Hungary’s Esterháza palace installs energy-saving LED lights

With an average 80,000 visitors a year, Esterháza palace is one of the most beautiful baroque buildings in Europe. Following a major restoration project, the iconic property, commissioned by Prince Nikolaus Esterházy in the 18th century, has recently recaptured much of its original grandeur.

Last year, the palace’s executive management team, in partnership with Hungary’s National Trust of Monuments, decided to replace incandescent bulbs and halogen lamps with modern LED lighting from Verbatim. This was an ambitious project considering the palace has 126 rooms and many of the areas were lit with antique crystal chandeliers.

The lighting replacement project has now been successfully completed in 20 of the palace’s exhibition rooms, 12 apartment suites and their connecting foyers and halls. Verbatim LED lighting has now been fitted in the residential suites, the mirror-walled Assembly Hall, and the Music Hall - where Austrian composer Joseph Haydn first presented many of his classical compositions.

With this upgrade, the palace is expected to save around $32,000 based on 10 hours of daily use and the European average electricity cost of $0.25/kWh.

As a result of the chandelier lighting upgrade alone, over 1250 incandescent candle bulbs have been replaced with LEDs in addition to more than 200 droplet and spotlights in other fixtures. Compared to the previous bulbs, the 3.7 W Verbatim LED candles are said to consume less than a fifth of the energy while offering brightness at 90 lumens. The LED bulbs are also said to last 30 times longer, up to 30,000 hours. Besides boasting high energy efficiency and a long service life, the LEDs ensure greater flexibility with dimming control, variance in beam angles and warm white light at either 2700 or 3000 K.

Lighting can play a major role in extending visitor comfort and satisfaction. Creating a more enjoyable visitor experience can increase ‘dwell time’ and facilitate higher spend on site, word of mouth recommendations and repeat visits. While the switch to LED lighting is not always so noticeable, in some areas it delivers far less glare and softer, warmer accents.

Special attention was paid to the palace’s oval chapel graced with mural ornaments interspaced between the ceiling frescoes. Verbatim’s LED lamps safeguard sensitive paintings and sculpture from possible UV and IR damage and emit a uniform illumination onto individual target areas to enhance how such art is viewed and to ensure the best possible experience for visitors.

The management of the Esterháza palace was satisfied with the decision to switch to Verbatim’s LED lighting. “With the substantial money saved each year from the lighting upgrade, we can choose to invest more towards the preservation of the palace and improve the services we offer to visitors. It is comforting to know the palace has reduced its carbon footprint yet the baroque spaces shine as well as they ever have before,” said Ágota Dobó, deputy director of Hungary’s National Trust of Monuments. “It was an honour to provide an energy-saving lighting solution to a special place with such a magnificent historical past,” said Jeanine Chrobak-Kando, EUMEA Business Development Manager - Lighting, Verbatim.