LED lighting fits perfectly in refrigerated display cases

Refrigerated display lighting (RDL) represents one of the more perfect applications for LEDs. Because fluorescent tubes can be replaced with LED strips and reduce energy usage by 60%, retailers are beginning to implement LED case lighting on a wider scale. Typically, a store can realize return-on-investment (ROI) after 2-3 years using LED-lit coolers. In addition, since LED fixtures give off little heat relative to a fluorescent tube, an additional energy break is realized on compressor cooling. “led high bay light supplier love the cold; the colder they are the longer they last. We are able to design fixtures that are rated for 100,000 hours,” said Jamie Pearson, senior value stream manager of Lithonia Lighting, part of Acuity Brands.
Fig. 1. An all-LED supermarket in Portugal used Arquiled fixtures and controls and Oslon LEDs from Osram Opto Semiconductors (photo courtesy of Arquiled/Osram).
Fig. 1.
Fluorescent tubes provide a diffuse light in all directions, whereas LED lighting fixtures have been designed to provide directional illumination at 70-160° as needed in the case. Importantly, the quality of light in the case can also be improved to reduce glare, eliminate hot spots and make the food and packaging more appealing through better color rendering. “We recognized early on that many company’s products would be within 10% of each other in energy savings. So we focused on providing the best light with the best color rendering and greatest uniformity,” said Paul Kelly, vice president of market development for Nualight.
This merchandizing effect of LED lighting is being applied beyond the refrigerated cases themselves. Many grocery stores, specialty shops and convenience marts have decided to implement LED lighting throughout the store and in outside parking lots and gas stations. For instance, Jerónimo Martins Group (Fig. 1 and 2) recently installed LED lighting inside and outside its supermarkets in Portugal, which we will cover in more detail below. Notably, Walmart has set a goal to use 100% LED lighting in all of its 5366 stores through new construction and retrofitting.
As will be discussed, the adoption rates of RDL differ among Europe, North America and Asia. The fastest adoption has been seen in North America, where incentives have shortened the time to ROI.
Refrigerated case lighting options
Refrigerated display cases are available in many styles and sizes, but the market overall generally comes down to vertical freezer cases with doors and horizontal refrigerated cases without doors. The lighting in the vertical cases run vertically along each side of the door, and is generally 5-ft tall. In horizontal cases, typically there are one or two 4-ft fixtures that run at the top of the case (canopy lighting) and the base of the case (shelf lighting). In Europe, another common design employs a row of vertical coolers on top and horizontal coolers on the bottom.
Fig. 2. The gas station uses controls to further reduce lighting costs (photo courtesy of Arquiled/Osram).
Fig. 2.
The worldwide market for lighting in refrigerated display cases is huge, especially the retrofit market. Case makers such as Hussmann and Kysor/Warren are selling new refrigerated cases with LED lighting already equipped in the case. But for existing stores, new cases cost in the range of $5000 for a three-door unit, so most managers choose to retrofit the case lighting.
In a study from 2010, Osram Sylvania estimated that there were roughly 10 million vertical case freezer doors available for retrofit, and nearly 20 million horizontal linear 4-ft fixtures in open refrigerated cases available for retrofit in the US. The study estimated there were 14 million single-lamp fixtures and 6 million dual-lamp fixtures in horizontal cases available for retrofit, according to Cheryl Ford, vertical marketing manager for Osram Sylvania.
The vertical units are used for packaged foods, while the horizontal cases are used for fresh dairy and meats. Though an ingress protection (IP) rating is not common for the freezer lighting fixtures, many users specify an IP rating of IP64 or IP65 for the horizontal cases to ensure the fixtures can withstand wet cleaning.
At first glance, it would appear that food and beverage retailers have countless options when it comes to choosing a provider of buy led high bay lamps refrigerated display lighting. Providers include well-known companies such as Acuity Brands, GE Lighting, Nualight, Osram Sylvania, and Philips Lighting, but there are numerous other providers from Europe, North America and Asia. The qualified product list of the DesignLights Consortium (DLC), which includes both vertical and horizontal RDL, contains products from 19 manufacturers.

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