Old Town La Quinta installs LED lighting

If you’ve paid Old Town La Quinta a visit recently, you may have noticed a change in the lighting.

In late December the shopping and dining district converted its outdoor/common area lighting to energy-efficient LED lighting.

The move was made to take advantage of an Imperial Irrigation District rebate that ended at the end of 2012. The undertaking meant switching out mainly incandescent bulbs in some 800 fixtures over to LED bulbs.

“We spent about $50,000 and we got back about $18,000 from the utility which certainly helped reduce the payback period,” said Old Town La Quinta owner, Wells Marvin. “We should see a payback in a year or two on our investment and then going forward will save us money for a long time.”

By making the lighting switch, Old Town La Quinta is looking at improving its electricity efficiency on lighting by more than 80 percent.

Local charities interested in using the old bulbs, are urged to contact the Old Town La Quinta management office at 760-777-1770.