Red Robin makes the switch to LEDs

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers has replaced approximately 12,000 standard incandescent and halogen lights in more than 150 of its U.S. locations with new, more efficient 7-watt GE light-emitting diode PAR 20 flood and spotlights, according to GE Consumer & Industrial. Red Robin is using the GE LED lights for general down lighting applications that require a high quality of light, measured as lamp-to-lamp white LED color consistency.

The LED lamps, which feature advanced optical controls that reduce wasted extraneous light, were installed in phases at Red Robin's restaurants beginning in November 2008 through March 2009. The specific areas inside the restaurant illuminated with LEDs include the entrance and lobby areas, lighting over dining room tables and perimeter lighting.

The use of LEDs helps preserve the ambiance of Red Robin restaurants and customers' ultimate comfort, while supporting the chain’s initiatives targeted at saving several hundred thousand dollars annually in lighting energy costs over the life of the new LED lights.

“Switching to LED lamps in our company-owned Red Robin restaurants offers immediate energy-cost advantages given the number of locations involved in our energy reduction efforts," said John Rogers, VP capital purchasing, Red Robin, Greenwood Village, Col. "We expect a very attractive return on investment with reductions in both energy consumption and maintenance requirements."

According to GE, the installation, which is in more than half of Red Robin's company-owned locations in the United States, is the largest application of GE's 7-watt LED PAR lamp in a restaurant setting.

The new 7-watt GE LED lamps (200 lumens) cut energy consumption up to 77% and last more than six times longer (a 20,000-hour rated life to 70% of initial light output) than standard 30-watt incandescent R20 reflectors (200 lumens) with a 3,000-hour rated life. The annual energy savings for just one 7-watt GE LED light operated for 4,500 hours annually at $.10 /kWh will be approximately $10, GE said.