3 Minute Read

Industrial LED lighting is changing the game for business and facility owners across the board. In the past few decades, LED lighting has outperformed other technologies in energy consumption, maintenance costs, and lighting quality (except in very particular situations). Industrial LED lighting is appropriate for a multitude of applications, but it’s a particularly good investment for parking lots, warehouses, and parking garages. Let’s examine the benefits of LED lighting, and how they can result in great improvements for industrial and outdoor spaces, especially parking areas and warehouses.

3 major benefits of Industrial LED lighting:

When it comes to lighting, you may think it’s as simple as “do they turn on?” But that is not the case - by a long shot. Inefficient lighting products can cost untold amounts of money over time, both in consumed energy and maintenance replacements. Additionally, if you’ve never been exposed to higher quality lighting, you may not know what you (and your tenants, customers, etc) are missing. Here’s why industrial LED lighting is superior to other lighting technologies in these three respects 

 
 
  • Reduced Energy Consumption: Conventional lighting technologies generally use a gas or other fuel source that mean your energy bill is much higher than it needs to be. LED industrial lighting, by contrast, uses semiconductors to emit light, which basically means that electrical current causes light to be emitted. Industrial LED lighting also beats other technologies on efficiency because the emitted light is directed where you want it. On the other hand, conventional lighting is omnidirectional, which means it emits light 360 degrees. This has two negative consequences: housings or fixtures are required to direct the light where necessary, and a lot of energy is wasted due to unusable light emissions.
  • Lower maintenance costs: While the upfront costs of completing an LED retrofit may strike you as high, consider that you will save a lot of money on bulb replacement and labor. Some industrial LED lighting bulbs have four to forty times the useful life of conventional lighting solutions, which means big-time savings on replacement costs. Consider all of the bulbs in your facility or parking lot, and what a difference it would make if no bulbs needed to be replaced for, say, 15 years. Additionally, switching from gas-discharge lamps to LED technology will help eliminate waste disposal issues.
  • Higher quality lighting: Industrial LED lights will typically score better in a head-to-head comparison against most other bulbs when it comes to Color Rendering Index (CRI), Correlated Color Temperature (CCT), and Foot Candles. CRI is a measurement of a light’s ability to reveal the actual color of objects as compared to an ideal light source (natural light). In non-technical terms, CCT generally describes the “glow” given off by a bulb - is it warm (reddish), or cold (bluish white)? Foot candles compare the amount of light coming from a source and the amount of light hitting the desired surface; they’re basically a measure of efficiency. On all three fronts, industrial LED lights perform very well. (Read more about CRI, CCT, and foot candles here.)

Why industrial LED lights for your parking lots and parking garages?

Parking garages and parking lots are great candidates for LED retrofits for a few reasons. One, the lighting in parking areas can have a big influence on whether patrons, tenants, and service providers feel safe and comfortable around your facility. Two, parking areas generally cover a large amount of square footage for any given property - so any changes you make will have a big impact. Third, the higher quality lighting provided by LED industrial lights can improve the aesthetic qualities of your facility.

M&T Bank LED Lighting Parking Garage RetrofitAs an example, please look at the difference in lighting quality for M&T Bank’s parking garage. In the top photo, you can see that the High Pressure Sodium (HPS) lamps gave off a yellow-orangish glow, with a lot of shaded, darker areas. Overall, the environment is dim and somewhat dingy...the type of lighting where you have to squint to see better. By contrast, the LED lighting used to retrofit the parking garage clearly illuminates all markings, rails, and corners. Best of all, there are no shady dark areas to creep out your patrons...and this assessment doesn’t even include the savings from a reduced energy bill and lower maintenance costs!

 

Why LED industrial lighting for your warehouses?

Any person who has worked in a large multi-use building or warehouse knows the limitations of High Intensity Discharge (HID) lighting: once you turn those lights off, it’s going to be a while before you can get them on and fully functioning again. Industrial LED lighting solutions eliminate this cycling problem, as well as provide higher quality light. Similar to parking garages and lots, warehouses and industrial spaces have a large footprint, so any improvement is bound to have a big impact.

Do you need help with industrial LED lighting?

Considering an LED retrofit can be somewhat intimidating - there are so many lighting options and industrial led light fixtures available that it can be hard to know where to start.

Additionally, the upfront costs may scare owners and managers away...that is, until a thorough Return on Investment (ROI) calculation has been done. Stouch Lighting is a manufacturer-neutral lighting distributor servicing the East coast, and we have experience retrofitting facilities in many industries.

We are happy to complete an ROI calculation for your organization, as well as guide you through the process of selecting and implementing an energy efficient lighting solution. Stouch Lighting is also very familiar with various rebates and financial incentives to assist your organization with an LED retrofit. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions - we look forward to hearing from you!