Energy Efficient Lights Decorate Province House

The festive lights are on again at Province House, and this year they are sending a message about energy conservation.

With help from the Department of Energy, Province House has installed 25 strings of light emitting diode (LED) Christmas lights and eight compact flourescent floodlights around the Hollis Street entrance.

Energy Minister Cecil Clarke said switching to energy efficient lights costs a little more up front, but has long-term savings. "It's important for us to demonstrate that small changes can result in significant savings," said Mr. Clarke. "Energy efficient lights have much lower operating costs, so you spend a little to save a lot more."

LED lights convert electricity to light without using heat. Each light should last more than 200,000 hours compared to only 1,000 hours for conventional lights. A string of LED lights, like the ones used at Province House, costs less than 4 cents to run for 30 days when lit for six hours a day. Conventional lights would cost $3.15 to run for same length of time.

The compact flourescent floodlights are very efficient, too. Usually, the front of Province House is lit with eight 90 watt halogen lamps. Each of these lights would cost about $1.60 to run for 30 days. They have been replaced with compact flourescent bulbs that will cost about 34 cents each to run for the same period.

"Switching to energy efficient holiday lights is a small but significant way Nova Scotians can help conserve energy," said Mr. Clarke. "We hope Nova Scotians will try them out."

Speaker of the House Murray Scott agrees, "Province House is an important symbol to Nova Scotians and it's appropriate that its Christmas lighting lead by example."

The new energy-efficient lights will also have an environmental benefit. The reduced electricity consumption represents a reduction of about one-half tonne of greenhouse gasses.