Hair salon owner Frank Marasco switched to LED lighting, which cuts down on his electricity bills and provides warmer and more natural lighting for hair colouring.
Two years ago, Frank Marasco had an energy problem. He is the owner of A Touch of Class, a small but well-known hair salon in Sudbury, Ont., and his electricity bills were rising sharply.
"With our lights and blow-dryers, we were consuming a lot of energy," he says. "I heard about the Save on Energy program on TV. So I went to [my local hydro company] Greater Sudbury Hydro, and filled out an application. We have a lot of lights in the shop because we do a lot of work with hair colour. They recommended we change our lights to LED."
The total cost of replacing the lighting in the salon with energy-efficient LED fixtures was $2,700. However, through Save on Energy, the energy conservation program administered by electric utilities across Ontario, Marasco received $1,500 in incentives, dramatically reducing his cash outlay.
Kristen Kulmala, energy conservation manager for Greater Sudbury Hydro, says that for many small businesses, such as doctorsʼ offices, lawyersʼ offices and hair salons, changing to more energy-efficient lighting can deliver the biggest savings on their utility bills.
"For other businesses with different kinds of processes and equipment, the solution might be swapping out compressors in their refrigeration units, or using new controls for their heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, ensuring, for example, that tenants in an apartment building aren't using more energy for heating than they need to," she says.
For A Touch of Class, the $1,200 investment in 5.2-watt LED fixtures to replace its incandescent lights and 81 halogen floodlights paid for itself within a year: upgrading the lighting has resulted in an estimated annual cost savings of $1,300.
But for Marasco, the biggest benefit of the lighting upgrade was somewhat unexpected: customers and stylists are able to see hair colour better in the warmer, more natural light from the new LED bulbs.
"With the old lights, sometimes the colours would seem too yellow," he says. "To do hair colour properly, you need natural light to see the original colour. With the LED lights, the colours appear more natural. The customers have noticed the change – and they are very happy."
Lighting can make a big difference in many different ways, Kulmala says. "We have some customers who didn't realize how dim their business environment was until they changed their lights and found that they had a brighter, more comfortable environment as well."
Better lighting can also improve productivity. Kulmala points to an auto parts retailer where the error rate "went down significantly with a lighting change, because employees could see the numbers on the parts better."
For Marasco, initiatives like this are important to help small businesses succeed. "You're always trying to do what's best for your clients, your business and your pocket," he says. "When you've got a small business, every cent counts."
This content was produced by The Globe and Mail's Globe Edge Content Studio, in consultation with an advertiser. The Globe's editorial department was not involved in its creation.