A new lighting system is being installed in the arena of the Black River Coliseum to replace the one installed nearly 22 years ago.
Most of the old metal-halide fixtures are being replaced with more efficient LED versions.
“The bulbs that were out there, their life expectancy was basically ending. They were going out, and we were going to have to start purchasing bulbs,” said coliseum director Greg Smith.
Unfortunately, because of the age of the fixtures, obtaining the bulbs was problematic.
“Some of the bulbs we were going to have to replace, they are not even making anymore. We can’t even get them,” said Smith.
That dilemma, he said, caused the city to start looking into an upgrade.
After consulting with Bill Bach at Municipal Utilities, Cape Electric was contacted for advice.
“They sent a guy to look around and put a proposal together,” Smith noted. “We basically did a study on what the costs were for the new lights and what the cost savings were going to be with the new ones.”
The study showed the difference in power draw between the old 1,000-watt incandescent bulbs versus the new 500-watt LED bulbs was going to be substantial.
“Over a year’s time, it’s going to be a substantial savings for the city,” Smith said. “Yes, we do generate our own electricity, but that’s less money the taxpayers will have to put out for this facility.”
That’s good news, Smith said, because “there’s a big (power) draw out there. When you turn all the lights on in the arena, it’s pulling juice and the meter is spinning.”
“The savings are just tremendous,” said Municipal Utilities’ Garlund McKlintic, who is part of the five-man crew installing the new lights.
The new lights are so efficient, McKlintic said, the city should see a full payback in a short period.
“I think the payback on these will be a little over three years until we break even,” McKlintic said. “After that, it’s just savings every year.”
There are several other benefits to the new lights as well, Smith said.
“There’s going to be no heat with the existing wiring up there,” Smith said. “With the old fixtures, there’s a lot of heat. We won’t have to run the air conditioning as much.”
The LED lights also will feature instant on and off, unlike the old lights, which needed to warm up for five minutes to reach full brightness and also had to cool down for 10 minutes before cycling again.
Another benefit, McKlintic said, is the LED bulbs won’t need to be changed nearly as often as the old metal halide bulbs.
“They should last at least 10 to 20 years,” he said.
Previously, the lights in the coliseum arena were mounted in groups of three. Now, two of each trio are being removed and replaced with a single LED fixture, for a total of 65 new lights.
The remaining 65 older fixtures will be upgraded with dimmable LED bulbs, which Smith will be able to control from an app on his cellphone.
“I can turn them on and off or dim them from anywhere as long as I have internet access,” he said.
The new lights also will provide more even lighting across the arena floor, McKlintic said, partly because of the quality of the light, but primarily because of the way they are being mounted.
The old fixtures were mounted about 18 inches above the ceiling beams, which caused shadows. The new ones, however, will be set lower to eliminate that problem.
The entire system, McKlintic said, should take about three weeks to install, but could go quicker.
Once complete, the coliseum arena could be slightly brighter than in the past, Smith said.
“We’re basically going to be a little bit brighter, but not a lot brighter. It will be a perceptible increase,” Smith said.
“You’ll be able to tell the difference,” McKlintic added.