LEDs Torpedo Fluorescents

Can you name an organisation that has over one hundred thousand fluorescent tubes to replace apart from a supermarket chain or the offices of some international conglomerate? The answer is the UK’s Royal Navy. Twenty-one ships in the fleet are having their lighting upgraded including destroyers, frigates, and a couple of aircraft carriers.

Space saver

The changeover makes sense in circumstances where keeping spare parts and tubes on board is a disadvantage. So apart from the usual advantages of saving energy and time spent maintaining the lights, there is a gain in storage space, which is no small thing in confined quarters. And of course, it is even more important to save power in a situation where electricity must be produced on board.

Torpedoed

It took three years of testing for the Navy to commit to the switch to LED. The replacement LED tubes will be installed in batches of eight to ten thousand as ships come into dock. The whole process is expected to take twelve months. It looks like fluorescents are sunk.