In an effort to slash energy use and operational costs, the town of Seabrook, N.H., has converted all of its streetlights and several municipal buildings to more efficient LED lighting while the Seabrook School District recently installed a second high-efficiency natural gas boiler to replace an aging system.
To complete the work, the town and school district took advantage of cost-saving incentives provided by Unitil through NHSaves® – a collaboration of New Hampshire’s electric and natural gas utilities working together to provide customers with information, incentives, and support designed to save energy, reduce costs, and protect the environment.
“We’re pleased to work alongside the town and school district on these vital energy efficiency projects. Upgrading the lighting throughout the town and improving the school’s boiler system will provide financial benefits for years to come while reducing energy use and carbon emissions,” said Unitil External Affairs Manager Amanda Vicinanzo.
The lighting project involved the replacement of 450 streetlight fixtures with LED lights, which have wattages ranging from 18 to 150 watts compared to the 50 to 1,000 watts used by the old Mercury Vapor and High Pressure Sodium lamps.
In addition to the streetlight project, fluorescent lights were switched to LED inside a number of buildings, including the Seabrook Community Center, fire station, police station, town hall, the bath house on Ocean Boulevard, Department of Public Works, transfer station, library, water department, and at the wastewater treatment plant.
Additionally, the interior lighting is now controlled in a way that dims or shuts lights off when no one is present to save energy.
The total cost of the light conversion project was $703,524, which was offset by $167,353 in incentives.
Among other things, the lighting improvements will reduce maintenance time and lead to cost savings as the LED fixtures should be maintenance free for at least 10 years and likely longer; eliminate thousands of mercury-containing lamps from town buildings; and save space since the town will no longer have to keep cases of multiple types of fluorescent lamps on hand for replacements.
The conversion to LEDs is expected to lower the town’s annual energy consumption by an estimated 567,969 kilowatt hours.
Meanwhile, the school district, which had replaced one of its two older boilers in 2024, recently completed the replacement of its second boiler – each of which has a 97% efficiency rating and is expected to lower the school’s annual energy use by an estimated 1,315 therms.
A $4,000 incentive was provided to offset the cost of the $60,250 boiler, which was installed by American Plumbing & Heating.
Seabrook Town Manager William Manzi said the project was made economically viable, in part, by the incentives that were provided.
“The project allows Seabrook to use electricity more efficiently in a time of escalating costs, saving the taxpayers a significant amount of money and reducing our carbon footprint,” he said.