The family owners and manager of the Village Inn on Southwest 72nd in Tigard are used to being responsive — after all, that’s what keeps customers in their busy restaurant happy. So when Portland General Electric contacted them to discuss energy efficiency for restaurants, they called back quickly.

“We had thought about a lighting upgrade before, but needed dimmable lights for our dining room.” says general manager Ryan Sweeney, whose mother, Connie Watt, owns the restaurant. “When we found out they were available now, we were intrigued.”

PGE’s energy experts set them up with an energy walkthrough with Pacific Lamp Wholesale. They learned they could save significantly just by upgrading the bulbs and lamps in their dining room, kitchen, and other areas. The lighting specialists at Pacific Lamp showed them exactly how much.

“They had given us a sample worksheet of what a business of our size often saves, and the ROI was really high,” Sweeney says. “After the walkthrough, they gave me the same worksheet with our personalized information and an ROI of about 177 percent in the first year — and I thought, ‘Wow, that’s a no-brainer.’”

Since his only concern was about the quality of the lights, Pacific Lamp brought over a number of different styles to test, and Sweeney was sold. “If it was going to make my restaurant look as good as it did, and save me that much money — plus be better for the environment — why wouldn’t I?”

Light quality high; bill much lower
The project, which involved replacing incandescent bulbs with screw-in cold-cathode bulbs and switching from standard to high-efficiency T8 lamps in work areas, was completed mid-August. How did the new lights compare? “I don’t even think any customers noticed a difference,” Sweeney says. And when the first electric bill after the upgrade arrived, he was surprised at the immediate impact.

“Our bill went down more than $12 a day from September of last year,” he says. “That’s more than $4,600 a year. Even with temperature fluctuations or other factors that may be involved, it’s still pretty amazing. I’m really happy with it and I think more businesses should do it.”

Real-life results at Village Inn
Measures implemented

• Replaced 115 incandescent bulbs with screw-in cold-cathode bulbs in the dining room and entry
• Upgraded 15 fluorescent T8 lamps to high-efficiency lamps; reduced lamps from 4 per fixture to 2 per fixture

Estimated annual energy saving

• 35,817 kilowatt hours or about $2,700

Benefits

• Energy Trust of Oregon cash incentives on $3736 project: $910
• Lower monthly energy bills
• Less heat gain from lighting reduces cooling costs
• Longer lamp life means less maintenance
• Pleasing ambiance with lights that are still dimmable