Dover District Council Heritage LED upgrade

Partners:

Dover District Council

Mike Mills IEng MILP; Director of Lighting Efficiency Design Services Ltd (LEDS Ltd) in consultation with Dover District Council.

Volker Highways

Key Project Requirements:

• Based on the lowest cost of ownership for future energy saving
• Salix funded to achieve a minimum of 70% energy saving over existing installations
• Lighting criteria compliant
• Retrofit solution were required
• High strength coastal protected luminaires
• Low glare solutions
• UK designed & manufactured
• Easy to install & maintain.
• Part of 2500 LED Conversions and 200 Column replacements for £900K budget

Approximately 250 heritage fittings have been replaced as part of a major investment in street lighting in Dover District to help provide a brighter, safer and a more environmentally friendly way forward. The Butts and Ropewalk in Sandwich have a highly protected Heritage status which required a progressive but sensitive solution approved by the Conservation planner

Pudsey Diamond’s extensive range of heritage lanterns and retrofits was specified by highly experienced Director of LEDS Ltd, Mike Mills IEng MILP, in consultation with Dover District Council to replace and upgrade the “Decorative Heritage and ornate” fittings within the District.

Pudsey Diamond lanterns and retrofits with Varoptic® were selected not only for presenting the lowest cost of ownership but also for providing excellent lighting performance and aesthetics. Varoptic® offers a wide range of light outputs and with minimum glare due to its unique replica gas mantles. With 3000K LED’s this was a perfect solution for the location and satisfied the conservation planning requirements. Varoptic® retrofits were also used to maximise the budget; the budget did not allow replacement of all luminaires but the use of retrofits allowed for Heritage lighting to be completed in conservation areas where it previously didn’t exist.

Dover has a harsh coastal environment and therefore the choice of materials, robustness & IP rating of the units was fundamental and played a big part in the selection of our range.

All the parties involved were very impressed with our retrofit solutions, a fully sealed IP66 award winning drop-in replacement luminaire which is designed to fit almost every type of heritage fitting and can be installed in minutes. This unique feature was adapted for the construction of our heritage lanterns giving us an above industry average IP rating. Furthermore, our luminaire frames are made from 2mm corrosion resistant high marine grade aluminium alloy and are suitably coated for this type of environment.

As in every lighting upgrade programme you find existing fittings from different manufacturers over the years, which makes the conversion/replacement challenging at times. However the working stock of new luminaires available to the client at the very outset and the collaborative relationship between all the parties involved, knowledge of the district, forward planning and preparation made the whole process run smoothly and provided carbon and energy savings along with improved lighting all with immediate effect.

Products used:

• Dickens Lantern with Varoptic®
• Metcraft retrofit solution with Varoptic®
• DW Windsor retrofit solution with Varoptic®
• Mike Smith Design retrofit with Varoptic®

Customer feedback:

“I am very happy to report that Dover DC and all their interested parties are totally pleased with the Dickens lanterns and the Varoptics® used on the recent LED Conversion programme. Crucially the Dickens is an extremely strong lantern not only for the harsh Coastal Environment but also against potential vandalism too. In addition, it has class leading performance giving proper lighting levels with minimum glare from the replica gas mantles that are the correct aesthetic for the style of lantern which satisfies the Conservation Planning requirements too. All this at a competitive price and with excellent service that is so rare to find. Great British made product from a long-standing engineering company!”