Lighting launch gets the green light at pub

It sounds like the start of a joke but at The Norfolk Arms, in Church Street, it was very serious business. On this occasion, the answer was five – all volunteers from Steyning’s 10:10 Climate Action Group. They were there in force to celebrate the switch-on of the pub’s new energy-saving LED lights. Co-ordinator Geoff Barnard said: “The new spotlights in the pub’s back room are going to save hassle for pub owner, Pam Tayler, as well as money. “They are designed to last for 30,000 hours each, which works out at more than 13 years in a pub setting, where the lights are on for at least six hours a day.” Pam added: “That’s a big selling point for me. Right now, it feels like I have to bring out the ladder every five minutes to replace a bulb that’s blown.” The action group is a local initiative aimed at making a start in cutting carbon emissions in the town. Geoff said the cash savings were impressive, as Pam would cut her electricity bill by more than £80 a year, just by switching nine bulbs. The bulbs cost £10 each but Pam is planning to gradually fit more as other bulbs go, because the action group has explained they pay for themselves in less than a year and go on saving money for years to come. The Steyning Herald first revealed the pub’s plan to go green in the December 19 edition. Geoff said: “The front-page story attracted a lot of interest from the pub’s regulars, not to mention a fair amount of ribbing for Pam, who’s not been known as a high tech innovator. “Until now that is. ‘Watts it all about Pam?’ they’re saying; ‘is this still going to be Ohm from Ohm’?” Di Croker, one of the action group’s volunteers, said the pub was a perfect place to demonstrate the benefits of LED lights. “Getting people talking about them and seeing how good they look in practice is the best way of convincing them to give them a try,” she added. James Wing, from Henfield firm Sustainables4U, chose lights bulbs with a warm light, to create a cosy atmosphere, rather than the cool daylight type, which are better in a kitchen. Steyning 10:10 paid for Pam’s first set of bulbs, as a thank you for letting them use the back room for monthly Green Drinks talks. The group is also promoting LEDs as part of its new Power Rangers scheme, where they lend householders a smart energy monitor for a week and return to look at how much electricity they are using and advise where savings could be made. Volunteer Malcolm Duke said: “People like the fact that they are getting impartial advice.” Visit www.1010steyning.org for information on the Power Ranger scheme and to download an LED fact sheet.