LED Refrigerated/Freezer Case Lighting Assessment Project

The LED Refrigerated/Freezer Case Lighting Demonstration project studied the applicability of light-emitting-diode (LED) lamps used to provide display case lighting in the supermarket sector. T8 fluorescent lamp systems were replaced with new LED linear light bar systems at the retail supermarket store, Albertsons Store #6509, located in San Clemente. The applicability of the technology was determined by energy and power usage, qualitative assessment of end user’s satisfaction, lighting performance, and economic factors. LED lighting has great potential for energy savings in retail supermarket and convenience store applications and the energy savings derived from new LED applications in retail spaces may exceed the performance of other energy efficient lamp types such as T-8’s. This demonstration provided an example of this potential in refrigerated/freezer case lighting. The extreme low temperatures of freezer cases have been problematic for T-8’s and have slowed the conversion from T-8’s: this demonstration clearly shows the LED will be a viable alternative and perhaps even capture higher energy savings when compared to existing lamps installed in freezer cases.