Oak Park Public Library’s parking garage at 834 Lake Street has installed LED light bulbs. This change is part of Oak Park Public Library’s ongoing efforts to minimize the impact on the natural environment.

Facilities Manager Rory ONeill, said “The new lights also have a motion-detecting feature and switch to half-power when not activated. Since code requires the garage level to be lit after-hours, motion detection means even more savings.”

“The old lights used 1.8 amps round-the-clock. The new ones use .4 amps when fully on and .2 amps in energy savings mode,” continues ONeill. “We’ve reduced energy use in lighting the parking garage by more than half.”

The new LED lights are more expensive to purchase but are expected to last 50,000 hours – much longer than the replaced bulbs. “Plus, as demand and production increases for this product, the cost is getting cheaper,” notes ONeill. “These same bulbs would have been more expensive to purchase even a year ago.” The new LED light bulbs are also mercury-free, so unlike the replaced fluorescent bulbs, they require no extra care to be disposed of properly.

Oak Park Public Library is considering a number of options for the old bulbs and lighting units that have been replaced.