Jerith Manufacturing Realizes Over 50% Lighting Energy Savings

Jerith is a third generation family business, the oldest and largest manufacturer of aluminum ornamental fences in North America. Widely recognized for excellence in products and services, Jerith made the timely green decision to undertake a lighting improvement project to maximize efficiency and energy savings for their 400,000 square foot facility in suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. With their high standards, it was only natural for Jerith to seek out a partner company with comparable values and principles. Jerith chose Aelux.

CHALLENGE

Jerith’s warehouse and production area utilized metal halide fixtures with 400W lamps, a costly and inefficient lighting source. Corporate management required a swift turnaround time for this project, so as to minimize interruption to their production schedule.

SOLUTION

Following our in-depth facilities audit and photometric analysis, Aelux identified the best solution — a 4–lamp, 54W T5HO fluorescent. We replaced all 461 metal halide fixtures with T5HO’s, dramatically increasing light levels and greatly improving light concentration, while cutting energy costs by more than half. The installation of occupancy sensors further maximized energy savings by turning off lights in frequently unoccupied areas.

Aelux accommodated Jerith’s schedule, working around the clock to complete the project in just 4 days! We identified a rebate opportunity and assisted Jerith in qualifying for over $38,000 in PECO rebates, as well as an EPACT tax benefit of over $28,000.

Bottom line: The new lighting upgrade enabled Jerith to realize a 54% annual energy savings, with a total energy reduction of 268,205 kWh and an annual decrease of 542,579 pounds of CO2, equivalent to the removal of 46 cars from the road or the planting of 6,311 trees annually and the project has a payback of just over 10 months. No reason to be “on the fence” about improvements and savings like that!