LED Lighting project
The museum has been undergoing an extensive lighting refit for the last couple of years, culminating in a launch of the finished relighting in 2014.
Why LEDs?
Modern Light-Emitting Diode (LED) technology has a number of advantages over the incandescents and fluorescent lighting that was previously in use. LEDs are physically small, and produce less waste heat per quantity of illumination. This makes them cheaper to run and more environmentally friendly, but it also means that we can use higher illumination levels while keeping the cabinets temperature-controlled.
LEDs are also safer, not just because of the heat issues, but because they don't generate the nasty ultraviolet ("UV") light that usually leaks out of fluorescent lamps, and which can fade delicate dyes, inks and and paints.
The museum space is now much brighter and airy-feeling, and a number of visitors have commented that they believed that we'd gained extra floor space since their last visit!
