The city of Gatlinburg  has completed lighting replacement under a Tennessee Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant which will result in immediate savings in electricity usage.

The grant concentrated on lighting improvements in City Hall and most departments as well as the Convention Center.

The $57,558.95 grant, a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), also funded the conversion of traffic signals throughout town to LED bulbs.

Members of the city’s Building Maintenance Department and staff at the Convention Center replaced over 4,200 T12 fluorescent tubes and 1,652 ballasts with T8 fluorescent tubes and ballasts which use 40 percent less electricity throughout the city.

An additional 211 incandescent bulbs in city facilities were replaced by compact fluorescent bulbs and 15 incandescent Exit and Emergency signs throughout the city were replaced with LED signage.

Resulting energy savings are projected to reach $21,044 annually.

A total of 414 traffic signals bulbs have been converted from incandescent to LED as well, with an additional annual expected savings of $5,625.

Those reduced electricity costs translate to an expected payback of 26 months.

In addition, the grant, which focused on American-made products, also funded the recycling costs ($2,980.02) of the thousands of replaced fluorescent bulbs and ballasts.