Your warehouse or distribution center is the heart of your entire operation, the place where you complete projects and fulfill contracts. Efficiency and productivity are crucial in a warehouse. And for your employees to be efficient and productive, the environment they work in must be conducive. Having LED lighting in your warehouse is the starting point to enhancing safety and boosting employee productivity. While LED technology is known for the savings it offers, one of its lesser-known benefits is boosting safety. Today, we’ll be looking at 5 ways LED lighting can enhance warehouse safety. 1. It Improves Visibility, Resulting in Fewer AccidentsOne of the less discussed benefits of LED lighting is the significant decrease in fire hazard risk realized when fluorescents or high intensity discharge lights are replaced with LEDs. Since LEDs pull very little electricity and produce very little heat, they are less likely to cause any type of fire. Traditional lights waste a lot of energy as they emit 95% of the electricity they draw as heat. On the other hand, LEDs only emit 5% electricity as heat and convert 95% into light. Because traditional lights waste so much energy, they tend to get very hot. Try putting your hand close to any conventional light bulb and it can easily burn your skin. And because your hand has a different temperature, the temperature change might cause the bulb’s glass to shatter. If traditional lights are installed incorrectly, recessed into a wall’s plaster without adequate ventilation, or left touching other materials, the heat they produce can easily cause fires. LED lights consume about one-tenth of the electricity conventional lights consume and produce the same amount of lumens (or even more). They produce very little heat and do not pose a fire hazard. 2. Decreased Work ErrorsBad lighting can cause headaches, eye strain, and poor posture. When employees are not comfortable, their concentration decreases, which affects their productivity. They are less alert and energetic and can easily make mistakes that will have a negative impact on your business or jeopardize their safety. A light’s color temperature determines how people see objects and also impacts their mood and productivity. LED lights for a warehouse must have a color temperature between 4000K and 5000K. These lights produce bright white light that is very similar to natural light. Get such lights for your warehouse and create a happier, productive work environment for your employees. They will find it easy to read high shelving labels and stack products properly. Shipping mistakes will also be reduced as workers will be able to read small package labels. 3. Cools Down a WarehouseThe high heat produced by traditional fixtures can cause a warehouse’s temperature to fluctuate. For instance, a warehouse may be very cool in the morning and very warm and stuffy in the afternoon. These drastic temperature changes can have a very negative impact on employee productivity. In addition, conventional lights make the air conditioning to work extra hard to decrease the heat they produce, which means your energy bill will go through the roof. LEDs are designed to operate at lower temperatures and do not cause drastic temperature changes in spaces. 4. Reduces Damage to Property and Loss of ProductsThe products you store in your warehouse can make or break your business. If products get damaged or lost, your business’ bottom line will be negatively impacted. If your warehouse functions as a distribution center, you can be held liable if your customers’ products get lost or damaged. The last thing you want is your business to suffer because of bad lighting. Since LED lights are bright and powerful, they illuminate dim corners, high shelves, and back aisles. This means your workers will easily locate products (you may have thought were lost) in the dark corners of your warehouse. LED Lighting will also ensure that your employees do not waste a lot of time searching for items that are close by. With LED lighting, your workers will be able to organize products properly (which will ensure they don’t get damaged) and those packing them for shipping will be able to find them easily (as no product will be lost). 5. Lower Chances of Forklifts Causing AccidentsModern warehouses are hectic places filled with a lot of activity. Most hold very many products in order to make the most revenue, which means workers are always in a hurry to do their jobs. Forklift drivers are some of the busiest people in a warehouse as they are always organizing and rearranging products. They are always moving around in tight warehouse aisles and quickly loading and offloading products. Even the best forklift drivers hurry up to get the job done, exceeding the set speed limits in the process. If a warehouse is poorly lit, forklift drivers can easily hit other workers or crash into products and damage them. LED lights make sure that forklift drivers see everything clearly, be it their fellow workers or objects. They can easily steer clear of them and avert disaster. Switch to LED Technology TodayIf you’re still using conventional lighting systems in your warehouse, we hope we’ve convinced you to make the switch. Create a safe work environment for your employees and take your business to the next level. LED lighting creates a win-win situation: it saves you money and protects your employees and products. That’s why upgrading to LED needs no contemplation. from https://www.thelightingcenter.com/how-led-lighting-improves-warehouse-safety/
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One thing we’ve said time and again is that upgrading to LED technology is the best decision you’ll ever make. However, making the decision to switch to LED is only half the battle. Once you’ve made up your mind, there is another important decision to make: to either retrofit your current fixtures or buy new fixtures. If you’re a business owner or a decision-maker, we know there’s nothing you want more than to save your company money. You may also be looking to lower your company’s environmental footprint and help save the environment. It makes financial sense to retrofit your existing fixtures as retrofits offer the same benefits as new fixtures. Retrofitting can help you to save money and also impact your business’ bottom line positively – because good lighting increases employee productivity. Just by replacing traditional lighting fixtures with LEDs, you can lower energy consumption by up to 75%. Add lighting controls and energy consumption will go down even more – by up to 90%. Because we want to clear any doubts about retrofitting, let us discuss how it differs from a full fixture replacement. What Is Retrofitting? Retrofitting means adding something that wasn’t part of the original structure. In lighting, it means replacing conventional lamps and ballasts with LEDs without getting rid of the existing fixtures. Retrofitting is recommended if a building’s fixtures are in good working condition. What Is A Full Fixture Replacement (A Full Redesign)? This means getting rid of traditional lamps, ballasts, and fixtures and replacing them with new LED fixtures. It is worth noting that a full redesign is more expensive than retrofitting and is only recommended if the existing lighting fixtures are dysfunctional, completely enclosed, if a building is new (and the lighting system hasn’t been installed), or if a building is getting remodeled. Retrofitting is the most economical way of switching to LED. Here are 4 of its benefits. 1. Low Upfront CostsOne of the reasons many businesses put off switching to LED technology is because of the associated costs. Yes, LEDs were very costly when they were first introduced to the market, but this is no longer the case, especially if you choose retrofits. Sure, retrofitting requires an initial investment. However, the kits are cheaper than new LED fixtures. Their installation costs are also lower as electricians don’t take a lot of time fixing them. Retrofits are designed as direct replacements of conventional lighting technologies. They fit perfectly into existing fixtures and offer all the benefits of LED technology for a fraction of the cost. What’s more, you may end up paying a lot less for retrofits as the government and some utilities offer incentives, rebates, grants, and programs that further decrease the upfront costs. 