Much of the garage’s work involves high-levels of detail, where quality of light can have a huge impact.  So, when Nuffield’s existing light system began to fail the decision was made to upgrade.  Keen to switch to LED lighting, but constrained by the cost, they reached out to Low Carbon Dorset to find out what support was available to make the switch.

LED lighting is a well-recognised way of considerably reducing carbon emissions and energy bills.  And in recent years the technology has developed to provide a very wide range of colours and styles making it very useful for fine work, like that undertaken at Nuffields.

It was quickly highlighted in their energy report from Low Carbon Dorset, that Nuffield could benefit greatly from replacing their lights with LED equivalents.  So, in an upgrade which saw 13 lights be replaced with 17 LEDs, Nuffield were able to reduce their carbon footprint by 3 tonnes of CO₂ at a cost of £2,756.  The savings that Nuffield will make on their energy bills each year (£600) combined with the grant from Low Carbon Dorset for just over £1k, will mean these lights will pay for themselves in under 3 years.

Additional measures recommended which could reduce the garage’s emissions further included switching their currently compressed air tooling to electric equivalents.  It was also recommended that the firm investigate the possibility of installing solar PV panels on the roof of the bodyshop to generate electricity to meet their own demand. The opportunity for Nuffield to apply for additional grants to help fund these measures will remain open until the end of the Low Carbon Dorset programme.