Museums Enlighten Their Patrons With LED Lights
Posted by Mark Atkinson on 1st Sep 2011
Two eminent museums in the US (The Chicago Field Museum of Natural History) and the UK (Museum in the Park, Stroud) have adopted LED lights to replace their former halogen accent lighting systems, and their patrons are very happy with the results.
Following a study, conducted in 2011 by the Chicago Field Museum, with the full support of the US Department of Energy (DOE), 32 halogen track luminaires used to light an enclosed gallery exhibit were replaced with an LED system consisting of 26 track fixtures.
It was concluded that LED lights were advantageous in comparison with their halogen counterparts, as they produced a greater number of Lumens of brightness, a slightly wider beam angle and a significantly improved level of protection for its exhibits and sensitive artefacts.
The replacement LED lights also demonstrated in a 63% energy saving over the two month test period, in comparison with the halogen system and produced comparable luminescence.
Meanwhile In The UK...
Xicato, the manufacturers of the LED lights that replaced the Chicago halogens, also provided them for a museum here in the UK.
Museum in the Park in Stroud, Gloucestershire were experiencing problems with their 296 halogen feature lights, including constant overheating, energy expense and maintenance issues, to name but a few.
They discovered solutions to all these problems by introducing LED lights, thus enabling energy and cost savings, providing high quality light to correctly illuminate their collection, increasing the longevity of their lights and significantly reducing their maintenance time.
A Xicato representative said “Halogen is the benchmark for light quality, but it has shortcomings which include relatively poor energy consumption and lifetime performance.”
Kevin Ward, the museum’s development manager stated that “The LED spotlights have made visible new details in objects and paintings that were previously hidden.”
So, it’s clear from the experiences, both in Chicago and Stroud, that quality LED light can provide people with new perspectives, not just in terms of energy-efficiency, but also with regard to art itself!
Useful To Know
You might like to emulate the great results of both museums, so check out the wide range of LED ceiling spotlight fittings, many of which are compatible with the bestselling GU10s. They’re available in different sizes, including singles, triples, quads, 6-way and 8-way varieties, so there’ll be fitting for every space, both great and small.