2. Reduced Maintenance CostsOne of the biggest downsides of high intensity discharge lamps is their high maintenance costs. They have very short life expectancies and a very high rate of lumen depreciation so they usually have to be replaced before they reach the end of their lives. Because replacing these lights is a time-consuming process, electricians usually change them all together as changing individual fixtures can be quite expensive. LEDs have very low maintenance costs as they have the longest lifespans of all lighting technologies. Their shortest lifespan is 50,000 hours, which means you can use them for years without having to replace them. They also retain 70% of their brightness for their entire lives and don’t have to be replaced before their lifetimes come to an end. 3. A Great Way to Future-Proof BuildingsFuture-proofing is a general term that can refer to infrastructure, buildings, cities, communities, countries, or even the whole planet. When it comes to buildings, future-proofing means changing a building with an aim of maximizing its whole life value when confronted with unpredictable, ongoing change. Change is inevitable and the lighting systems that were used 10 years ago are no longer popular today. This is why it is so important to future-proof your building, because like it or not, you’ll have to change it one day. As environmental pollution continues to have a negative impact on our planet, governments pass new laws that require buildings to become energy-efficient. If there ever comes a time when your building doesn’t meet a new energy demand, it may be demolished or you may have to redesign it. That’s why we recommend retrofitting. It makes your building energy-efficient and prolongs its lifespan. 4. Less WasteLED lights are designed to last. When you upgrade your lighting to LED, you may end up purchasing fewer lights as new generation LEDs have a high luminous efficacy – they produce more lumens for each watt of electricity they consume. Since LEDs have a long lifespan, you won’t have to replace them for years, which means fewer materials will end up in landfills. LED fixture retrofits use fewer materials than new fixtures. This lowers the total system cost and the quantity of materials that need to be recycled or thrown away. Fluorescent lamps and some HIDs contain mercury which can be harmful to the environment if it is not disposed of properly. Changing to mercury-free LEDs and using fewer light bulbs means reducing waste and conserving resources. The Takeaway…While retrofitting has a myriad of benefits, we’ve decided to focus on these four today. Don’t ever believe the lie that retrofits are not as good as new LED fixtures. This may just be a fabrication created by dishonest manufacturers looking to make a quick buck. At The Lighting Center, we sell both retrofits and new fixtures so you can be sure we’re not trying to promote one product over the other. The retrofit kits we sell are just as good as the new LED fixtures. Talk to us today and we’ll help you choose the best kits for your building. from https://www.thelightingcenter.com/4-amazing-reasons-to-retrofit-your-traditional-lighting-fixtures/ “Warehouse lighting is a necessary cost that our company has to bear. There are no savings to be made and the best thing we can do is keep expenditure to a minimum.” If this is what you’re thinking, we completely disagree with you. Your warehouse lighting doesn’t have to impact your business’ bottom line negatively. Yes, warehouses require many bright lights because they have high ceilings, very few windows, high shelves, and large floors. But they can be well-lit without driving up an electric bill. A warehouse’s lighting system must do the following:
According to the Department of Labor (DOL) slips, falls, and trips are the top general industrial accidents. If the lights in your warehouse don’t boost safety, workers will get injured and take days off work – which will affect your business. If they don’t increase productivity, your workers won’t be alert or energetic – and your business will suffer. When buying lighting for your warehouse, you may be confused by all the available options. In this post, we’ll be discussing the pros and cons of different warehouse lights. It is very easy to make a poor purchase decision if you’re misinformed. Use the tips we’ve provided here to get the right lights for your warehouse. Choose the Proper Lighting SystemThere are three common types of lights used in warehouses: high intensity discharge lights, fluorescent lights, and LED lights. And while most warehouse owners and managers have upgraded their lighting systems to LED, some warehouses still feature HID lights and fluorescents. Let’s discuss each of these lights in detail. HID LightsHID technology generates light by passing a current between two electrodes secured inside a bulb with ionized gas. There are different types of HID bulbs and they are all named after the gas they contain. Some bulbs use sodium, others mercury, and others metal halide. HID bulbs are more efficient than halogen bulbs. However, even the brightest HID bulbs do not emit very powerful light. High pressure sodium lights give off very yellow light and metal halides do not produce bright white light, even though their light is better than that of HPS lamps Pros
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Fluorescent LightsThe first fluorescent lamp was developed by four scientists at General Electric in the year 1934. And while the light has both admirers and critics, there’s no denying the fact that it is better than a HID lamp. For a fluorescent to produce light, an electric current triggers the mercury vapor which generates ultraviolet light, causing a phosphor coating on the lamp’s interior to glow. Fluorescent lights have 2 advantages over HID lights: They consume less electricity and have more color temperature options (their color temperature ranges between 2700K and 6500K). But these lights are not free of flaws. They don’t function well in very hot or very cold areas and their lifetimes can drastically decrease if they are used in such areas. Their life expectancies can also go down if they are constantly switched on and off. Pros
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LED LightsLED stands for light emitting diode. LEDs produce light by exciting semiconductors, causing them to release light particles. The first visible spectrum LED (one that produced light that could be seen by the human eye) was invented by Nick Holonyak in 1962 as he worked for General Electric. LEDs consume the least energy of all lighting systems and produce better light because they have a greater color temperature range (2700K-6500K). LEDs are also popular because of their flexibility of design. They don’t emit a lot of heat and are cool to the touch. Pros
