St Mary of the Valley Catholic Church
Lighting ProjectSummary
April 15, 2016
A little over a year ago when the Parish Building Committee sat down with Father Phil to discuss a lighting upgrade to the church, hall and parking areas; we all agreed thatthe endgoal should be tobe more energy efficient by converting to a facilitythat is primarily LED lighting, to increase safety bothinside andoutside our buildings where it was not well lit,and to make our church facility as a whole a much warmer and inviting place to worship.
We all had a deep desire and commitment to see this happen but none of us had any electrical design experience sowe contacted Ed Foster, Archdiocesan Director of Property and Construction. He encouraged us to work with Dave Milne whose company is on their approved contractor list. Ed Foster also obtained the help of Joe Saquitne an electrical consultant who is on the Archdiocesan Review Board.After a few months we had a workable design. Joe continued to visit St. Mary of the Valley giving hours of consultation. With help of many volunteers and the competent work of Milne Electric here is what we achieved:
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Church Hall
All fluorescent light tubeswere replaced with new tubes of the same typeand broken fixtureswere repaired, exterior lighting was replaced with LED fixtures andnew LEDfixtureswere installed where old fixtures were missing. To conserve energy light switches were replaced with occupancy sensors in all classrooms. All closets with light bulbs had LED bulbs installed.
Cost - $7900
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Parking Lot Lighting
All of the parking lot lights were replaced with all LED energy efficient fixtures that dim automatically to 25% brightness when there is no one nearby. We added an additional light head to increase visibility and safety on the west side of the parking lot. A new light pole and LED fixture was added at the parking area to the west side of the church building to provide asaferenvironment where it has always been very dark at night.
Cost - $28,100
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Church Exterior
The church steeple lighting was upgraded to be LED to conserveenergyandprovidebetter illumination. The exterior walkway soffit recessed lighting has new LED bulbs with more brightness and a wider beam spread. Missing and or broken recessed lighting was upgraded with a surface mount LED light fixture that is brighter.
Cost - $7,800
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Church Interior
The church interior was quite a challenge. We had a number of bad and non-functioning fixtures, insufficient lighting for nighttime services, fluorescent lighting with varying brightness,andentrance areasthat were not well lit.
The entrance areas had additional LED recessed fixtures added and the existing lamps were replaced with LED bulbs that were brighter.
The interior soffit light bulb sockets were lowered and the bulbs replaced with LED bulbs that were brighter with a much wider beam spread.This was also done in the sacristy and the chapel.The gift shop halogen spot lamps were replaced with LED lamps that are cool to the touch and therefore safer and they are more energyefficient.
All emergency exit signs & lighting were replaced with all LED fixtures.
All fluorescentlight tubeswere replaced with new tubes of the same type andrepaired if needed in the church and office areas.
All bathrooms, closets, offices,gift shopand the sacristy had light switches replaced with occupancy sensors to conserve energy.
The wooden arch lighting had been 6 arches with 3 each 300 watt fixtures. We eliminated 2 arches as no longer needed and kept 4 arches lit.There is nowone fixturein each of the four archeswith a 19-watt bulb that produces more light that the 3 fixturesit replaced. This eliminated 14 light fixtures no longer needed.
We replaced the four large round lights at the top of the church ceiling with LED pendant lights that produce more light from 64 watts each than the 300 watt lights they replaced. Their design is also more fitting to our church.
We have addedfivesections of LED track lights to provide more uniform illumination throughout the church that are alsoindependently switched on dimmers.
There are now spotlights for the statue of Mary, The Divine Mercy, and Our Lady of Guadalupe each on theirownswitch.
All of the altar lighting was upgraded to LED floodlights, the pendants at the back of the altar were replaced to match the main church pendants and are more energy efficient while producing more light.
All of the lighting has independent dimming controlslocated in the sacristythat can be used to create special lighting effects for special occasions. We used some of this atEaster on Holy Saturday.
Cost - $ 44,200
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A NICE BONUS
We receiveda rebate from the PUD for $4,000 for the conversion of old style high energy use lights and fixtures to low energy use LED. LED lights have typical lifespans of from 10-25 years depending on the type of usage. Switching to LED lights and fixtures will save us money on energy usage and lessen maintenance costs to replace them.
Fluorescentlight tubes are still expensive to switch to LEDand their energy savings is still very modest at 20-30% energy savings versus the 80-90% savings on other LED types.
TOTAL Project Costto Date- $ 84,000
Thank you for your attention to these details. It is important to understand how much we are getting forthemoney you so thoughtfully gave to theAnnualCatholic Appealthis last year. Your generous support helps us to realize our parish priorities: Lift up Jesus.Love one another. Make Disciples.