Client Story: Wye River General Store

Vintage LED is thrilled to announce that we are now supplying LED lighting solutions to the iconic Wye River General Store (WRGS). Those who’ve been there won’t need to be told how good this place is, while those who haven’t should make their business to find out immediately. Seriously, go now: we'll wait.

You're back? Excellent. Those with a keen eye might have noticed that Wye River General Store has 25 light-fittings in its main café / restaurant space. Previously these were filled with 25W halogen bulbs, as part of the original architect brief.

Halogen bulbs, let it be said, are a fine product in their own right. Unfortunately they are not efficient and have a poor life expectancy, needing to be replaced every 1500hrs or so.

The primary issue for WRGS was the cost of running halogen bulbs, including frequent replacement. They were regularly failing. When it comes to cafes, old tap fittings can seem quaint and peeling paint might be atmospheric, but blown light bulbs rarely promote the right look. There was also the cost of replacing them all the time. Halogen bulbs are per-unit cheaper than LEDs, but not when you’re constantly buying more of them.

WRGS now uses 3W Vintage Edison LED bulbs supplied by Vintage LED. These not only look better - a subjective opinion, but one we share - they also draw significantly less power. This translates into significant savings to both energy and cost, especially since energy costs are typically higher in regional areas than in metropolitan areas.

Using the handy Usage Calculator on the Vintage LED website, we worked out that over the first three years after switching, WRGS will save more than 50% of their total lighting costs. The initial outlay for the LED bulbs will be recouped within one year. 

Don't forget that WRGS were previously using highly efficient halogen bulbs. If they'd been using those ubiquitous vintage carbon filament Edison bulbs now installed in just about every Melbourne cafe, the savings would have been far higher.

So now this beautiful café, to which food-lovers flock from near and far, has a lighting solution worthy of it's stunning location. They look better and cost less, whilst being better for the Earth. Furthermore, since LED bulbs last for many years, WRGS doesn't have to worry about the cost and hassle of constantly replacing them.

We also highly recommend their donuts, and the crew are nice dudes to boot.