SEQUIM — City public works crews continue to replace the traditional light bulbs in city street and sidewalk lamps with energy-efficient light-emitting diode units in hopes of reducing energy costs.
Since it was begun in 2013, the conversion project has cost $37,843, with the Clallam County Public Utility District providing $26,490 in rebates toward the new lights.
Additional state grant monies are being pursued to cover the balance of the cost, City Engineer David Garlington has said.
“I am hopeful, at the end of the day, we may have all of our installation costs paid,” he said.
The large light-emitting diode (LED) lights that are on the 25-foot-tall poles cost $485 each, while the smaller lamps in the 12-foot-tall pedestrian lamps cost $75 each, Garlington said.
In 2013, 26 LED units were installed in the large lamps that focus on illuminating streets, resulting in a $3,905 reduction in the city’s annual electrical bill that year, according to city documents.
In 2014, an additional 49 units were installed, providing $2,072 in additional savings.
So far in 2015, the installation of 19 LED street lamps has added a savings in electrical costs of about 77 percent, or $1,807, while installation of 285 smaller sidewalk lamps has resulted in additional savings of about 69 percent, or $4,237, according to city documents.
Altogether, the city said, that is a savings of about $12,000 annually.
“It is really significant savings in our electrical bill,” Garlington said.
The installation of the final 26 units in 2016 will bring annual electrical savings to about $13,000 per year, according to the city.
“Those upfront costs will be relatively small,” although an estimate on installation costs is not yet available, Garlington said.
“Hopefully, PUD will renew their rebate program and we will get the same deal we got on the rest of them.”
In addition to savings in electrical costs, over time, the city may also see a reduction in labor costs and materials as the LED units will need to be replaced less frequently than traditional bulbs, according to the city.
And the LED bulbs are increasingly becoming cheaper, Garlington said.
“Since we started the program, the LED technology has improved to the point where we are seeing even bigger savings than we had first anticipated because the cost of the bulbs is coming down quite a bit,” he said.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
