DOE released a museum lighting transformation GATEWAY Report

The United States Department of energy (DOE) recently released a report on the final assessment of the transformation of the Smithson Museum of American Art Museum in Washington, dc. The museum track light transformation involves three galleries, a gallery is 30 and MR16 type LED lamps with PAR replaced all the traditional incandescent lamp; the traditional incandescent lamp and other two galleries by PAR 38 and MR16 LED lamps were partially replaced.

The report describes the selection and testing process and the technical difficulties in the process. The report also describes the use of LED to replace the lamp after the visual changes, economic impact, energy use, etc..

Key findings include:

Although there are more or less problems in the uniformity of the LED lamp, the beam angle, and the compatibility with the museum's low pressure head and dimming control system. However, the results show that LED superior color and color combination can achieve very satisfactory visual effects. There is no one - to - one replacement for incandescent bulbs in the museum, but the diversity of LED provides a new possibility for the specific art of "light".

All galleries replaced by LED lamps are reduced from 3.9 watts per square foot to 1.1 watts per square foot. The tariff is reduced from $2984 to $816 per year. The cost of the initial installation of the LED lamp is approximately equal to the benefit of only one energy saving for 16 months.

LED is expected to use a long life, can significantly reduce the replacement frequency and maintenance costs. Daily maintenance savings rate equivalent to electricity price, about $0.14 / kw. 10 years of life cycle cost analysis shows that: including daily maintenance savings, energy savings of $19041, equivalent to the current value of $27891.

Three kinds of LED lamp samples were tested by the baseline photometric method. Follow up tests are scheduled for 4000 hours, 8000 hours and 12000 hours. After 4000 hours, the PAR30 lamp is still very stable in terms of color, in the light output performance in general; and MR16 lights in color and light output are greater changes.