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Just by looking at the pros and cons of each lighting technology, it’s easy to see LEDs are the best. When buying the lights, here are some things you need to consider. Determine How Bright You Want Your Warehouse to BeOne thing you may not be aware of is that the color of your warehouse’s ceiling and walls can determine the amount of light needed in the place. For instance, a warehouse with white walls and a white ceiling doesn’t need very bright lights as white paint reflects light, making a place look brighter. However, a warehouse with gray walls and a white ceiling needs brighter lights as gray paint doesn’t reflect light very well. If you paint your warehouse’s walls and ceiling white, you may not need to get LEDs that produce a lot of lumens. And if the LEDs consume very few watts, they will significantly reduce the lighting part of your electric bill. If your warehouse has skylights, you can save even more energy by switching off all the lights on sunny days. Pay Close Attention to the Color TemperatureColor temperature usually describes the appearance of the light produced by light bulbs. It enables us to know how the light produced by a bulb will look and feel. The Kelvin scale is used to measure color temperature as it is very accurate at measuring extremely cold or hot things. Light bulbs with a color temperature between 2000K and 3000K are “warm” and their light color ranges between orange and yellow-white. Those with a color temperature between 3100K and 4500K are “cool” or “bright” and produce neutral white light that may have a blue tint. Light bulbs with a color temperature above 4500K generate blue-white light that is similar to daylight. Optics Are Very ImportantIn order to make maximum revenue per square foot, modern warehouses have very high ceilings and narrow aisles. Old lighting technologies dispense light sideways and downwards. Because they have wide beam angles, they waste a lot of light by delivering it where it isn’t needed. Most new LEDs incorporate optics for better performance. Optics shape and focus the light LEDs produce, dictating the illumination pattern. They can make the difference between mediocre and great lighting in a warehouse. They ensure LEDs deliver narrow beam angles which are perfect for high warehouse ceilings and racking systems. Lighting experts use photometry to determine the foot candles needed in a warehouse and how the light should be distributed across the entire surface. The Lighting Centre can conduct a free lighting audit to determine the best optics for your warehouse. Don’t Forget Lighting ControlsLighting controls have significantly changed the way energy is used as they make sure that lights are only on when it’s necessary. They are part and parcel of every great lighting design as they automatically regulate the light output. One of the best things about LEDs is that they work well with all types of lighting controls – from occupancy sensors to dimmers. You can significantly reduce the energy consumption of your warehouse by installing different lighting controls in different rooms. For example, you can install motion sensors in the lights outside your warehouse and occupancy sensors in the busy areas of the warehouse. The Fixtures Must Be Properly SpacedThe placement of the lighting fixtures in your warehouse should be just right. Place them too close to each other and they will cause glare and make it difficult for your employees to work, affecting their productivity in the process. Light fixtures that are too close may also create bright spots as their light may overlap. Fixtures that are too far apart can cause dark spots in a warehouse as some areas will lack light. A lighting designer can recommend the best placement for light fixtures and help you to steer clear of issues like glare, bright spots, and dark spots. from https://www.thelightingcenter.com/selecting-the-perfect-lighting-for-a-warehouse/ The pole-mounted lights usually seen in parking lots across the country can offer building managers and property owners many excellent benefits if the traditional lamps are replaced with LEDs. LEDs operate differently from conventional lighting systems in the way they produce light and distribute it. While traditional lighting systems like HID lamps use fuel sources to generate light, LEDs use semiconductors. LEDs have multiple diodes with separate optics and distribute light evenly across surfaces. If your main reason for switching to LED technology is to save money, here are three ways you’ll achieve your goal. Energy SavingsThe biggest money-saver of LEDs is their low energy consumption. This is the major reason why facility managers and property owners embrace LED lighting. LEDs consume less than half of the electricity conventional lighting systems consume and generate higher-quality light. Let us give you a short example. High pressure sodium and metal halide parking lot lights usually have wattages between 250 and 1000. However, they also need ballasts to regulate their voltage and current. Ballasts consume about 15% of the electricity HID lights consume. The wattage of LED parking lot light fixtures is usually between 65 and 450 and they don’t need ballasts. As soon as traditional lights are replaced with LEDs, energy consumption instantly goes down by up to 75%. Add lighting controls and you can reduce energy consumption by up to 90%. Each LED fixture can save you between $100 and $400 every year. If your parking lot has many lights, you can save thousands of dollars every year and recoup your investment in a very short time. Maintenance Cost ReductionOne of the best features of LEDs has to be their low-maintenance, which boils down to the way they produce light. As we said earlier, LEDs use semiconductors to generate light, hence their light output decreases gradually over time. Because of the way they are designed, LEDs have a very long lifespan, which means you don’t have to replace the bulbs for years. HID lights, on the other hand, use a fuel source to emit light. As the fuel gets used up, the lights’ functionality decreases. To service or change parking lot lights, electricians and electrical contractors use bucket trucks or lifts. But since LEDs have such long lifespans, they don’t have to be serviced every now and then. You will save money you would have spent paying electrical contractors to service or change the lights. You Won’t Need As Many FixturesMost parking lot lighting poles usually have 1-2 lighting fixtures while those in busy areas may have up to 4 fixtures. When using traditional lighting systems, you may need more fixtures to ensure your parking lot is well lit at night – as they lose their brightness very fast. However, since LEDs produce higher-quality light, you may only need a few fixtures to produce the same amount of light (lumens) produced by the conventional lights. LEDs also discharge light through a multipoint design which ensures the light is evenly distributed across a surface – in this case a parking lot. from https://www.thelightingcenter.com/3-ways-you-will-save-money-with-led-parking-lot-lights/ According to research, lighting consumes almost 20% of the electricity in commercial properties. Businesses and companies are always looking to improve the energy efficiency of their lighting systems in order to lower their electric bills. The introduction of LED technology and changes to lighting efficiency standards have both contributed to the drastic reductions in energy consumption by commercial buildings. According to a report released by the Department of Energy, by 2016, LED installations had risen to 874 million units. And while this figure is massive, the LED market penetration hasn’t even reached 15%. The Department of Energy estimates that by 2035, the market penetration will have reached 90%. LED manufacturers, in an effort to reduce the gap, came up with retrofit kits that can be used in traditional lighting fixtures. These kits come in different designs and can fit different conventional fixtures. However, while many property owners and building managers know about LED technology, they are hesitant to make the switch because they fear the associated costs. The thing is, retrofitting is not as expensive as buying new LED fixtures. Converting to LED lighting might have been expensive in the beginning (when LEDs were first introduced), but it no longer is. If you’ve been postponing switching to LED technology, here are five great reasons why you should do it now. 1. You Can Carry Out the Project in PhasesThe main reason businesses and facility managers put off converting to LED technology is because of the upfront costs involved in the upgrade. One way to minimize costs and avoid cash flow issues is by implementing the project in phases. For instance, if you own a manufacturing plant, you can decide to install LEDs in the manufacturing area first before moving to the other areas. Installing the lighting in one part of the building gives your employees a chance to get used to the light and they can also give you valuable feedback. If they complain that the light is too bright or too dull, you can have it changed before LEDs are installed in the other areas of the plant. If you’re an electrical professional or contractor who has been given the task of installing LED lighting in one part of a building, the small project can be a way to show a property owner the benefits of LEDs and get them to say yes to a full upgrade. The success of the small retrofitting project may give them the motivation they need to continue with the upgrade and they may even ask you to speed up its implementation. 