NP School District receives lighting rebates

The New Prague Area Schools District received a $39,973 check for lighting system rebates from the New Prague Utilities Commission recently. Changes to the school district's lighting system are expected to save 666,300 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity and reduce electric costs more than $57,600 annually.

The district has implemented high-efficiency lighting, occupancy sensors and bi-level switching to reduce energy consumption and save money.

The district installed various lighting fixtures including compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) to improve energy efficiency by replacing older metal halide and incandescent fixtures. Changes were made in the middle school gym and wrestling room and the high school auditorium and stage. The new lighting uses 24 percent less electricity than that of the old metal halide fixtures and features. CFLs also replaced standard incandescent light bulbs at Falcon Ridge Elementary and the district's Central Education Campus.

Wall and ceiling mounted occupancy sensors were installed to turn off lights in spaces when they are not needed.

In addition to the energy savings there are additional savings resulting from reduced maintenance and longer life of the systems.

We chose to do the lighting system changes to be good stewards to the environment and to reduce future use