Cardiff Castle Lighting

The castle is located in the city center of Wales, with a history of 2,000 years, surrounded by green gardens. Cardiff Castle is the most popular tourist attraction in Wales and is open to the public all year round. Visitors can experience attractions such as luxuriously decorated castle apartments, Norman keeps, wall passages, and wartime shelters.

This ancient Roman castle was built in 50 AD and later rebuilt into a military fortress by the Normans. During the Victorian era, the castle became a masterpiece of Gothic architecture. The castle was sold to the city of Cardiff by the Bute family in 1947, and since then a prolonged renovation project has been carried out. The renovation cost 9.8 million euros, of which the Heritage Lottery Fund raised 7 million euros, while Cadw (the historic environment service of the Welsh Government) and Visit Wales also provided additional financial support.

The castle conservation project covers a wide range, from minor Roman brickwork repairs to major renovations and refurbishments of the luxurious mansions within the city. In response to Cardiff City Council's continuous improvement of energy efficiency and sustainability in non-residential buildings (planning to reduce citywide carbon dioxide emissions by 60% before 2018), the Castle Management Office and the City Council's Energy Efficiency Management Team are committed to enhancing the castle's energy efficiency.

Following an assessment of the lighting scheme, the castle proposed replacing all light bulbs with energy-saving lamps and LED lights to achieve significant energy saving benefits. Cardiff Council's main concern was whether the new lighting scheme would be compatible with the quaint interior style and present the castle architecture and artworks in their best light. In achieving energy efficiency goals, the management team selected 117 Megaman® light bulbs for the banquet hall chandeliers and 415 light bulbs for the castle villas, with Megaman® playing a crucial role. Megaman® light bulbs promise an average life of at least three years (25 times that of traditional tungsten filament lamps). Furthermore, they offer outstanding lighting effects, low maintenance costs and heat dissipation, and minimal ultraviolet and infrared radiation, perfectly aligning with the castle's requirements for aesthetics, energy saving, and sustainable lighting.

The castle renovation project adopted Megaman® 5W transparent candle-shaped light bulbs, 8W GU10 LED lights, 15W GU10 LED AR111 reflector lamps, and 18W Classic Series energy-saving lamps. The Megaman® 5W LED candle series light bulbs have a luminous output of up to 270 lumens and a Color rendering index of up to 80, with dimensions similar to 24W candle-shaped tungsten filament lamps. The Luminance effect rivals that of traditional candle-shaped tungsten bulbs, making them highly recommended for heritage buildings. Additionally, Megaman® directional light bulbs are used for lighting historical interior artifacts and artworks, creating magnificent and high-quality lighting intensity. The Megaman® 8W GU10 dimmable LED PAR16 reflector lamps and 15W LED AR111 reflector lamp series are the ideal replacements for 20W and 50W quartz lamps. Megaman® reflector lamps not only offer outstanding Color rendering (Ra80 for 8W GU10 bulbs, Ra92 for 15W AR111 bulbs) but are also durable and long-lasting, making them the preferred choice for Cardiff Castle Villas.

Megaman® light bulbs not only create a warm and pleasant lighting effect for the castle but also significantly reduce the Council's annual energy consumption costs, lowering the castle's maintenance costs and downtime. After the completion of all lighting installation works, it is estimated that €17,500 in electricity bills will be saved annually, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by over 108,800 kg*. Given the outstanding lighting effects, Cardiff Council is considering adopting Megaman® LED and energy-saving lamp technology for all historical artifacts across the city.

*Energy consumption calculations are based on €0.09895 per kWh and 0.616 kg of carbon dioxide emissions per kWh.