2. Rebates and IncentivesRebates and incentives can make converting to energy-efficient lighting a less-expensive venture because they significantly reduce the upfront costs related to an upgrade. Utility companies across America have different rebate programs for LED lighting and provide cash rebates and incentives for commercial LED lighting projects. While the programs are different in each area, utilities generally offer rebates for new energy-efficient lighting units installed or on the total quantity of energy savings delivered. For instance, the utility company PSEG located in Long Island gives a $5 rebate for a 4-inch linear LED lamp and a $50 rebate for a 2″x4″ LED panel. Companies usually have specific rebate values for lighting fixtures, bulbs, controls, and other energy-efficient lighting technologies. But in order to make the most of them, you need to be precise with your planning. Utility companies normally give rebates and incentives to lower the demand for electricity on the grid. Many of them offer free energy assessments to help building owners identify potential lighting projects and also give information on the available rebates. If you own or manage a property, be sure to reach out to your electric utility early on. The rebates and incentives given by the company may be enough to influence your upgrade decision. Some of the easiest ways to find the right rebate programs is by contacting your utility directly, looking for incentives using ENERGY STAR’s Rebate Finder (http://www.energystar.gov/rebate-finder), or searching on the Department Of Energy’s Rebates and Savings Page (http://www.energy.gov/savings/search). However, it is worth noting that as the cost of LEDs continues to go down, the rebates offered by utility companies also go down. Utilities usually adjust the rebates at the end of each calendar year but at times change them without prior warning. If you wait for a year to carry out your LED conversion project, you may miss out on a good rebate check. This single reason should be enough to convince you to conduct the project earlier rather than later. 3. LEDs Positively Impact Your Bottom LineThere are two reasons people mostly give for not upgrading to LED lighting. “The current lights are good enough.” “The upfront costs are too high. I can’t afford a full-scale upgrade” The truth of the matter is, no lighting system is as efficient as LED. Sure, the lights in your warehouse may be providing sufficient light, but they probably consume a lot of electricity and don’t have long lifespans. Some of the major benefits of LED technology are energy savings, better light output, lower maintenance, and increased property values. But most people usually make the switch because of energy savings – and who wouldn’t? LEDs consume about half of the electricity other lighting systems consume and cut the lighting portion of an electric bill in half. Let us give you an example. If your commercial space has a hundred 128W fluorescent fixtures and you replace them with a hundred 52W LEDs and the electricity cost in your area is 10.82 cents per kWh (which is the national average in the US) and the lamps operate for 2,870 hours every year, your lighting project will pay for itself in approximately 4.2 years and save you $41,116 during the lifespan of the LEDs. You will have a return of investment (ROI) of 411%. If you live in New York where the average electricity cost is 15.03 cents per kWh, your investment will pay for itself in 3 years and save you $57,000 during the lifespan of the lights. Your ROI will be 571%. A report published in 2017 by the Department of Energy stated that energy-efficient properties have higher market values, higher occupancy rates, low operating expenses, and low rental concessions per square foot. The net operating income of energy-efficient buildings is also higher than that of inefficient buildings. 4. You Can Opt for Alternative Funding StructuresAs we mentioned earlier, one of the reasons property owners and facility managers give for not upgrading to LED is that they can’t pay for a complete lighting upgrade at once. While this is a very legitimate reason, it shouldn’t be a hindrance to converting to LED technology as there are alternative pricing structures. Alternative funding structures like Special Purchase Vehicles (SPVs) have created new opportunities for companies and municipalities to upgrade their lighting systems without coming up with the initial capital or taking on extra debt. Through SPV, you lease the lighting products for a set monthly fee. When the lease period comes to an end, you have the option of buying the assets or returning them. Another example of an alternative funding structure is Energy Performance Contracting (EPC). Here, an energy service company installs energy-efficient lighting and is repaid over a period of time as the customer benefits from energy savings. EPC is available in different forms, but they all comprise a service where the energy service company formulates and implements a project (which is financed by a third party) and the savings are guaranteed to be enough to pay for the implementation costs and financing of the project. Some lending institutions usually offer low interest rates for projects that enhance energy efficiency. The third alternative funding structure we’ll talk about today is known as lighting as a service (LaaS). LaaS is comparable to services such as Spotify, Netflix, Audible, or leasing a cell phone. Property owners and building managers avoid paying the high upfront costs of LED upgrades and instead pay a monthly fee to use the lights provided by the service company. These different pricing models break down common barriers to entry, offer instant and continuous energy savings, may allow small upgrades to the products, shift the maintenance responsibility to another party, and lower the risk of operating a full-scale lighting system. 5. LED Lighting Improves Tenant ComfortMost property owners usually think “The lights in my property are working just fine, why should I change them?” As a property owner, we are sure your main concerns are profitability and tenant comfort. Sure, your existing lights may be in good working order, but they may have a negative impact on your bottom line and cause discomfort to your tenants. If you care about your tenants – and we are pretty sure you do – you care about their comfort. If your building houses businesses and companies, the people in those establishments expect it to have good lighting that increases their productivity and doesn’t cause discomfort. If your tenants are comfortable, they won’t be looking to move anytime soon. LED lighting increases productivity, enhances safety, decreases maintenance costs, and generates less heat than traditional lighting systems. It has better color accuracy, does not contain dangerous materials (which are harmful to the environment), can be used in low voltage applications, attains full brightness instantly, has a better lumen decay profile, and can be used in both hot and cold environments. As buildings become better and tenants’ expectations rise, improving tenant comfort with energy-efficient lighting can be one of the best things you ever do for your building. To Sum It UpIf you haven’t switched to LED technology yet, you’re not