Southern Shore and Monsignor Bartlett Memorial Arenas score big by partnering with takeCHARGE to save over $10,000 a year on their combined electricity costs.
Getting the rink managers to come to a consensus on who’s the better team, Toronto or Montréal, won’t happen anytime soon, but one thing they can agree on is the value of energy efficiency. Saving energy is helping the arenas continue to serve their communities. Each has teamed up with takeCHARGE, a joint initiative between Newfoundland Power and Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro, to slash their energy use.
Arena lighting is an essential part of a top notch facility to develop potential talent. You never know – a player in Novice may someday play for San Jose, like one former team member from the Southern Shore Breakers.
Last year, the Southern Shore Arena’s lighting was only providing 70% of the intended light output and needed to be replaced. Ken Williams, Manager of the Southern Shore Arena, worked with takeCHARGE to look at his options and landed on LED – it’s “The Great One” of lighting. The LED lights they installed use 70% less electricity than their old metal halide lights. The LEDs will last up to 100,000 hours, reducing maintenance costs like renting scissor lifts to replace lights. The new lights also produce less heat, so the refrigeration system won’t have to work as hard to keep the ice from melting.
“We have gotten so many compliments on the new lighting. It’s much brighter!” says Williams. “Most importantly it’s going to help us save money. takeCHARGE was able to provide a rebate of over $3,000 to help with the cost of installing the new LED lights, and energy savings will be over $3,000 a year.”
Any serious hockey player will tell you how important a rink’s ice is to a players ability to skate, move the puck, and ultimately score. Maintaining the ice also uses a large amount of energy. On average refrigeration accounts for 42% of an arena’s electricity usage.
The Monsignor Bartlett Memorial Arena on Bell Island partnered with takeCHARGE to make energy efficiency improvements to their ice maintenance systems. Arenas circulate a saltwater solution called brine to keep the ice cool. Like many arenas, the Monsignor Bartlett Memorial Arena was keeping the brine flowing 24 hours a day. And those pumps used a lot of energy! The arena has now installed an infrared sensor that measures the temperature of the ice. When the ice temperature cools to its set point, the control system will shut the entire refrigeration system down including the brine pump. When the ice temperature rises, the control system will start the brine pump and then the rest of the system. The system now runs for only seven hours a day saving the home of the Miners over $7,000 on their electricity costs alone, every year.
Hollie Neary, Manager of Monsignor Bartlett Memorial Arena, is thrilled with the upgrade. “We’ve had the control system in place for over a year now and it’s saving us more energy than we even expected, and our ice quality is as good or better than it was before the installation. With the takeCHARGE rebate, the investment will pay for itself in less than three years. takeCHARGE has been great to work with every step of the way.”
Did you know?
• It’s hockey night in Newfoundland and Labrador – These projects saved enough energy to power a big screen TV to watch Saturday night’s game in every home in the province.
• The Southern Shore Arena’s LED lights will last for over 40 years. Five year old players in Squirts could be playing in the senior hockey leagues before the lights need to be changed.
• LEDs are being used at the highest levels of professional hockey. Arenas in Nashville, Montréal, Ottawa and our own Mile One have installed LEDs.
Interested in reducing your electricity costs? takeCHARGE has rebates and advice to help every size and type of business save energy. You can get up to $50,000 back with the Business Efficiency Program when you invest in energy efficient upgrades. Call an energy expert to get your complimentary assessment and great saving advice. Call 1-800-663-2802 or visit TakeChargeNL.ca.