Furniture Row replaces halogen lamps with LEDs

Durham, N.C. The Furniture Row Cos., one of the nation’s largest family-owned specialty home furnishings and bedding retailers, is installing LED lighting throughout its 330 Sofa Mart Oak Express, Bedroom Expressions and Denver Mattress Co. stores across the United States.

To date, the company has installed nearly 13,000 LED spotlights (from Cree) in its stores, out of more than 80,000 planned. The 11-watt Cree LED lights are replacing energy-wasting 90-watt halogen bulbs.

“We knew we wanted new lighting that addressed our goal of being environmental stewards, but we also wanted to remain fiscally responsible,” said Rod Schnurr, store planning coordinator, Furniture Row, Denver Col. “We also knew that we couldn’t sacrifice the high quality of light needed to accentuate the wood grains and highlight the beauty of the fabrics -- that’s what these Cree lights do.”

The first Furniture Row location to install Cree LED lights saved $4,200 on monthly energy costs compared to the original lighting, Schnurr said. In addition to reduced energy consumption for lighting, the LRP-38 spotlights generate much lower heat output thereby saving on air conditioning costs.

Furniture Row also anticipates significant maintenance savings given the much longer service life of the LED lights, which are designed for a 50,000-hour lifetime in open applications. Prior to the LED lighting upgrade, store employees spent an estimated 15 hours per week replacing burned out halogen bulbs.