No More Mercury | Energy & Cost Savings
Less Energy, More Science: What Could Your Lab Do with £6,000?
What if changing your microscope's illumination system could save enough electricity to power a home for over a year, and leave your lab with an extra £6,000 to spend?
Independent testing by Green Light Laboratories at the University of Bristol compared conventional metal halide illumination with CoolLED's pE-300lite LED Illumination System.
Over 25,000 hours, the results showed substantial savings in both energy consumption and projected running costs.
Part One | Energy
3,700 kWh. What Does That Actually Mean?
In the independent study, the metal halide system consumed approximately 4,000 kWh of electricity. The pE-300lite used just 300 kWh.
That's 3,700 kWh saved by a single microscope illumination system. To put that into perspective, here's what the same amount of electricity could power.
All examples are approximate and assume the stated appliance power consumption or usage per cycle. They illustrate the electricity saved in the independent comparison, rather than measured performance of these appliances.
If 100 microscopes achieved the same reduction, they'd collectively save 370,000 kWh, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of approximately 148 typical UK households.
That's a substantial amount of energy saved simply by changing how microscopes are illuminated.
Part Two | Money
£6,000 in Savings. What's on Your Lab's Shopping List?
Saving electricity is great. Having an extra £6,000 in your laboratory budget? Arguably even better.
The study's projected running-cost savings also include avoiding replacement metal halide bulbs. So what could that money buy instead?
Shopping comparisons use a £6,000 budget. The first four quantities are based on listed Fisher Scientific pack prices of £12.59 per 50 plain slides, £17.52 per 50 twin-frosted slides, £36.10 per 1,000 pipette tips and £45.04 per 1,000 pipette tips. The remaining examples use illustrative unit prices of £0.20 per glove, £0.15 per coverslip, £1 per tube, £0.10 per wipe, £30 per rack and £10 per notebook. These illustrative prices require supplier verification before publication. VAT, delivery and negotiated discounts may change quantities.
£6,000 could go towards new equipment, research materials, conference attendance, or perhaps the coffee machine your laboratory's been requesting for the last five years.
We won't judge. Although we'd probably recommend asking the lab manager first.
A Brighter Way Forward
Better for Your Budget. Better for the Environment.
Switching to LED illumination offers benefits beyond lower electricity bills. With no mercury-containing bulbs to replace, LED systems reduce routine maintenance and avoid mercury-related disposal concerns.
And with relevant EU RoHS exemptions for mercury-containing lamps ending on 24 February 2027, there's another reason to start planning the transition.
The independent results show what's possible. The actual savings will depend on your equipment, usage and operating costs.
NO MORE MERCURY
Ready to See What Your Lab Could Save?
Discover how switching to CoolLED illumination could reduce your energy consumption and running costs, or read the full independent Green Light Laboratories report to see the findings for yourself.
