Reducing Energy Consumption at Two Temple Place

Powervamp was commissioned to reduce Two Temple Place‘s energy consumption using low draw LEDs and their Effekta brand emergency lighting central battery systems.

Two Temple Place is an extraordinary late Victorian mansion built by William Waldorf Astor on the Embankment, London. The house was designed for use primarily as Astor’s estate office by one of the foremost neo-Gothic architects of the late nineteenth-century, John Loughborough Pearson. Astor had emigrated to England in 1891 as arguably the richest man in the world and no expense was spared when work began on Two Temple Place in 1892.

In addition to the extraordinary, opulent interior, when it was finished in 1895, Two Temple Place contained the largest strong room in Europe as well as two other enormous fortified safes.

“The trust approached Powervamp…with a remit to reduce the building’s overall energy consumption through the replacement of the existing old style incandescent bulbs with modern low draw LEDs.”

The house is now owned by registered charity, The Bulldog Trust, and supports the charitable activities of the Trust through exhibitions and events hosted in the building.

The trust approached Powervamp, through a contractor, with a remit to reduce the building’s overall energy consumption through the replacement of the existing old style incandescent bulbs with modern low draw LEDs. A reduction in size of the current emergency lighting central battery system was also required to save further annual expense.

Sample LEDs were sent to the Powervamp Luton office for extensive testing to check the sine waves were compatible with the Effekta Range system. A minor EF5 ELI configuration change was required to cope with the characteristics of the new LEDs.

The Effekta Range engineers worked closely with the contractor from concept to completion including assisting with the electrical schematics that interfaced with the dimmer panels in the listed building. LED light fittings are increasingly being used in new-build as well as refurbish projects.

Effekta static inverters are well suited to LED installations as there is often no space for local battery packs, which are typically pushed through the ceiling cavity. This makes maintenance of these types of fittings awkward as lamps need to be removed to gain access to the battery pack. We have installed many static inverters with LED lighting connected, and have successfully dealt with a wide variety of existing set-ups (including poor power factors, high harmonics, and high inrush currents).

Powervamp used waveform diagnostics to determine how best to calibrate the EF5 for the new LED lighting.

Powervamp delivered, installed and commissioned the 3 x EF5 ELI emergency lighting central battery systems that now run the chandeliers in the east and west wings as well as the main stairs which help ensure that Two Temple Place can be further enjoyed by the general public.

For more information email sales@powervamp.com or call +44 (0) 1934 643000.