LED Lighting Upgrade at Burton Tennis & Squash Club Using INUI 1000 W Sports Stadium Lights

Burton Tennis & Squash Club is a long-established community sports club in Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, offering tennis, squash, racketball and other racket sports. It’s run by its members, with profits reinvested into facilities.  

Over time, the club’s existing floodlighting for the outdoor tennis courts or any older courts needing enhanced lighting—became suboptimal. Key challenges included the following:

• Diminished brightness / uneven lighting, particularly in evenings, affecting play and safety.

• High running costs (electricity) due to older lighting technology.

• High maintenance demands (frequent bulb replacements or servicing), as older floodlights degrade or fail.

• Desire to extend usable hours for tennis matches, training and community access year-round.

Also, the club had been engaging in fundraising for new floodlights: as of mid-2025, a Crowdfunder campaign was raising funds to upgrade floodlights to provide better year-round accessibility.  

Aim & Objectives

To address these issues, the club set out an LED lighting upgrade on its outdoor tennis courts with the following goals:

1. Improve illumination quality: deliver uniform, bright lighting to meet or exceed recommended playing standards for club competition levels.

2. Reduce energy consumption and operating cost: by replacing older lighting fixtures with high-efficiency LED lights.

3. Lower maintenance costs: benefit from longer-lifespan LED fixtures, fewer failures, and less frequent replacement.

4. Enhance usage and accessibility: allow extended hours of play, especially in low light; improve safety; and attract more members / events.

5. Environmental benefits: reduce carbon footprint through lower energy use and possibly align with any local or club sustainability policy.
   

Before Images with the original 2000 W Metal Halide fittings:

Solution: INUI 1000 W Sports Stadium Lights

The club selected INUI LED as the supplier of the lighting upgrade. INUI is known for supplying high-power LED sports stadium lights, among other products, with robust optical design, long lifespan, good colour rendering, etc. (Their product range includes 1000 W sports stadium lights, among other high wattages).

The upgrade involved removing and decommissioning the old floodlights and installing INUI’s 1000 W LED Sports Stadium Light fittings on the existing tennis court poles.

Key technical features included:

• High lumen output per fixture, supporting the 1000 W class, ensuring sufficient brightness across the courts.

• Good beam optics (beam angle, asymmetric, were used for good light distribution) to ensure uniformity (i.e., minimising dark spots, glare, and overspill).

• A high colour-temperature option was selected (e.g., 5000 K) for clear visibility.

• Durable construction, suitable for outdoor exposure (weatherproofing, robust materials).

• Rear and side shield covers were also used due to the closeness of the road to the courts.

Implementation

The process followed these steps:

1. Lighting survey & design: Assessment of current lighting, mapping lux levels, defining target lighting levels (e.g., for club-level tennis, ~300-500 lux depending on league standards). Layout design plan for how many 1000 W fixtures are needed, their positioning and aiming.

2. Funding & approval: As the club was fundraising for floodlights (Crowdfunder, etc.), securing a budget. Possibly applying for grants or matching funding.

3. Decommission old lighting: Remove old lamps/fittings; ensure infrastructure (poles / supports) is suitable or upgraded.

4. Install new INUI 1000 W lights: mounting, wiring, aiming, and testing. Commissioning the system (ensuring correct alignment, checking lighting levels).

5. Testing & adjustments: After initial lighting, measure lux values at ground level; check uniformity, glare, and boundary spill; then adjust aiming or shields as needed.

6. Monitoring & feedback: Gather feedback from players and staff; measure energy usage; monitor maintenance.

Outcomes & Benefits

While specific measured data for Burton may still be being compiled, based on similar projects (for example, Widnes Tennis Club and Repton School with INUI lights) and expected gains, the likely outcomes include the following:

Results showing the new LED lighting

Qualitative feedback already received:

• Players and coaches report better visibility of the ball and less strain on the eyes.

• Club members appreciate that courts feel safer and more welcoming in the evening.

• Reduced maintenance demand: fewer bulb failures and replacements.

• Possibly attracting more fixtures/competitions due to better lighting standards.

Comparison / Reference: Widnes Case

To illustrate what similar clubs have achieved, Widnes Tennis Club replaced older floodlights with INUI’s 1000 W Sports Stadium Light fittings. Their results included:

• Running costs dropped: previous system used ~2.3 kW/hr per light for 24 lights (≈ 55.20 kW/h total) → after the upgrade the new INUI lights used ~1.03 kW/hr per light (≈ 24.72 kW/h total). That’s a reduction in running cost of around 55%.  

• Marked improvement in illumination levels on the courts.  

• Positive feedback from club leadership regarding energy savings, reduced maintenance.  

These kinds of figures give useful benchmarks for what Burton might expect.

Challenges and Lessons Learned

In applying such a project, some of the challenges and lessons likely relevant are:

• Initial capital costs: High-power LED fixtures (1000 W) are a significant upfront investment. Fundraising and financing must be carefully planned.

• Planning and design complexity: To get uniform lighting and avoid glare or light spillage, detailed optical design and aiming are essential. Pole or mounting positions, fixture angle, shielding may require adjustment.

• Structural / electrical infrastructure: Existing poles, supports, wiring may need reinforcement or upgrade to accommodate heavier or larger fixtures, or higher current.

• Regulatory / planning permissions: With high lights, there may be neighbour or planning constraints (light pollution, overspill). Ensuring compliance with local environmental / lighting / planning regulations.

• Maintenance of LEDs: While marred less than older lamps, LEDs also degrade over time and need good driver components, good sealing, etc. Choosing reputable products (like INUI) helps.

• User expectations: Brightness, flicker-free light, uniformity; need to manage expectations, ensure end result aligns with what players need (e.g. for competition vs casual play).

Return on Investment (ROI)

Though exact figures for Burton aren’t available in the public domain, extrapolating from other INUI installations:

• Energy cost savings: If similar energy reductions (≈ 50-60 %) are achieved, payback on energy savings alone could happen in a few years, depending on electricity tariff.

• Maintenance cost savings: Older lamps requiring frequent replacement, perhaps annually or more, being replaced by fixtures with much longer lifespans, reduces recurring costs.

• Increased income: More hours of play, better lighting can allow more evening bookings, tournaments, increased membership satisfaction → potentially more revenue.

• Environmental savings: Lower carbon emissions, potential eligibility for grants or subsidies for energy efficiency upgrades.

The LED lighting upgrade at Burton Tennis & Squash Club using INUI 1000 W Sports Stadium Lights represents a forward-looking investment in facility quality, sustainability, and community service. The project likely delivers:

• Much improved lighting quality for players, coaches, and visitors.

• Significant reductions in energy usage and maintenance costs.

• Extended hours of use and enhanced accessibility.

• Positive environmental impact.

For the club, such an upgrade not only improves daily operations but also strengthens its competitive and community position. 

The final checks carried out once everything was completed were to have a LUX level check across the playing areas at floor level. The results were exactly as promised, as well as future-proofing the lighting to allow for degradation over the life of the lights to still achieve the required LUX levels. This image was shown to be the same across every area of play of the courts.