High energy prices in 2022 prompted Oskarshamn's municipal politicians to question how they could reduce energy consumption in the municipality's buildings. One year later, old fluorescent tubes have been replaced in the municipality's 12 sports halls. Modern LED technology, in the form of the industrial luminaire Helags from Aura Light, replaces the old lighting. The replacement results in a cost savings of more than 500,000 SEK per year.

We had old lighting fixtures with T8 fluorescent tubes almost everywhere in our sports halls; these have now been replaced with the Helags luminaire. The possibility to change the LED modules and driver has influenced the decision because it aligns with the municipality's sustainability strategies: to make use of and renovate instead of discarding and buying new.
    – We wanted to lead by example by moving away from mercury lamps and other elements that were previously present in our properties, says Jonas Sjöberg, who is the operations manager in Oskarshamn Municipality.
Considering that the phase-out of T5, T8, and compact fluorescent tubes had begun, the real estate department made an early decision to focus on lighting, primarily in sports halls because these premises are extensively used by the public.

However, the cost is not the major part; we see many other benefits as well. The lighting fixtures are positioned very high and are difficult to reach. With the LED solution, we avoid having to change fluorescent tubes as frequently. We now spend significantly fewer work hours on checking fluorescent tube lighting fixtures, and LED is also safer from a fire safety perspective. The premises also have more even and better lighting, while at the same time, we achieve substantial energy savings. Previously, we had an electricity consumption of 19 kWh at maximum lighting in the A-hall at Oskarsgymnasiet. With the new Helags luminaire, the consumption has dropped to 8 kWh. We are very pleased with this result. The calculations we have made for all 12 halls show an average halving of consumption.
    – The payback period is more challenging to calculate as the electricity price varies. When we initiated the project in 2022, considering the price structure at that time, the payback period was estimated to be 2-3 years. With the current lower electricity prices, it is probably more in the range of 3-5 years, continues Jonas Sjöberg.

The choice of Aura Light is due to an existing procurement agreement. The collaboration has worked well, and we have received excellent assistance, especially in fast-paced transactions. With that experience and a tight project timeline, it was an easy decision. Aura Light started by conducting a lighting measurement in our premises. The aim was to reduce the number of lighting fixtures while still meeting the lighting requirements for various sports. The lighting requirements include both the minimum standards for school halls and the specifications for league play in different team sports. Aura Light assisted in defining these requirements and has also conducted measurements afterward to ensure that we meet the standards.

We have been able to reduce the number of lighting fixtures somewhat, but in most cases, it still ended up being a one-to-one replacement. This is due to the high ceiling height and size of the halls. The walls are not always optimal for the light reflection we desire. Today, we have presence-controlled lighting with push-button dimmers in almost all of our halls, but in the future, we will have control via DALI. The next step in savings is to limit usage during the daytime, so full lighting cannot be used, only operating at the lowest necessary power during school days.
    – What we appreciate about Aura Light is the holistic approach: we present a problem, and Aura Light comes up with proposed solutions, concludes Jonas Sjöberg.