alone. However, you cannot afford to postpone the project any longer as there are so many benefits to be enjoyed. Sure, your current lights may be fully functional, but conventional lighting systems are getting phased out and a time will come when you won’t be able to use those lights anymore. In addition, the lights use up a lot of money and time. Make the switch today and start enjoying all the benefits of LEDs. from https://www.thelightingcenter.com/5-reasons-why-you-should-install-leds-in-your-property/ More than 150 years ago, a product was introduced that would forever change how people used energy in their homes and offices – it was the light bulb. The invention revolutionized the way buildings were designed, kick started new businesses, and lengthened the average workday. It also triggered new energy breakthroughs – from electric motors to power plants. Lighting has come a long way since Thomas Edison patented the first incandescent light bulb back in 1879, and more advancements continue to be made by the day. These advancements LED to the invention of the first visible spectrum LED by Nick Holonyak back in 1962 as he was working for General Electric. No doubt about it, LEDs have come a long way since they were first introduced into the market. New LEDs are more affordable and consume less energy than their older counterparts. They also have longer lifespans. If you’ve been using traditional lights – and you’re tired of their high energy consumption, low light output, and short lifespans – and you’ve decided it’s time to convert to LED lighting, you’ve come to the right place. There are several things you should consider when selecting the best LED replacements for your conventional lighting systems. We’ve covered them all in this post to ensure you don’t experience buyer’s remorse after you buy LEDs. Let’s get started. First, Understand the Difference between Lumens and WattageOne of the mistakes people have made since LEDs were first introduced is buying them according to their watts. Watts have nothing to do with the amount of light a LED bulb produces. Let’s give you a little example. You’re feeling hungry so you decide to go to the grocery store to buy some bananas. Once you get there, you decide that you also need some milk to take with your cereal the next morning. So, you buy 2 pounds of bananas and 1 gallon of milk. “What has this got to do with watts and lumens?” You’re asking Our point is, when buying LEDs, lumens are what you should be looking at, not the watts (wattage). Lumens are to LEDs what pounds are to fruits. Lumens measure the total amount of visible light a light source produces. They are the most important thing in determining light output. So, are watts important? Absolutely Watts measure the amount of electricity a light bulb draws. They also tell you how efficient a bulb is –together with lumens. This brings us to lumens per watt (luminous efficacy). When you look at the lumens per watt, you are able to know the efficiency of a LED bulb. Luminous efficacy measures the lumens a light source produces for each electricity watt it consumes. Calculate the Light at the Source and the Delivered LightWe’ll get a bit technical now, but not too technical because we know we may lose you at some point. Let’s talk a little about lumens, luxes, and foot candles . Lumens measure the amount of light produced at the source of the light. A lux is a metric measurement that measures luminous flux per unit area. It is equivalent to 1 lumen per square meter and is used to measure the intensity of light that passes through or hits a specific surface. A foot candle is an imperial measurement and measures how bright the light is 1 foot away from a light source. 1 foot candle is equal to 10.764 luxes (approximately 10 times the equivalent lux measurement) 1 lux is equal to 0.09 foot candles. What are we getting at? As light spreads out across a surface, it becomes less intense. LEDs distribute lumens more efficiently and can yield more foot candles and luxes than traditional light bulbs, something most applications require. LEDs are directional lights, they emit light in a specific direction hence their light output is much better. Traditional lights are omnidirectional, which means they discharge light in all directions – they don’t focus it in one place. Let’s say you have metal halide bulbs in your parking lot fixtures and each is supposed to emit 18,000 lumens. However, they emit light all over the place (360°) because HID lights are omnidirectional, so the electrician has to put a reflector in each fixture to reflect the light back and deliver it to the parking lot below. During the reflective process, up to 30% lumens are lost. But because LEDs are directional lights, you can use LEDs that produce 12,000 lumens in each parking lot fixture and the light they produce will be better than that produced by the more powerful metal halide bulbs. In addition, some LEDs are usually lensed to ensure all the light they discharge is directed to a particular surface. Look At the Efficiency of the LEDsThese days, LED manufacturers are a dime a dozen so the market is flooded with LEDs of varying efficiencies. Some LEDs emit 70 lumens per watt while others emit 200 lumens per watt. This is another reason why you shouldn’t look at the watts when choosing LED replacements for your traditional lighting systems. One manufacturer may say that their 150W LED light replaces a 450W metal halide light while another may say that their 250W LED replaces a 450W metal halide. A particular LED wattage cannot replace all conventional lights of a particular wattage. This is the main reason why utility companies find it hard to create general rebate programs for LED conversions. Consider Light DegradationOne of the biggest upsides of LEDs is that they never lose more than 30% of their initial lumens throughout their entire lifetimes. The same cannot be said for traditional lighting technologies as their light output quickly decreases from the minute they are switched on. These lights suffer from serious lumen degradation. Let’s say you use metal halide lamps in your warehouse. When the bulbs were new, they may have produced 30,000 lumens, which is very good. But because these lights tend to lose their lumens pretty fast, they may only produce 15,000 lumens by the time they get to half of their lifespans. If you think that’s bad, brace yourself for this: their energy consumption will never go down no matter how many lumens they lose. Now that’s pretty bad. If you bought the metal halides 2 years ago, they could be 40% less bright than they were when they were first installed. But if the light they emit is sufficient for your space, you may want to get LEDs with a lower light output – not corresponding versions of the metal halides. The light they produce will be adequate for your space. Depending on your setting, this could be an opportunity to not only decrease your power consumption but to also lower the number of fixtures needed to provide the same level of illumination. from https://www.thelightingcenter.com/how-to-choose-the-best-led-replacements-for-traditional-lighting-systems/ LED highbay lighting is used in many public places, like parking zones, football stadiums, baseball fields, skate parks, outdoor tennis courts, basketball courts, sports halls, airport tarmacs, transportation terminals, highways, outdoor storage yards, piers, roundabouts, freeway interchanges, ports, and more. These lights are ideal for large areas that require uniform light. But while LEDs are used in a variety of roadway lighting and street lighting applications, most high mast lights still have HID lamps. The Lighting Center manufactures industrial LED highbay fixtures that make perfect replacements for high pressure sodium, metal halide, and mercury vapor lamps. When you replace conventional lighting systems with LED technology, energy savings can be as much as 90%, especially if you integrate energy-saving controls like motion sensors or photo sensors. LEDs provide intense, high-quality light