ELK GROVE, CA - During 2007, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) worked with Raley’s, the California Lighting Technology Center, freezer manufacturer Hussmann Corporation and ADM Associates to develop and test an LED freezer case lighting system in the Raley's on 4900 Elk Grove Blvd. in Elk Grove.

The system uses LED lighting which performs much better in colder conditions than traditional fluorescent lighting, which must draw more energy in colder situations to produce the same amount of light. The system also includes motion sensors and dimming power supplies and is designed to save energy by automatically dimming the lights when there’s no activity near the freezer cases.

While LEDs produce considerably less light than fluorescents, LED lighting is more even and is used much more effectively and efficiently. Fluorescent light tends to be wasted.  LEDs contain no mercury and should last at least three to four times longer than fluorescents. 

One may not think that the lighting in grocery store freezer cases would use a lot of electricity. SMUD, Raley’s and others developed and tested a new technology that replaces fluorescent lighting with light-emitting diode (LED) lighting technology and motion sensors and found that lighting savings were a whopping 68 percent.

The project also reduced the low-temperature refrigeration system energy consumption. Larger stores like Raley’s could see savings of $10,000 to $12,000 per year per store. The environmental benefits are equivalent to more than 1,800 trees planted or nine cars removed from the road or more than 4,300 gallons of gasoline saved.

For more information, please call Christopher Capra with SMUD Media Services at (916) 732-5591.