Helping the Historic Placerville Shakespeare Club Upgrade Their Lighting

Sierra Nevada Energy Watch recently had the chance to work with the Placerville Shakespeare Club, located in Historic Placerville, on an LED Lighting upgrade. The Placerville Shakespeare Club is a community group established in 1897 whose members gather often to study the work of respected literary authors. The club provides local scholarships, preserves a historic clubhouse, supports local interest initiatives and holds community events and social meetings.

Rita Batchelor, the club’s Renovation Committee Chairman, initiated the project by contacting her local Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) Representative Keith Smith. Rita stated that the club was interested in finding ways to cut down on their energy bills. That’s when Keith gave me a call at SBC and I arranged a free on-site energy audit to look for energy efficiency opportunities within the Shakespeare Club’s historic clubhouse.

Rita, Keith, and I decided to focus our efforts on the 80 incandescent light bulbs used to illuminate the Great Rooms dining and entertainment area. Rita was also interested in LED lighting because LED light bulbs exceed the life of an incandescent by an impressive factor of 10 to 1. Consolidated Electrical Distributors had the LED products and dimmers needed and local electrician Dennis Jordan of D.N.L. Electric in Rescue, CA installed the new lighting. Upon completion the Shakespeare Club will save an estimated $1,200 per year thanks to the new LED lighting!

Rita has mentioned that the light levels are improved and that “everybody loves how much brighter they are and now they can see!” She also said that “people were skeptical at first, but that the lighting turned out better than anticipated, the dimming capabilities are excellent, and the new LED’s don’t detract from the historical character of the building.” This is just one example of the many energy efficiency projects that are under way in El Dorado County under the SNEW program.

The Shakespeare Club can be rented out for weddings, receptions, concerts, dances, and events and often hosts historical presentations and art programs for the community. For more information on the Placerville Shakespeare Club contact: Doreen at 530-626-0531 or Jane at 530-622-5846. For events open to the public, click HERE.

If you are a business owner located in one of the 14 Sierra counties that SNEW serves and are interested in Energy Efficiency Upgrades give SBC a call at 530-582-4800.