by James Scott | May 21, 2021
Prolite’s New Solar Lights illuminate Grimsthorpe Castle’s new car park ready for the start of the season.
The Prolite Project team have recently been involved in the design and installation of solar lighting to illuminate the new car park at Grimsthorpe Castle, Lincolnshire.
During the 2020 season when Grimsthorpe Castle, park and gardens was unable to open due to the Covid-19 pandemic the team at Grimsthorpe worked hard on improving the visitor experience when visiting during the open season. Part of this new plan was to establish a larger car park to support the growing number of visitors that the Castle receives annually as well as events in the Castle’s grounds.
Following the success of the work that Prolite did illuminating the interior and exterior of the castle Grimsthorpe Castle – Prolite Lamps (prolite-lamps.co.uk) the Prolite team was once again consulted for advice on the car park lighting.
Initially the plan was to install mains powered lighting. However, the costs of doing this were prohibitive, so the Prolite team designed a system of solar powered lighting for the whole car park area using Prolite’s new 15W high efficiency solar light system that produces over 3000 lumens per fitting.
The solar lighting system was installed with beam control optics to minimise light pollution onto the nearby road whilst optimally illuminating the whole car park area. An internet based control system is available to manage the levels of illumination required and the times at which the lights operate. As with all Prolite Projects the team completed a full lighting design of the car part to confirm LUX levels post installation prior to the project going ahead ensuring that the Grimsthorpe Castle management would be happy with the end result.
This project represents a combination of excellent lighting design combined with new technologies and efficient light sources to create a sustainable, energy efficient lighting system to support Grimsthorpe Castle’s new car park for many years to come.
Once again the professionals of Prolite considered the problem and produced a cost effective solution incorporating the latest technology and designs which seamlessly fits into a grade 1 listed parkland.
Managing Trustee, Grimsthorpe and Drummond Castle Trust
CASE STUDIES CARRIED OUT BY THE PROLITE PROJECT TEAM
by James Scott | Feb 21, 2021
A Wonderful Castle in the heart of Lincolnshire. Grimsthorpe Castle is a historic house that lies within a 3000 acre park of rolling pastures, lakes and woodland landscaped by Capability Brown.
Grimsthorpe Castle is a beautiful stately home set in stunning countryside near Bourne in Lincolnshire. The castle is the centrepiece of the estate and is a large quadrangular house with a central courtyard. Each section of the house has a different appearance, reflecting the different architectural styles that have been employed here since building began in the 13th century.
Grimsthorpe has been the home of the de Eresby family since 1516 when it was granted by Henry VIII to the 11th Baron Willoughby de Eresby on the occasion of his marriage to Maria de Salinas, lady-in-waiting to Queen Katherine of Aragon. It is now owned and managed by The Grimsthorpe & Dummond Castle trust.
The Castle collection includes tapestries, furniture, ceramics and paintings. Many are on display in the State rooms where the shutters and curtains are closed to ensure that the fragile contents in the rooms are protected from direct sunlight.
There are many lights within the rooms to create an intimate and home-like atmosphere and to display the contents to the many visitors the castle receives each year.
The numerous chandeliers and standard lamps consume a vast amount of energy annually. The problem the trust needed to overcome was how to save energy whilst maintaining the aesthetics of the standard incandescent lamps and visually displaying the exhibits of the room to maximum effect.
The Prolite Projects team conducted an energy survey at the castle to identify potential energy savings that could be achieved through an LED upgrade installation throughout the castle.
By upgrading the standard power hungry incandescent lamps to Prolite’s new range of aesthetically pleasing LED filament lamps the energy usage in the rooms where lamps have been changed has reduced by over 95%.
The return on investment for the Castle was achieved in less than 3 months! The 2 year product warranty offered by Prolite ensures that the savings will be made time and time again.
The Prolite Projects Team undertook a comprehensive survey of Grimsthorpe Castle’s lighting requirements, identified the savings and then delivered a quality product on time and within budget.
Annual Electricity Bill Before
Annual Electricity Bill After
Return on investment was achieved within less than three months
CASE STUDIES CARRIED OUT BY THE PROLITE PROJECT TEAM
