Filamento VALTO vs. Philips Trueforce
27,888 kWh/Y
£4,462/yr = 18 month ROI at 8 hours/day
Original: 265 lux/25 fc
Replacement: 665 lux/62 fc
The International School in Aberdeen Scotland (ISA) looked at multiple replacement sources for their gymnasium lighting and eventually chose Filamento’s VALTO 400.
The school building is about eight years old and the aging HID lighting needed to be upgraded for maintenance purposes and energy savings. The lighting levels were 265 lux/25 fc, significantly below the recommended standard of 500 lux/46 fc for basketball courts. They also wanted a retrofit solution that would directly work with their magnetic ballast to minimize install costs.
Ian Williamson, Facility Operations Manager, initially narrowed the solution to Philips TrueForce as the lamps are ballast compatible. However, on a trial installation he found significant shortcomings:
Ian was determined that energy savings should not automatically equate to poor light quality and shorter life spans. After some research, he found the Filamento VALTO light source. It promised all of the benefits with none of the shortcomings. To test the lighting, he set up a head-to-head comparison of Filamento VALTO vs. HID and Filamento VALTO vs. Philips TrueForce.
The results were surprising and quite spectacular. The HID and Philips had created significant wasted glare, while the tailored beam distribution of Filamento directed the light to the floor without the glare. Filamento resulted in 2.5x higher lighting levels and a more even appearance on the gym floor. Once the basketball team and coaches saw the difference, the decision was obvious, they chose VALTO. In summary, other light solutions did not meet recommended light levels, had very high glare and therefore, were unacceptable.
“The comparison was shocking and we could not go back to the dark. The Filamento side was much more even, very natural and with no glare.” -Ian Williamson
“The new lights [Filamento] were much easier on the eyes and very bright on the floor, but the other HID or Philips lights were only bright when you looked up and then blinded you.” -Ian Willamson
VALTO 400 lamps provided an average of 665 lux in the ISA gym
Filamento filled all the school’s requirements. Filamento is 2.5x brighter and lowered their energy consumption by over 27,888 kWh/Y. VALTO eliminates significant maintenance time changing HID bulbs when they burn out every three months or so. Additional benefits were:
“Filamento filled all of our requirements – it gives out a better light, lowered our energy consumption and it has a five-year warranty.” – Ian Williamson
| VALTO 400 | Trueforce | |
|---|---|---|
| Model Number | VAL-E40-105-8-40-VL-AN-B90-010-U15 | LED HPI ND 110-88W E40 840 120D |
| Lumens | 15,000 | 11,000 |
| Average Lighting Level Measure | 665 lux/62 fc | 285 lux/26 fc |
| Failure Rate at 50,000 Hours | <1% Lamp Failure | 85% Lamp Failure1 |
| UL Listed for ANY Ballast 175-600W | Yes | No |
| Glare | No Glare – UGR<15 | High Glare – UGR<27 |
| Control Options (Ballast Bypass) | Dali/0-10V/BLE/Occupancy | None |