Phil's Valu-Mart LED Retrofit Case Study
An LED Lighting Upgrade at Phil's Valu-Mart Grocery Store in Ontario.
Think Green Solutions upgraded Phil's Valu-Mart in Ontario to LED lighting, saving the grocery store $2,283 a month with a 1.7-year payback.
Client Overview
Phil Leboudec owns Phil's Valu-Mart, a grocery store in Ontario. Think Green Solutions replaced the store's old fluorescent lighting with LED, and the project received an $8,365 incentive from Niagara-on-the-Lake Hydro. In the project video below, Phil, members of his team and a customer who has shopped at the store for 12 years talk about the old lighting and what changed after the switch.
The Challenge
Before the upgrade, Phil's Valu-Mart ran on old fluorescent lighting.
A Yellow Light
The old fluorescents lit the store with a yellow light.
A Drain on Staff
Phil says his staff didn't realize the drain the old lights were having on them until the new lights went in.
A Maintenance Hassle
Getting up to change the fluorescents was enough of a job that the store used to wait until numerous lights were out before replacing them.
Inside Phil's Valu-Mart After the LED Retrofit
Planning for the Long Term
For Phil, the upgrade was about the long-term longevity of his business. Long-term savings on a significant portion of his expenses is, in his words, “a big deal.”
“If I want to be here four or five years down the road, these are the decisions that have to be made. You have to do it now.”
Results
The store under the old lighting and under LED. In the store team's words, the white light, as opposed to the old yellow lights, “gives the store a cleaner look.”
$2,283 in Monthly Savings
On-screen figures in the video put the store's monthly lighting costs at $3,954 with the old lighting and $1,671 with Think lighting, a saving of $2,283 every month.
A 1.7-Year Payback
The video puts the payback on the project at 1.7 years.
$8,365 Incentive From Niagara-on-the-Lake Hydro
The project received an $8,365 incentive from Niagara-on-the-Lake Hydro.
Night and Day for Staff
Phil says the comments he's getting from staff are that they feel they have more energy. In the store team's words, it's “like night and day,” and “a little better energy means better sales and better shopping experience.”
Produce That Pops
The new lighting adds vibrancy to the produce department. “The reds are redder, bananas are popping more with the yellow. It just adds a new dimension to our produce department.”
Brighter, With Less Glare
A customer who has shopped at the store for 12 years noticed it was brighter, with less glare. She and her spouse have chosen not to shop at stores where the lighting is too dark or too fluorescent.
No Lights Out
With the old fluorescents, numerous lights would be out at once. Since the new lights have been put in, none have gone out.
Just Get It Done
Client Testimonial
I think now that it's done and we're starting to see the benefits, you know, all the different benefits, whether, you know, the light, the financial, whatever it is, if I had another business to change, I'd be flipping that. That would already be done. I would just go ahead and do it. And I think the bottom line is that any retailer that's on the fence, you need to just get it done. It's going to help you in the long run.
Owner, Phil's Valu-Mart
Why Think Green Solutions
Think Green Solutions has completed over $75M in retrofit projects and delivered over $15M in incentives in Canada, and its longest-running projects are more than 16 years old with a failure rate under 5%. To find out what an upgrade could save at your store, book a free lighting energy audit, read about LED lighting rebates in Ontario or explore our LED retrofit projects and solutions.
