Hobie Cat has completed a lighting retrofit that will save about $24,000 in annual energy costs. The Oceanside, Calif. company manufactures kayaks and catamaran sailboats and has more than 100,000 vessels on the sea. The retrofit cut Hobie Cat’s lighting energy consumption by about 20 percent
The retrofit replaced High Intensity Discharge lights with two types of new, energy-saving lights: high-bay fixture lights, which feature six T8 fluorescent lamps, and low-bay fixtures lights which feature four T8 fluorescent lamps which “created a lighter and brighter environment, focusing on illuminating the sail loft, where our sails are built,” says Hugh Greenwald, Hobie Cat’s VP of operations. “The workers in this area sew custom Hobie Cat sails by hand. This type of precise hand-craft work requires great precision – and the best possible illumination.”
The project reduced Hobie Cat’s energy consumption by 166,011 kWh and 53.2 KW demand with a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 365,224 lbs per year, sulfur dioxide emissions by 2,656 pounds per year and nitrous oxide emissions by 11,454 pounds a year.
The work was done by Progressive Lighting & Energy Solutions. Hobie Cat received a rebate from San Diego Gas & Electric’s Express Efficiency program.