LED swap takes off
Popular program continues at Christmas bazaar; waitlist in Fort Liard for bulbs
April Hudson
Northern News Services
Thursday, November 10, 2016
DEH CHO
Since Arctic Energy Alliance launched its LED bulb swap initiative in September, the response from the region has been extensive, according to Teresa Chilkowich, the alliance's regional community energy co-ordinator.
Teresa Chilkowich holds up a map of Fort Liard, with pins showing where people have participated in the LED light swap. In her left hand, she holds an old incandescent bulb while in her right she holds one of the new LED bulbs. - April Hudson/NNSL photo
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The 60-watt and 100-watt bulbs, given out on a first-come, first-serve basis, are more energy-efficient than the alternative incandescent bulbs and can save users up to $300 per year, according to the alliance. The LED bulbs last up to 25,000 hours and do not contain mercury.
The alliance is offering up to seven bulbs per household.
Chilkowich recently returned from Fort Liard, where she and other representatives of the alliance gave away all the bulbs the alliance had allocated for that community.
"We distributed all of what was allocated to Fort Liard," she said.
"We have a waiting list now."
The alliance is getting ready for a display at Fort Simpson's Christmas bazaar, which is scheduled for Nov. 19 at Thomas Simpson Secondary School.
There, Chilkowich hopes the program will have similar success.
"We'll be the brightest table at the bazaar," she said.
She is encouraging people to bring in their old bulbs, as well as household batteries to dispose of - waste she said the alliance is happy to divert from the landfill.
Margaret Mahon, energy management specialist with the Arctic Energy Alliance, said the program has a limited budget, although she did not specify what that budget was.
"We are aiming to reach about one third of the households in the Northwest Territories' thermal communities," she stated in an e-mail.
"If uptake in a community is not high when we do our swap-out events, we may shift some bulbs around within the region."
Fort Simpson has a total of 910 bulbs available.
The program is only running for this fiscal year, with swap-out events scheduled for all Deh Cho communities.
The alliance did not respond to questions regarding the cost of the project.
