Worship Sundays at 9 am

Going LED with SMECO’s Help – (Using less energy, saving more money)

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At Good Sam we would love to make the conversion to LED lighting.  Better, less expensive lighting in our main building and parking area can come to Good Sam.  We can use less electricity and save money every month on our electric bill.  SMECO is willing to help.  Can you help a little too?  We are hoping to raise $3,450 to fund this effort.  SMECO is offering an incentive program to fund 80% of the cost of shifting to LED lighting.  Good Sam is a candidate.  Energy Select** has met with us and reviewed each fixture in our main building.  Council has approved this plan and program and we need your support to accomplish it.  Can you make a designated gift to make this happen?   Here are the details.

The Benefits

  • LED lighting uses less electricity and we can choose the light color or “Warmth” we prefer.
  • LED lights last much longer than incandescent, Halogen or the florescent lights we use on some parts of our property. This means less work changing light bulbs.
  • More consistent lighting in all parts of our building, most noticeably in our Sanctuary and Fellowship Hall.
  • Our Electricity saving will be $170 per month going forward. That is a savings of $2,050 annually at current electricity rates.  This means the cost of this program for us will be recouped in 21 months (less than two years).
  • Life Span Challenge Incandescent CFL LED
    Average Life Span 1,200 Hours 8,000 Hours 25,000 Hours

The Costs

  • Total cost of the replacement fixtures and/or bulbs will be $15, 675.
  • SMECO is offering an 80% incentive grant of $12,225 dollars for us to make these changes to our lighting.
  • Our part in this program is $3,450. That is a one-time cost.  The savings continues month to month and is ongoing.

The Opportunity

  • Although there is not money in the General Fund for this purpose, Council has authorized this effort and invites members in the congregation who have interest in LED conversion for our facility and the savings we will gain to make designated gifts to help raise the $3,450 we will need to accomplish this effort.
  • There is a some urgency in that other utility programs like this are shifting from 80% incentive to 70% incentives and SMECO is one of the few remaining utilities still offering the 80% incentive at the moment. Also there are proposed tariffs that when implemented will also increase the cost of this program.

Other details to note

**There are two companies authorized by SMECO for this program incentive.  Energy Select is one of them and our proposal is from them.  The cost of the program ($15,675) covers parts, supplies, labor, tools needed to accomplish the program (everything soup to nuts as they sometimes say).  If you are interested in seeing the detailed fixture / bulb replacement plan please let me  know ([email protected]).

 

Pastor Mitch