and spread it evenly across surfaces. A Little About HighBay LightsThe mounting height of LED highbay lights usually ranges between 60 feet and 120 feet (or more). The pole the lights are mounted on is at least 30 meters tall and several independent lighting fixtures are mounted on it. These fixtures may be 4, 6, or 8. In rare instances, highbay lighting poles may have 10, 12, or 16 lights. These fixtures may form a square or a circular pattern to dispense light uniformly over a specific area. Sometimes the lights are usually surrounded by circular shields to decrease light pollution or to prevent light from affecting neighborhoods that are next to the highway. While most high mast lights use high pressure sodium bulbs, LEDs are replacing these traditional lights by the day as more decision-makers realize their benefits. Freeway interchange poles normally have 2-12 1000-watt high pressure sodium lamps that are evenly spaced. A single 1000-watt HPS lamp with a ballast draws 100 watts of electricity. If a lighting pole has 8 of these lights, its consumption will be 9.6 kilowatts. Because of the high energy consumption of these lights, most cities usually switch off the lights after 11 pm to cut down energy costs. But when these lamps are replaced with LEDs, the lights can run all night without driving up an electric bill. 5 Reasons Why LED HighBay Lights Are Better Than Traditional Lights1. Lower Energy Consumption – Up To 90%One of the best things about LEDs is their low energy consumption. It is without a doubt the biggest benefit of LED technology. As we had said earlier, a 1000-watt HPS lamp with a ballast pulls 100 watts of electricity. Since most high mast poles have several of these fixtures, they send electric bills through the roof. LEDs need very few watts in order to produce sufficient light. And thanks to advancements in LED technology, new LEDs need even fewer watts to produce more lumens. LED lights alone can reduce energy consumption by up to 75%. When paired with controls like motion sensors and daylight sensors, energy usage can go down by up to 90%. When buying LED highbay lights, never look at the watts, focus on the lumens – especially lumens per watt. Lumens per watt tell you how many lumens the light produces for every single watt of electricity it consumes. For instance, a LED that produces 140 lumens per watt consumes less electricity than one that produces 100 lumens per watt. The high mast luminaires manufactured by The Lighting Center produce more lumens per watt. To know a light’s efficacy, divide the lumens produced by the watts consumed. Something else you should look at is the number of LEDs a light uses to produce a specific number of lumens. Always go for bulbs with more LEDs as this means they don’t work extremely hard to produce adequate light. If the LEDs are fewer, it means they will work harder to produce sufficient light, which may affect their lifespans. 2. They Can Be Paired With Lighting ControlsBecause of their long warm up and cool down times, metal halide and high pressure sodium lights don’t work well with lighting controls. LEDs do not have this problem because they achieve full brightness as soon as they are switched on. If you want dimmable LEDs, make sure the ones you buy have drivers that are dimmable (0-10V). You can pair LED highbays with different types of lighting controls like motion sensors (which switch lights on and off if any activity is detected), photo sensors (which switch off lights as soon as ambient light is detected), or timers (which switch lights on and off automatically at specific times). 3. Better Light QualityOne of the benefits LEDs have over traditional lights is a higher Color Rendering Index (CRI). CRI tells you how good a light source is at revealing the true colors of objects compared to an ideal light source like sunlight. It is a scale with numerical values between 0 and 100. The higher the CRI, the better a bulb’s color rendering ability. Light bulbs with a CRI of 85 and above are excellent at color rendering. Because LEDs have a high Color Rendering Index, their light quality is much better than that of conventional light sources. Don’t fluorescent lamps also have a high CRI? You’re absolutely right. However, since fluorescent lights are powered by an alternating current (AC), they tend to flicker, causing headaches and eye strain. LEDs do not flicker because their drivers convert alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC). The lack of flickering, coupled with the high-quality light they produce, make for a better work environment. However, LEDs with a high Color Rendering Index aren’t required in high mast outdoor environments. We only recommend them for outdoor industrial settings where color rendering is important. Unless you’re getting them for such an environment, don’t pay more for high CRI LEDs. 4. The Payback Period Is ShortIt is the wish of every business owner to recoup their investment in the shortest time possible. When you know the estimated return on investment, you can decide whether a venture is worth undertaking or not. At The Lighting Center, we use the 1 (cost of electricity) + 1 (hours of use) + 1 (rebates) rule to determine the LED payback period. The rebates come in last because their savings may be cancelled by the cost of electricity and the hours of use (the operating times for the lights). In addition, some utility companies do not offer rebates for some LED conversions (some utility companies only give rebates for fixtures with a DLC premium rating, not the standard rating). What will mostly determine the payback period will be the cost of electricity in your area and how long the lights will operate each day. You shouldn’t worry too much about rebates because we have created many proposals for our customers (who didn’t get rebates when they switched to LED technology) where ROI was under 1 year. Decreased Maintenance CostsThe biggest problem with traditional lighting technologies, like high intensity discharge lights and fluorescent lights, is that they use ballasts which have very short life expectancies. LEDs use drivers which usually have long lifespans. LEDs also have heat sinks which disperse the little heat they produce, extending their lifetimes. The average lifespan of LEDs is 50,000 hours, which means they can last for more than 10 years without burning out. However, the driver is likely to fail first. The best drivers on the market (Philips, Inventroniks, and Meanwell) usually come with a warranty of 5 years so be wary of manufacturers who give their drivers a 10-year warranty. Be sure to buy LEDs with high-quality drivers as chances are both will stop functioning at approximately the same time. We Can Help You Choose the Best LED HighBay FixturesThe secret to a good lighting design is picking the right optic for the application. We have more than 10 years’ experience in LED technology and have installed LED highbay fixtures in gun ranges, parking zones, storage yards, and many other places. In all our projects, we make sure that the poles are evenly spaced so they can spread light uniformly over large areas while maintaining the required foot candles. The lights we have installed in gun ranges can illuminate targets that are 100 meters away. We understand optics very well and know how to use them to produce the desired lighting effect. The Lighting Center manufactures LED highbay lights that are DLC listed and eligible for rebates. Some models come with a 10-year manufacturer’s warranty. Our outdoor lights are rated IP65 or higher and are ETL or UL listed. They can withstand harsh weather conditions and temperature ranges between -30°C to +60°C. They come with different mounting solutions like wall, yoke, sport, pole, and adjustable heads. Call us today and talk to one of our experts to help you choose the right LED highbay fixtures for your application. If traditional fixtures are already in place, we will carry out an evaluation and recommend products that will replace the current lights and meet your requirements.
