Central Park II in Sarasota condominium is going all-LED.
Association president Ian Kingsbury said lower cost, better appearance and less ongoing maintenance are the reasons the condominium decided to spend about $10,000 to replace each of its common-area light bulbs with light-emitting diode technology.
The payoff, in the form of lower electricity bills, will come in a year and a half or two years, said Tom Molitor, whose Sarasota company, Avana Corp., is doing the installation. He said Central Park II is the first condominium association in Sarasota to go with 100 percent LED lights.
"We have had all compliments and no complaints" from residents, said Kingsbury. "For a condo association, that is a nice change."
Molitor said the LEDs are 80 percent less costly than incandescent bulbs and 50 percent less costly than fluorescents to operate. They last much longer, he added, which means less ongoing maintenance expense for the association.
"Within a couple of years, we should be in a position that we have paid off the acquisition cost and the association will be reaping that benefit," said Kingsbury.
Aesthetics are another reason for Central Park II's decision. Whereas the old sodium lights glow orange and do not create a clear image on the condominium's security cameras, the LEDs give off a pure white light that makes for a much better image on security monitors, Kingsbury said.
The fixtures look better, too, he said.
"One of our goals is to convert everyone to LEDs," said Molitor. "You are going to reduce the carbon footprints dramatically, which means you don't have to build more power plants."
The lights are being installed at the swimming pool, in the parking lot and above the doors of each unit.
"New lights in the pond will have a remote control that will allow the color of the lights to change," said Molitor.
Some of the LEDs can go into standard sockets. For others, new lighting fixtures are required, he said.
