Less but better light: this father and sons from Wijhe counter light pollution with their business
Less but better light: this father and sons from Wijhe combat light pollution with their company
More and more companies are turning to the family business of Ton Reinders and his sons Jop and Bram for light in Wijhe. The municipality of Olst-Wijhe has also asked the company to carry out a trial with solar collectors. "Lighting houses has no function. Choose a fixture that only illuminates what you want to illuminate.''
Niek Verhoeven 15-02-23, 06:00 Last update: 15-02-23, 06:15
Olst-Wijhe in a row with (part of) the quay in Rotterdam, the Noordtunnel in Antwerp and the Afsluitdijk. If it is up to Bram (20), Jop (23) and their father Ton Reinders (62), that will happen soon. These months, on behalf of the municipality, they are conducting a trial with hybrid solar collectors on eight light points at Hubo hardware store on the Handelsweg in Wijhe. ,,Today is a beautiful sunny day. So then you don't need electricity, just like in the summer,'' says father Ton.
The site at the hardware store is around the corner from their office and warehouse on Enkweg. Father Ton has been running the company Vocare Ledlight there for twelve years, before that he traded in stoves. An acquaintance from Eindhoven did a lot with light, and that's how I got into this business.''
Record sales
And that turned out to be a good choice. Last year a record turnover was achieved by the company that deals in LED lighting. ,,Partly this has to do with the growth of our company and partly with the energy crisis, now that many companies want energy-efficient lighting'', says son Jop.
Together with his brother Bram, he has been in the company full-time since September. That also means that they are on each other's lips practically all day long. Bram: ,,My brother and I both still live at home, at the office we are one meter from each other and we are in each other's group of friends. But so far it's going well.''
The solar collectors on light points is one of three trials in Olst-Wijheom to save even more energy on top of the regular measures. In three months time it will become clear whether it pays off to deploy solar collectors on lighting points on a large scale in Olst-Wijhe. ,,At this location there are no trees and bushes that block the sun, so it is not suitable at every location. And many people want security, while solar does not give that.''
At the table with the municipality
For the family business - Jop and Bram want to take over the company from their father in five years - the success or failure of this trial is not of vital importance. They are especially happy that they are now at the table with a municipality. ,,In the future we want to go more to public lighting, which is a big market. Olst-Wijhe is also emphatically working on that and we have good quality fixtures for that,'' says Bram.
Olst-Wijhe is putting the turbo on replacing street lighting this year. According to Ton, with the choice of fixtures (a lighting device in the part that sits on top of the mast, ed.) a lot of profit can still be made. ,,Especially with fixtures around houses. You want to illuminate streets and the sidewalk, but in many cases houses are now also illuminated. That has no function. It is much better to choose a fixture that only illuminates what you want to illuminate.''
The choice of luminaires
Lighting experts are satisfied with lighting replacement in Olst-Wijhe. They scour the entire world for the best fixtures, and mainly work with one supplier from China. ,,With this we can, for example, ensure that in the evening only the minimum of 5 watts is consumed. That works as a kind of dimmer.''
That Reinders in particular advocates less light sounds a bit strange coming from a dealer in LED lighting. ,,We want to combat light pollution and provide precision lighting. We even have lamps that only shine downwards. So much light is already being wasted.''
