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OPERATIONS BY DEBRARESCHKE SCHUG COOL LIGHTS
FOR COOLER TEMPS LEDs can cut energy costs and make your products look great doing it
S
ignage, end-caps, and advertisements can all direct the c-store customer's attention to different parts of the store. But you can't buy something without seeing it, right? LEDs are taking this
concept to the next level and using light to draw attention to the actual products in the display cases. At the last NACS/PEI Show, LSI Industries Inc.,
based in Cincinnati, Ohio, introduced its new LED Refrigerated Case Lighting.
efficiency possible," said Ready. "Its efficiency is diminished greatly." Also, because florescent- based lighting in cooler applications is operating in a less than optimal environment, the maintenance will be going up. "You'll replace florescent lamps much more frequently," he added. On the contrary, LEDs love cold temperatures,
thus, lasting generally two to four times longer. But Ready pointed out this all depends on a LED's design, which varies greatly and affects it power and output. Even though there are already
lots of LED solutions for cool- ers, LSI decided to focus on the importance of that design. "We wanted to understand the
feedback coming from retailers with some of the earlier LED sys- tems designed," he said. "One of the biggest complaints
is that LEDs can produce a dark spot in the middle of the dis- play case," said Mark Reed, LSI Industries sales engineer. "We wanted to illuminate all the prod- ucts across the case." Not only should good display
lighting uniformly illuminate the products, but also be bright enough to stand out. "The cooler lighting has to
"Since LED began being developed as a light
source about five or six years ago, the industry first looked to a new solution for cooler applications," said Scott Ready, president of LSI Industries. Why? Retailers and lighting companies who
have been familiar with florescent fixtures in refrig- eration for years knew that florescent does not like cooler temperatures. "Because of that, you're not going to get the best
18 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011
compete with the ambient lighting," said Ready, and in a convenience store environment that is already brightly lit, this can be a challenge. To have proper display case lighting, there are
number of challenges to overcome. "It's a difficult task because you're going across
a 30 inch door and the product is only set back a few inches from the glass," Reed said. If the bright- ness level and angling of the fixtures aren't correct
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