The city of Lyon turned to LED lights to renew four of its fountains combine high quality and artistic lighting in line with it's strict energy saving policy.

Not a Woodhouse project, but a source of inspiration nonetheless, Woodhouse’s LED partners LEC, have collaboratively developed a range of submersible luminaires. The products were originally conceived to fulfil the specific project brief in Lyon, conscious of the difficult environmental conditions and installation challenges of public fountains, but can now be specified for submersible projects in the UK.

The improved performance of the LED sources, combined with the LEC’s product innovation, offers both a powerful economic rationale and low total cost of ownership for submersible lighting. 

Cutting Edge Technology

Initially, LEDs were too small and weak to generate the powerful lighting effect desired when submerged. However the LED has recently developed to give enough power to be an effective solution.

The additional reasoning for updating installations is now even more pertinent, with LED now preferable to energy intensive traditional lighting that local authorities are now seeking to avoid. 

Low Power Consumption

 This technology appears economical in three categories: good lighting performance, scalable power and a choice of lenses in order to focus the light effect to the desired location.

The luminaires also benefit from extremely low maintenance - the lifetime of LED is estimated at over 50,000 hours.  This is at least 5 times longer than incandescent lighting and therefore limits bulbs changes, which are particularly restrictive and expensive when it comes to fountains due to the need to empty the water. Maintenance difficulties are common to all underwater luminaires often with chemicals added to fight against limescale and harsh cleaning of the fountain from moss and leaves.

Energy Savings in Numbers

• Fountain République: 32,000 kW/h of annual savings. This is 9 times less than the original power consumption.
• Fountain Célestins: 4,222 kW/h of annual savings. This is 3 times less than the original power consumption.
• Fountain Maréchal Lyautey: 5,400 kW/h of annual savings. This is 43 times less than the original power consumption.
• Fountain Louis Pradel: 12,755 kW/h of annual savings. This is 6 times less than the original power consumption.

(Figures provided by the services dept. City of Lyon.)

Interview with Frédéric Durand - Public Lighting Manager in the city of Lyon and project leader for the fountain renovation.

What were the technical difficulties on this specific renovation site of fountains?

The renovation is always a difficult task, especially when a sealing requirement is involved. This required additional work of adaptation, covering and connection.

Why did you choose LED to upgrade the lighting of fountains in Lyon?

We have tested many solutions to compare several technologies and technical options. We chose LED for its compact size, which makes it easy to hide. The lifetime of the luminaire was also crucial as maintenance is particularly difficult in fountains. On the other hand, intensive and highly accurate beams of the LED are particularly suitable for artistic enhancement of water jets.

How would you describe your collaboration with LEC?

It was significant that the company was able to adapt to the specific needs of each fountain and performed a completely bespoke piece of customised work to fit each location. They were responsive to unexpected problems and were able to provide the perfect solution.  

Technical Considerations & Product Adaptation

The LEC range of submersible spotlights has the necessary technology to withstand the challenging environment of these structures:

• IP68 Certification, a protection class of luminaires for permanent immersion.
• IK10 solid (resistance to 20 joules) thanks to a vandal resistant window.
• Specific stainless steel coating to withstand aggressive fountain chemicals (chlorine, bleach, acids, descaling agents…).
• Thermal protection to compensate for temperature changes. The spotlights will turn off automatically in case of overheating.