Company News • 29.05.2012
Verbatim: LED Retrofit, Hotel Leonardo Prague
“Reducing energy consumption pays dividends for the both the hotel and its guests” Verbatim’s halogen replacement LEDs deliver rapid return on investment for Hotel Leonardo
The luxury four-star Hotel Leonardo Prague is situated in the heart of the Old Town, just a few paces from Charles Bridge and Old Town Square. The hotel offers 82 spacious rooms and suites furnished with original furniture from Prague’s Art Nouveau period. The hotel also features the Platina restaurant, with vaulted ceilings and impressive Renaissance frescoes, which serves up mainly Italian and Czech cuisine.
Although this prestigious hotel is ranked among the leading hotels in Prague, it has not escaped the impact of the global economic downturn. Facing growing competition from rival operators, the hotel has been busy finding ways to cut costs without reducing guest comfort. One of the major ways of doing this is to significantly reduce electricity consumption, which is why it replaced its halogen bulbs with LED lamps made by Verbatim. Environmentally conscious customers visiting the hotel have particularly welcomed the move.
“We were looking for ways to save money in ways guests wouldn’t notice and having the chance to save on electricity costs is ideal. We installed Verbatim LED lamps wherever the lights are on for at least 12 hours each day. Although the initial purchase cost of LED technology is higher than alternative lighting solutions, we calculated that this is more than offset by energy savings in areas of the hotel where the lights are constantly in use,” said Tomáš Novotný, managing director of the Prague Leonardo Hotel. “Also, we benefit from not needing to replace the lighting as often as usual. Given the high energy efficiency and longer service life, we calculate the investment will begin to pay off in approximately six months.”
A hotel is an ideal operation for showcasing the energy-saving benefits of LED lamps. By switching to LED lighting in areas of a hotel where lights are nearly always switched on, energy savings of up to 85% can be made. The return on the initial investment is very attractive and can be as rapid as a few months in many cases. Moreover, the service life of Verbatim LED lamps is as much as 35,000 hours – 16 years life when used at 6 hours per day.
Over 300 Verbatim LED lamps have been installed in the Hotel Leonardo Prague including PAR16 GU10, Classic A and B, E27 and AR111 lamps. Used to light the hotel reception area and lobby, the hotel corridors, the Platina restaurant and outdoor balcony lighting, the fast and simple installation of the lamps ensured little impact to hotel operations or the level of service being delivered to guests.
The hotel management are delighted with the results of the lighting upgrade. “We have completed the switch to Verbatim LEDs and the outcome has far exceeded our expectations. The new lighting has delivered a noticable improvement to the ambience in many areas of the hotel, adding to guest comfort while saving energy costs. As far as the light intensity and colour temperature provided by the LED lamps is concerned, there is no noticable difference compared to the halogen bulbs installed before. For the outdoor lighting, the LEDs perform much better,” concluded Mr Nesvorný.
It is no accident that Verbatim LED lamps were chosen because the hotel’s management team were already aware of the exceptional performance, quality and reliability of the pioneering lighting brand.
Verbatim is owned by Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, one of the largest chemical companies worldwide. Mitsubishi has been developing class-leading lighting technology for over half a century. The company is a dominant global manufacturer of phosphorus (a substance important for improving the efficiency of LED lamps) as well as providing many other raw materials to the leading lighting manufacturers.
This strong backing and influence within the lighting industry ensures that consumers can be confident about the quality and reliability of Verbatim LED lamps.
“Installing Verbatim LED lamps in the Hotel Leonardo is a very important project for our company and this has helped raise our profile among hospitality operators across the Czech Republic. I am very glad that Mr Nesvorný appreciated the quality of Verbatim LED lamps and that our bid was ultimately chosen,” explained Pavel Matyáš, Verbatim country manager for the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. “The project highlights why the Verbatim brand – best known for manufacturing data storage products – is beginning to gain a foothold in the LED and OLED lighting market.”
