Car washes are generally not associated with life”™s light bulb moments, but a Hudson Valley car wash franchise and the inventor who strung lights along the Walkway Over the Hudson are teaming up on a prototype LED system that will provide better illumination for customers and reduce energy use while ultimately creating jobs locally.
“We”™re really pushing this LED idea,” said Nancy Cozine, a spokeswoman for Litgreen, a startup developing the Illumatube light emitting diode product that saves roughly 80 percent of energy use over standard lighting, according to the company, but without any toxic elements such as the mercury in compact fluorescent technology. And LEDs last three to five times longer than conventional lighting, but uses lower voltage.
The founder and CEO of Litgreen is Andy Neal. He designed and supervised manufacture of the illumination on the Walkway Over the Hudson, which was successfully unveiled last month. Neal custom designed the Walkway lighting system and did the same for the car wash after discussion with Gary Baright a co-owner of Foam and Wash carwash which has 13 locations in the Hudson Valley.
He said the pilot car wash illumination ”“ on Grand Avenue in Poughkeepsie ”“ is an ideal proving ground for the Illumatube. “The Foam and Wash allows us to show the versatility and simplicity of our Illumatube design,” Neal said. “It can work in any environment under the harshest of conditions – sub zero temperatures, wind drain, elevated summer temperatures and high humidity, all these don”™t effect our unique Illumatube.”
Baright said that even though the LED prototype is much more expensive to install than standard lighting in car washes, he sees the purchase as a wise investment, not just in their business but for the local economy, now and in the future. He said he is attracted to working with a local lighting company that is pledging to develop systems that can be manufactured locally.
“We know the cost of electricity isn”™t going to go down,” Baright said. “But I believe in the whole thing and I think it”™s the future. I”™d rather be in on the future than say it”™s too expensive and be on my way.” He said that while the prototype is costing him far more to install than standard equipment, he projects that after a four-year payback period he will save $2,000 a year for the next 15 to 20 years. And meanwhile, the lights provide better illumination for customers.
“It”™s a very exciting use of our lights” said Corzine. “Our lights are being used for different things, the Walkway was one of them, and a demonstration project for streetlights at West Point is underway. But the Foam and Wash is really a good use, so we can see how our lights stand up. I mean, car washes are really hard on lights, with water like heavy rain and wind drying the fixtures.”
The commercial product will be developed in partnership with Fala Technologies of Kingston which is taking Neal”™s designs and refining them for mass manufacture.
“FALA is helping us with some wonderful lighting designs,” said Corzine. “We are a new innovative company that is taking lights and trying to transform illumination. We would like to take what people think of as a light bulb and see it as an energy source.”
