by Shane Henson — August 9, 2013—The constant buzzing and flickering of fluorescent lights can be a distraction to anyone, but especially to young children trying to learn. This seemed to be the case particularly for special education students in four classrooms at Cherokee Elementary School in Scottsdale, Arizona, who, after being given new light-emitting diode (LED) lights to learn under, did not appear as distracted, teachers found.
“Apparently Special Ed. children, especially those in the autistic spectrum, are often bothered by the continuous flicker and buzzing of the fluorescent fixtures, so school officials decided to replace them with LED fixtures,” said Charlie Bowers, Project Manager for Centennial Contractors. “This retrofit project was a pilot program for the school and has been very well received by the faculty and the district.”
The lights selected came from MaxLite, a U.S.-based lighting manufacturer that offers an extensive line of indoor and outdoor lighting fixtures featuring LED luminaires and lamps using the latest state-of-the-art LED technology. Cherokee Elementary School replaced 69 2’x4′ fluorescent fixtures with 60 of MaxLite’s 2’x2′ Direct Lit LED Flat Panels in the four classrooms.
MaxLite’s LEDs helped provide a quieter, calmer environment for children at Cherokee Elementary School.
In addition to providing a quieter learning environment, the new LEDs are expected to save nearly 60 percent in energy consumption, plus additional reductions in maintenance costs since these panels are designed to last 50,000 hours or up to 13 years, says MaxLite.
For additional savings, the school received utility rebates for the energy conservation measures, which is helping to offset the cost of the lighting retrofit. Augmenting the need for fewer fixtures to provide the needed light, the LED luminaires use less ceiling space while illuminating the same amount of area inside the classrooms. In addition and very important in this case, the fixtures are fully dimmable, with a hand-held infrared device so teachers can adjust the lighting levels to meet the changing needs in the classroom, adds MaxLite.
