Funworld March 2008

A Bright Future

How LED lighting can save on costs and help the environment

THEY ARE THE SIGNATURE OF AMUSEMENT PARKS around the world—just their sparkle has become synonymous with theme park décor. Folks see them and think “fun.” Lights of all shapes, sizes, colors, and configurations— from bright white to neon green and orange—are the calling card that helps to keep excitement alive year-round.

Whether highlighting an open concession stand or spot-lighting the swirling speed and maneuvers of the latest attraction, it’s the lights that provide the ultimate man-made backdrop against the night sky. Yet as any park owner knows, the necessary upkeep to keep those magical orbs burning can take the shine off the bottom line.

Enter the new era of lighting technology: LEDs. An LED is a light-emitting diode, and it’s defined as a semiconductor diode that glows when voltage is applied. The beauty of an LED beyond the techno-speak is that it provides more bang for the buck. “In amusement parks there is always a need for lighting that will hold
up to tough environs—most of the time this will be out in the weather,” says Steve Mellinger, president of Blue Moon Enterprises in Leola, Pennsylvania. “Lighting for these purposes has been very expensive for years, and to look at switching to LED lighting is not such a stretch here.”

If the only LED in use at your business is on your office VCR remote, read on. We’ll take a look at how LEDs can brighten a park’s future in more ways than one.

Hardworking Bulbs
The rides at any amusement park give lightbulbs a real work-out. “Vibration is a killer for lightbulbs,” says Craig Bickford, multimedia and web developer for International Light Technologies. “That is why all of the major light bulb manufacturers make vibration-resistant lightbulbs for ceiling fans, appliances, etc. … anywhere shock will be an issue. These types of bulbs have extra supports for the tungsten filaments to help them withstand the movement. Even at that, long-life, vibration-resistant lightbulbs are generally rated at somewhere between 1,500 and 3,000 hours of steady use depending on the wattage.”

But that’s not all. “Another real killer for lightbulbs is the fact that their most inefficient, most potentially self-damaging mode of operation is during startup,” says Bickford. “Turning a lamp off and on over and over again will dramatically shorten the life of the lamp. A lifetime reduction for a flashing incandescent lightbulb is about 20 to 40 percent, depending on the duty cycle of the flashing and the wattage of the bulb.”

That’s where LEDs make a big difference, he says. As a solid-state device, LEDs don’t contain a fragile filament that will break from vibration—they’re inherently resistant to vibration. “LEDs do not suffer from repeated on/off cycling and are fully dimmable with no ill effects,” notes Bickford. “As long as they are not operated over current, they can see lifetimes of 20,000 to 50,000 hours and higher.”

Cool Energy Savings
The electric bill. Burned out bulbs. Maintenance costs to replace them. They’re all necessary parts of operating expenses— and that’s where LEDs can offer multiple savings. While LEDs might initially cost more, their long-term savings is what makes for a short payback period, experts say. “Energy savings is the big winner category for amusement parks,” says Bickford. “Replacing all of the flashing lamps with LEDs, at least on paper, could potentially save them 80 percent,” Bickford says, a number that
has been realized in other large, high- profile LED adoption case studies such as the Ernst & Young Plaza in Los Angeles and the Migros Supermarkets in Switzerland.

As a test, LED lighting has been installed on an elevator at the National Air and Space Museum (NASM), part of Washington, D.C.’s Smithsonian Institution. The replacement of 35
lamps—from 20-watt incandescents using 700 watts to two-watt LEDs—slashed energy usage to 70 watts total. Savings is estimated at more than $21,000 per year, including labor, operating costs, and hours. KendraGastright, buildingmanager at the time of the Air&Space replacement, says, “I endorsed the switch to LEDs in the NASM elevator to save energy costs and to reduce maintenance costs. The existing bulbs were very expensive and constantly needed to be changed out. From the start the LEDs were life savers…the bulbs did not burn out.”

“[Using LEDs in] an amusement park can save money on maintenance by not having to replace the bulbs nearly as often,” says Bickford. “Plus it lends the park a modern, wellmaintained
look. [Consider] the amount of money saved on energy use over the lifetime of the LED, plus themoney saved on maintenance reduction during that lifetime offset by the cost in labor to replace the lamps with LEDs in the first place. LEDs come out way on top in the long run, not even taking into account the additional benefits.”

In the Know
Sure, LEDs sound like a win/win lighting solution. But what do you need to know when considering the switch?

Frank A. Florentine, lighting designer and projectmanager at the Air & Space museum, says to ask a lot of questions: “Know the product you’re going to get before you get it—and the company you’re going to use.”Make sure the companywill stand behind its product, he says.Ask, “If it goes out in 10,000 hours, will you come and replace it free of charge?”

While there aren’t many downsides to LEDs, the initial cost can sometimes be high. SaysMellinger: “The initial cost for rollout of a sizable project is going to be pricey. This is not replacing a colored light bulb, as expensive as they are. Of course, my context is retrofitting an entire ride or set of rides. Park owners and operators can start to make an immediate impact with much less expense by consideration of changes to area lighting for their customers.”

“LED-based screw-type lamp replacements are readily available on the market, but the majority are white lamps since these are themost commonly used,” notes Bickford. “A big challenge for amusement park operators is acquiring the appropriate colored LEDreplacement fixtures due to the very limited availability right now. When shopping for replacement fixtures one has to consider the need for approximately the same or better brightness and the same color as the lamps to be replaced, the correct base to fit the existing lamp sockets, and the correct ratings to operate on the existing electrical system.”

Just the Beginning
“None of this even begins to take into account all of the very cool, highly animated effects that can be achieved with colorcycling RGB LEDs and their sophisticated controllers that can do anything fromcreate waves and washes of color to displaying entire animations on large screen LED arrays,” says Bickford. “Try that with lightbulbs.”

Christine Gable is an independent writer whose topics include food, nutrition, and the environment. She also researches and reviews alternative fuel vehicles for About.com’s Hybrid Cars & Alt While there aren’t many downsides to LEDs, the initial Fuels site. She lives in Pennsylvania and may be contacted at www.christinegable.com.