Thousands of artefacts displayed at Nuneaton Museum and Art Gallery are now being seen in a new light thanks to a major energy efficiency upgrade that has delivered cost savings of 76 per cent.
As part of the ‘Reducing Bills: Greening Museums' programme taking place across the West Midlands, Nuneaton Museum and Art Gallery recognised that installing LED lighting throughout its galleries, offices and café would not only reduce its annual electricity bills and carbon footprint but also have a significant impact on maintenance costs.
After funding was made available through an Arts Council grant, topped up by Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council through a ‘spend and save' initiative, Minimise Energy, part of the APC Technology Group, was awarded the contract to supply and install retrofit LED lighting throughout the building.
Working closely with museum staff, Minimise Energy assessed each gallery individually, paying careful attention to the effect of LED illumination on colour rendering of artworks, ceramics and textiles.
Minimise Energy's team revisited the museum at different times of the day to find the optimum illumination solutions to best showcase the gallery's 15,000 permanent exhibits.
The new LED lights provide a constant, uniform light - with no flickering - achieve energy savings of 76 per cent and will deliver a carbon reduction of 109 tonnes over five years.
John Sweeney, Plant, Maintenance & Energy Officer at Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council, said: "Minimise Energy have performed very well. They are not on our doorstep but they were always willing to visit whenever needed and they did exactly what was asked of them."
Energy and carbon savings were achieved through a mixture of high-performing LED replacements for inefficient MR16 and GU10 spot lamps, Quasar track lights, E27 candle lamps, 2D bulkhead lamps and T8 and T5 tubes.
Andrew Shortis, Managing Director at Minimise Energy, said: "This retrofit project required careful planning to ensure that maximum energy and cost savings were achieved while at the same time displaying all of the museum's artefacts in the best light.
"We pride ourselves on our attention to detail and our ability to provide bespoke solutions where required. This project reflects that commitment as we used 10 different lighting products throughout the museum, with careful consideration given to each lamp or tube supplied and installed."