from https://www.thelightingcenter.com/the-best-led-highbay-replacements-for-high-intensity-discharge-lights/ With all the concerns about environmental issues – like global warming and air pollution – decision-makers are always looking for ways to lower the environmental footprint of their organizations and institutions. Thankfully, new technologies that offer environmentally-friendly solutions are in plenty. However, many new technologies have a high upfront cost which may be prohibitive in some cases, despite their short ROI period. Furthermore, many businesses and organizations are not willing to change their existing lighting infrastructure just to accommodate a new lighting technology. They already have lighting fixtures in place – in good working condition – and it doesn’t make sound financial sense to get rid of them. Enter retrofittingLED retrofit kits make perfect replacements for older lighting systems. They are designed to fit into existing fixtures and offer all the awesome benefits of LED technology for a fraction of the cost. Retrofitting simply means replacing the lamp and ballast with a LED bulb instead of replacing the entire fixture. In most circumstances, the labor required is comparable to that of re-lamping. LEDs are usually made of smaller components and can be easily integrated into different fixtures. No doubt about it, LEDs have numerous benefits. But today, we’ll just focus on those that are often ignored. Here are 5. 1. A Low Upfront CostMany businesses rate energy as their top operating cost concern. And for many, the initial cost is the No.1 hindrance to an energy improvement project. If you’ve been putting off converting to LED technology, here’s some good news: the project won’t be as costly as you think. What do we mean? Yes, retrofitting, like any other project, requires an initial investment. However, the imaginary figure in your head is probably more than your retrofitting project will cost. The low upfront cost of retrofitting is without a doubt, one of the best things about it. Retrofits do not cost as much as new LED lighting fixtures because they use fewer materials. Their shipping costs are also lower as they are not bulky. In addition, the government and some utility companies offer rebates, grants, incentives and programs which can further lower the initial cost. How great is that? 2. Lower Installation and Maintenance CostsRetrofits are very easy to install and an electrical professional can quickly do it. What does this mean for your business? It means you’ll spend less money on labor. If you run a business like a grocery store or a car dealership, you can lose a lot of income if your business operations are interrupted even for a few hours. But since retrofits don’t take time to install, the electrician can change out the bulbs before or after business hours, ensuring work is not disrupted. LEDs also have a long lifespan – between 50,000 and 100,000 hours – and do not need frequent maintenance like traditional bulbs (because they are constructed differently). Because of this, they lower maintenance costs. 3. The Existing Lighting Fixtures Are RetainedIt is no secret that new LED fixtures are more expensive than retrofits. And because many people have the misconception that new fixtures are much better than retrofits, they decide to postpone switching to energy-efficient lighting until they can afford new fixtures. Big mistake. Retrofits are just as efficient as new fixtures and lower energy consumption and maintenance bills, paying for themselves in a very short time. And because LEDs last longer than all other lighting systems, the savings they offer continue to increase and accumulate with time. 4. Buildings Are Future-ProofedAs environmental pollution increases, new laws are passed that require buildings to become more energy-efficient. One way to avoid being affected by new laws is by “future-proofing” your building with new technology. At some point in the future, buildings that don’t meet new energy demands may have to be redesigned or demolished. When you make your building energy-efficient even before the law requires you to do so, you give it a new lease on life and extend its life cycle way into the future. “Future-proofing” is particularly important for buildings that have cultural or heritage significance. When they integrate LED technology, they lower their environmental footprint and still retain their beauty and character. As new demands for energy keep cropping up, they don’t have to be redesigned. 5. There Is Less WasteRetrofitting does not create as much waste as a full fixture replacement and is an economical way of upgrading to LED. With a full redesign, electrical professionals have to properly dispose of the lamps, ballasts, and fixtures. This process is not only costly, it is not kind to the environment. With retrofitting, only the lamps and ballasts are gotten rid of, meaning waste is considerably reduced. If you are an organization or an institution looking to decrease your environmental footprint, waste reduction is the way to go. When Is a Full Fixture Replacement Necessary?Sometimes, a full fixture replacement (a full redesign) is the only option for a building. A full redesign means getting rid of the lamp, the ballast, as well as the fixture (the bulb housing) and replacing them with a LED bulb and fixture. It is usually the best option if lighting fixtures are damaged, outdated, or completely enclosed. LED bulbs cannot be incorporated into fixtures that are enclosed (unless they are specially designed to be used in enclosed fixtures) because their heat sinks won’t be able to disperse the excess heat they produce, which means their lifespans will be reduced. Some businesses opt for a full fixture replacement in order to make their premises look attractive to their customers – like car showrooms. A full redesign is also ideal for new buildings or those that are getting redesigned as electricians can easily access the lighting infrastructure. And while this procedure is more costly than retrofitting, it is the only option at times. However, it is important to note that a full fixture replacement doesn’t offer more benefits than retrofitting. For instance, a retrofit kit sold by The Lighting Center are just as efficient as new LED lighting fixtures. Thanks to new technologies, there’s almost no difference between LED retrofits and new fixtures. If you’ve made the wise decision to switch to LED technology, give us a call. Our lighting experts are always available to give you all the help you need. We promise to make the transition easy. from https://www.thelightingcenter.com/5-awesome-but-somewhat-overlooked-benefits-of-retrofitting/ Back in 2007, the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) was passed by congress. The act gave notice to inefficient lighting systems. The law mandated stringent new energy standards that were meant to usher in a new era of greener, long-lasting, efficient light bulbs, and this meant getting rid of old, inefficient light bulbs. If you’ve decided that LED technology is the way to go, you’ve made a good decision. However, LED technology is vast and you may be confused by all the specifications. What are lumens? What are watts? What is color temperature? Don’t worry about all these specifications because that’s what we’re here for. In this post, we will define the most common specs you need to know about LED technology. Without further ado, let’s get started. 1. Watts (Wattage)One of the first LED specs you’ll see, or hear, is watts (or wattage). Watts are very important because they are a measurement of power. Watts accurately measure the electricity a bulb needs in order to light up. Most manufacturers use the wattage of a LED bulb as the selling point, and with good reason. LEDs consume very little electricity and need very few watts to produce adequate light. Their low energy consumption, is without a doubt, one of their best features. 