New church lights will last a lifetime

EYANA ADAH MCMILLAN The York Dispatch

Updated: 12/27/2010 10:45:50 AM EST

Whenever a light bulb went out in Mount Zion Lutheran Church’s sanctuary, Bill Brothers climbed a 50-foot ladder to replace it.

Brothers, 65, of Manchester Township, said he’s glad those days are over, as he has replaced every incandescent bulb with dimmable LED bulbs.

“There is 50,000 per life hour per LED bulb and at the rate we use them, they’ll last 384 years,” Borders said with a smile. “Yes, I did the math on this.”

The sanctuary at Mount Zion Lutheran Church — at 2164 Mount Zion Road in Springettsbury Township — has 10 chandeliers, each containing nine bulbs.

Each chandelier initially held eight 100W bulbs and one 500W bulb of incandescent lighting. Now there are eight 9W bulbs and one 18W bulb of LED lighting, said Brothers, who is semi-retired with an electrical engineering background.

Each chandelier will go from using a total of 1300W to 90W, more than 93 percent reduction in power usage, Brothers said.

The LED bulbs also emit a whiter light, compared to the yellowish shade of the incandescent bulbs, Brothers said. Eight of the chandeliers’ smaller bulbs shine upward toward the wooden ceilings, while the large bulbs face down.

The whiter light from the LED bulbs help brighten the sanctuary, which has light and dark wood features, said Brothers, a 30-year church member.

The church mainly uses the sanctuary for its two Sunday services. Each service lasts up to 90 minutes, Brothers said.

With the lighting change, the church will save more than $180 a year in energy costs. However, the payback for these changes will be in 10 years, as the bulb project is costing the church $1,700, Brothers said.

Brothers said he started the bulb-changing project about three months ago because the church council asked him to find a way to reduce power usage and energy costs.

They asked to have it done by Christmas, but Brothers finished Dec. 17.

“(The lighting is) more pleasing to the eye,” he said. “We’ll get the energy savings, so everybody will be happy. And I’m hoping we don’t have to get the big ladder out for 384 years.”