LEDs Help Midland, Ontario Canadian Tire Store Lead in Energy Efficiency

Feb 10, 2019

During a recent Save On Energy Deal Days promotion in Ontario, the Midland Canadian Tire store sold over 60,000 LEDs, making it one of the campaign’s top stores. This success led the store to replace all its interior lamps with LEDs, earning a $21,000 incentive in the process.

“It was a good thing to do to contribute to the overall savings of power,” says Canadian Tire owner Michael Ferris. “As an environmentally conscious business we look for ways to reduce our impact.”

Replacing over 3,000 lamps and ballasts earned a $21,000 incentive from the Save On Energy Retrofit program delivered by Midland Public Utilities Corporation.
“The incentive the store received covered over 75% of the project costs,” says Blaine Osmond, Energy Services Manager at Midland PUC. (Shown in photo: Michael Ferris accepting an incentive cheque from Midland PUC’s Blaine Osmond.)

“Because of the long operating hours and the incentive, the whole project had a very quick payback plus they’ll benefit from the on-going savings.”

The overall savings for the project is expected to be 135,000 kWh or the equivalent of taking 16 homes off of the grid. LED lamps’ long life span will result in a replacement schedule that is almost twice as long as the current one. Along with reducing maintenance costs the new lighting makes for a brighter store.
“We have people commenting how much brighter the store is,” says Ferris. “It’s nice when you know you’re saving money and improving the lighting.

“If replacing your lighting isn’t number one on your list, I would make it number one. It’s positive for operations expenses, for doing something right for the environment, and it makes a significant difference, especially in the retail environment.”

As the Energy Services Manager, Osmond works with businesses throughout Midland to understand how they can apply for and benefit from the different incentives available for energy efficiency.