Tesco switches on all-LED UK store in Loughborough
UK supermarket retailer Tesco this week opened its first all-LED store in Loughborough in the Midlands.
The store’s external signs and all interior lights, as well as those in cold rooms, fridges and freezers are LEDs.
In fact, LEDs are even more efficient than standard lighting in very cold conditions. But the only spot where LEDs can’t be used is in the bakery oven where temperatures are too high.
The move, which is expected to save the Express store 30% compared to existing conventionally-lit stores, is part of Tesco’s bid to be carbon neutral by 2050. “The use of LED light fittings we can dramatically reduce energy usage, particularly at Express stores due to their smaller size and lower ceiling height,” says Tesco’s environmental programme manager, Emmily Sjolander. “If this delivers the energy savings we have estimated, it is likely that we would replicate this lighting system at other stores.”
In recent years, the supermarket chain has launched flagship ‘zero carbon’ stores, the latest of which was opened in Cefn Mawr, Wales in March, to try out energy saving technologies. The most effective energy efficiency measures are then considered for rollout across its 2700 UK stores.
But other high street retailers are also making progress, like Marks and Spencer that announced the achievement of carbon neutral status thanks to its Plan A initiative earlier this summer.