WEST SUNBURY — Dave Stehle is all smiles when he talks about energy efficiency grants he used to upgrade the lighting in his business with LED lights, which reduced his electric bill by $300 to $400 a month.

Stehle, owner of Thompson’s Country Market and Catering in West Sunbury, received grants totaling $6,000 from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s small business advantage program and West Penn Power’s business lighting incentive program for the $10,000 lighting upgrade last year.

Stehle said he just made the final payment on the $4,000 he put toward the project.

“I did a $10,000 light upgrade, but the DEP and West Penn Power paid for $6,000 of it. I had to finance, but it’s paid off now. My electric bill is down $300-$400 a month. I’m already ahead, It’s become profit from here,” Stehle said.

The DEP grants are available to farmers and small businesses for pollution prevention, energy efficiency and natural resource protection projects.

Stehle received a $4,500 grant from the DEP program and a $1,500 grant from West Penn Power’s program, which is administered by it’s parent company, FirstEnergy. He was among five Butler County businesses that received a total of $31,117 through the DEP grant program last year.

“It was definitely worth doing. All the lights in the store and the deli were converted to LED,” Stehle said.

That included 96 8-foot bulbs and some 4-foot bulbs.

“I’m making money on savings in one year after all costs are covered. I’d say that’s a good investment. Those bulbs are guaranteed for five years. I’m smiling,” Stehle said.

Footing the replacement cost on his own would have been worth it even though it would have taken two or three years to recoup the cost of his investment, he said, but the grants made it an even better deal.

He said he learned about the grants during a visit to his shop from a sales representative of Hercules LED of Boardman, Ohio.

“He suggested he could save me a lot of money on lights, which I needed to change anyway,” Stehle said. “He helped me file (the grant application).”

The LED lights do more than reduce his electric bill.

“They’re brighter and they give off less heat. They’re a lot brighter,” Stehle said.