2. Replacement WattageBack in the day, when you wanted to replace a burnt out light bulb, all you had to do was look at the wattage of the old bulb and get a new bulb with the same wattage. But when it comes to LED lighting, replacing traditional lights doesn’t simply mean matching the wattage. Replacement wattage is a specification you will see on most LED light labels. It simply means the wattage of the conventional light being replaced by the LED light. This specification is very important as it helps you to buy a LED bulb that is a perfect replacement for a traditional bulb. For instance, a LED lamp that consumes 100 watts may replace a 400-watt metal halide or high pressure sodium lamp. 3. LumensNothing is as important in determining the light output of a bulb as the lumens. If you’ve been looking at the watts to know how bright a bulb is, you’ve been looking at the wrong specification. Lumens measure the total quantity of visible light (the light seen by the human eye) produced by a light source. The more lumens a LED bulb produces, the brighter it will seem. Lumens are vital as they help you to know how bright a LED bulb is compared to a traditional light source. When you know the lumens a LED light produces, you’ll know if it is bright enough to replace a specific traditional lamp. 4. Lumens Per Watt (Luminous Efficacy)To know how efficient a LED bulb is, look at the lumens per watt. While lumens measure the visible light a bulb generates, lumens per watt (lm/W) measure how many lumens are produced for each single watt of energy a bulb consumes. Is luminous efficacy important? Absolutely. The higher the luminous efficacy, the more efficiently a light source performs. As LED technology continues to advance by the day, efficacy ratings keep on improving. When LEDs were first introduced, they produced approximately 50 lm/W. These days, most LEDs sold on the market emit more than 120 lm/W. A useful rule of thumb is to never buy LEDs that produce less than 100 lm/W. 5. Rated LifeYou have probably seen this specification on the packaging box of a LED light. So, what exactly does it mean? Rated life means how long a bulb will operate before getting to 70% of its initial brightness. Research has shown that the human eye cannot detect a gradual loss of light output until a bulb emits less than 70% of the light it produced when it was new. At that point, our eyes will say, ” This light is not bright enough, it needs to be replaced.” The rated life of traditional light sources is usually the time period they are expected to function before burning out. However, LEDs don’t usually burn out. Their light output gradually decreases over time. LED manufacturers use the L70 rating to describe the time it will take for a bulb’s light output to reach 70% of the original output. During their entire lifespans, LEDs must retain 70% of their initial lumens. The rated life of a LED bulb is when the light is expected to produce 30% less lumens than it did when it was brand new. But since LEDs have such a long lifespan (their average lifespan is 50,000 hours), they generate high-quality light for many years. They produce 70% of their initial lumens until they reach the end of their lives. 6. Color Rendering Index (CRI)Color Rendering Index (CRI) may be a difficult term, but we’ll try to simplify it as much as we can. CRI measures the ability of a light source to show the true colors of objects in comparison to a perfect or a natural light source – such as sunlight. Color rendering defines how a light source makes the colors of an object seem to human eyes. It also describes how well a light reveals small differences in color shades. The Color Rendering Index ranges between 0 and 100. The higher the CRI, the better a light’s color rendering ability. Light bulbs with a CRI between 80-90 are considered good at color rendering while those with a CRI of 90 or higher are excellent at color rendering and can be used for tasks that require accurate color discrimination (like textile manufacturering). While CRI might not be very important in some settings, it is very important in others – like grocery stores (where people need to see how fresh the food products are) and areas where security is crucial. 7. Color TemperatureColor Temperature, whose official term is Correlated Color Temperature, is a number that indicates the color of light a light source emits. A low number normally indicates that the light is warm (red and orange shades) – like the light emitted by a candle or a fireplace. A high color temperature indicates that the light is cool (blue and white shades). The standard range is usually between 2700k (for warmer lights) and 5000k (for cool lights). Lights with a high Correlated Color Temperature tend to look brighter. LED manufacturers often make LEDs with low wattages and high color temperatures to make them appear brighter. Cool lights are mostly used in industrial spaces where very bright light is needed for enhanced productivity. If your building has traditional lighting and you’re converting to LED technology, find out the color temperature of your current lights so you can get the best replacements. 8. Center Beam Candle PowerThis rather complicated term measures the light intensity at the center of a light beam. When lighting designers want to know whether a light bulb is bright enough, they don’t just look at the lumen output, they also look at the Center Beam Candle Power as it is a very important measurement for accent and spot lighting. This is because they know that a light source can have a high lumen output but a low CBCP. What does this mean? A light with a high lumen output and a low CBCP spreads out light over a large area. And while this light may be ideal in some applications, it is not suitable when you are trying to draw attention to a specific product (like a piece of art) or a section of a room. The right LED light for spot and accent lighting may have lower lumens than its counterparts, but its light will be concentrated at the center of the beam. 9. DimmableBecause LEDs have very low wattages, many types of dimmers don’t work well with them as they do with high-wattage traditional lights. When you pair them with dimmers, you may notice that they do not shift color when dimmed, they may not go off at the lowest dimmer setting, and their dimming range may be lower (70%-90% vs. 100% with conventional lights). A LED manufacturer will usually indicate if the driver inside a LED is dimmable and which system the LED dims with (3 phase, 0-10v, etc.). If you want dimmable LEDs, make sure the ones you buy are rated dimmable. Selecting the Right LED Lights For Your BuildingNow that we’ve told you all about the important specs of LED technology, let us give you a few pointers on how to go about buying LED lights. While all the features we mentioned here are important, there are some you should give special attention to. If you want bright light, the most important thing to look at are the lumens as they will determine how bright the LED is. Next, look at the wattage as this will help you to choose LEDs that only consume a few watts. Color Rendering Index and Color Temperature are also very important as they determine how accurate a light is at revealing the true colors of objects and how bright the light seems. Lastly, look at the rated life and any additional features you may want in a LED light. If your work environment needs accent or spot lighting, pay special attention to the Center Beam Candle Power. Getting new LED fixtures is the way to go if your building is still being constructed or if you are in the process of redesigning it. These fixtures will lower energy consumption and provide many years of service. Or if you have fixtures in place, and want to convert them over to LED, then consider a retrofit system. However, if your building has conventional lights and you’ve decided that switching to LED is the best financial decision, you can choose retrofitting. A lighting expert will simply recommend the best bulbs for your existing fixtures – if they are fully functional. The traditional bulbs will simply be replaced with LED bulbs, making the transition as easy as can be. from https://www.thelightingcenter.com/buying-led-lights-9-common-specs-you-need-to-know/ One of the benefits of LED technology that we frequently talk about here at The Lighting Center is cost savings. But did you know that you can save even more money by adding a few add-ons? How Much Will You Save By Switching to LED?If you currently use 400-watt high pressure sodium or metal halide flood lights in your exterior and you decide to retrofit the fixtures with the 100-watt LED retrofits sold by The Lighting Center and you switch on the lights only at night (for 12 hours), you will save a lot of money for every HID light you replace with a LED light, depending on your electricity cost. Cost savings realized after replacing a 400-watt HID light with a 100-watt LED light that operates for 12 hours a day (365 days a year): 1577 kw/year (including ballast draw)
By looking at the above table, you can see that you’ll save $315 per fixture every year if your electricity cost is .20 kw/hr. Boost Savings Further by Adding Lighting ControlsAfter you convert to LED technology, you can save even more money by getting lighting controls. LEDs work with a variety of lighting controls, unlike HID lights and most types of fluorescent lights. For example, HID lights cannot work with motion sensors – which switch lights on and off automatically if they sense any activity – because they have a long warm up time. When motion sensors are combined with dimmers (0-10V), they can turn on lights only when movement is detected and dim lights if there’s no activity. Some areas in buildings don’t have a lot of activity so the lights do not need to run at full power all the time. You can set them to run at 50% power and at full power when any movement is detected. Cost savings realized after replacing a 400-watt HID light with a 50-watt LED light that operates for 12 hours a day (365 days a year): 1577 kw/year (includes ballast draw)
As you can see, you can save a lot more money by pairing lighting controls with LED lighting. But you must make sure you use the right controls for the settings. from https://www.thelightingcenter.com/how-to-amplify-your-savings-when-you-convert-to-led-technology/ |
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