) after retrofitting energy-saving LED lighting into its six distribution centres.

Family-owned independent frozen food company Hopwells teamed up with Goodlight for a refit of its distribution centres based in sites around Cambridgeshire and County Durham, following a survey of its existing facilities.

As part of a long-term plan to decrease operating costs across the six sites the firm opted to switch their traditional lighting for LED alternatives, fitting 220 retrofit lamps made up of 5ft LED tube lights and E40 LED SON lamps.

The cost-cutting initiative will save the firm over £12,000 a year in running costs and, with LED lightbulbs lasting up to 25,000 hours (around twenty years with intermittent use), the maintenance is less frequent and costly, too.

A saving of 75 per cent has been achieved both in the areas of lighting and CO2 emissions, making the firm a more sustainable link in the supply chain.

But there's another reason why the firm opted for LED lighting: the vast cold stores the frozen food company needs on site.

Maintaining the stores at a consistent -23 degrees C meant the facilities were especially sensitive to heat, a problem frequently encountered with traditional bulbs.

LED bulbs use less energy to run, generating less freezer-disrupting warmth and maintaining the perfect atmosphere.

As Hopwells' operation director Phil Holman notes, it means the company isn't just saving on lighting costs: it is saving on refrigeration costs, too.

"The LED lamps are particularly suitable for cold stores because they strike almost immediately," he said, "whereas SON lamps take about 15 minutes to reach full light output.

"This means they can be operated by movement sensors, providing even greater kWh savings."

As well as being perfect for large freezers, LED bulbs are suitable for commercial ventures such as car parks, leisure centres and offices, while also being useful around the home.