Hometown Furniture & Mattress

After recently upgrading to energy efficient LED lighting in his Dartmouth store, Qing Chen was thrilled to see his power bill go down—and his sales figures go up. “We had the lighting replaced in July, and then we had record-breaking months in August and September because of it,” says Chen, the owner of Hometown Furniture & Mattress. “The old lighting made the store feel dark and not inviting. Now our furniture looks much better, and our customers are enjoying their shopping experience.”

Chen had been paying steep energy bills just to keep the lights on in his 10,000 sq. ft. store, and the ancient lights were dim and dreary.  It was his friend—a fellow small business owner—who suggested he reach out to Efficiency Nova Scotia and inquire about their Small Business program. “When I heard I could switch to energy efficient LED lighting and Efficiency Nova Scotia would cover up to 60 per cent of the cost, I couldn’t believe it,” says Chen.  His business saw a savings of over 13,000 kWh, which equates to an estimated savings of just over $1,200 per year—cutting the power bill nearly in half.

Chen’s employees love the new lighting, too, since it makes for a more comfortable environment and allows them to work more safely. “They thought I’d spent a lot of money to make everything so nice and bright,” says Chen. “They were so surprised to hear the new lights were actually saving us money, because the store has never looked better.”

He’s so happy with Efficiency Nova Scotia that he’s talking them up whenever he meets another small business owner. “I went to a convenience store the other day and the owner and I got to talking about power bills,” says Chen. “He was paying what I used to pay, and his store is maybe 1,000 sq. ft. and mine is 10,000 sq. ft. I said ‘That’s not right. You have to call Efficiency Nova Scotia!’” Chen is preparing to open a second Hometown Furniture & Mattress in Bayer’s Lake, and he’s already contacted Efficiency Nova Scotia to help with upgrades there, too.

While he’ll enjoy the savings on his energy bill, he says the most important reason for the upgrade is to make his store the best it can possibly be. “It’s so important for a store to have the right atmosphere,” says Chen. “You need to create a bright, welcoming environment so your customers want to browse and stay a while.”

Hometown Furniture & Mattress is enjoying the good things efficiency brings, and your business can too.

Contact our experts today and find out how.