On Monday morning, March 18, 2019, Norwich Public Utilities (NPU) presented Bob’s Discount Furniture with a rebate check for $64,065.15 following the successful completion of a major lighting upgrade project at the company’s Norwich warehouse located on Jewett City Road in the Taftville section of Norwich.
“NPU is proud to partner with Bob’s on one of our largest energy-efficiency projects ever, helping a great company make a smart investment that will pay dividends for years to come,” said Chris LaRose, Acting General Manager of NPU.
Beginning in November 2018, Bob’s began the process of replacing 11,493 incandescent and outdated lightbulbs with energy-efficient LED lightbulbs, which provide better light and use less electricity.
The budget for this project, which was completed in February, was $208,467. The company will reduce their annual energy costs by $109,390, realizing a payback on their investment of less than two years.
“At Bob’s Discount Furniture, we make energy-saving and environmentally-sound initiatives a priority, whether it’s the use of LED lighting, materials recycling, or donating our furniture to non-profits in the area. We appreciate the support and high level of client care provided by Norwich Public Utilities to implement LED lighting in our Taftville distribution center,” said Eric Adelstein, SVP Distribution Center Operations.
By using LED lights, Bob’s will use 856,891 fewer kilowatt hours of electricity a year going forward. For comparison’s sake, according to calculations from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that is the equivalent reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) of emissions avoided from:
- 856,891 gallons of gas consumed
- 3 million pounds of coal burned
- 1,328 average home’s worth of electricity
- 971,030,572 smartphones charged