Bring Your Store Into The Light With LED Retail Store Lighting

Have you ever thought about how lighting makes an impact on your store? The lighting in your store has a big job to do because it is needed to show off all of the products you have in your store. The lighting also provides a big part of your store’s design. The places where you use your retail lighting and why you are using that lighting can be the big difference in your store design being successful or your store design being incomplete.

Savings

There are a number of benefits of using LED lighting in your retail store, such as a reduction in maintenance and repair costs and energy savings. If your retail store is independently owned, you are probably paying for all of your expenses. When you implement LED lighting, you will see a decrease in the amount of energy that is being used. This will result in an increase in the amount of money you will save. LED lighting will produce a low amount of heat or no heat at all; this will allow you to not have to use your air conditioning units to cool the store because of the heat from the lighting.

Aesthetics

You may wonder how a change of lighting will affect the look of your store. LED lighting will save energy, reduce maintenance costs, and save you money, but that does not mean you will sacrifice the look and feel of your store. LED lighting will give your retail store a better output than your previous lights. The lighting will also do a better job of making your merchandise stand out and look more appealing to customers. When you have LED lighting in your store, you have the ability to be more imaginative and creative with your store design. You will be able to place emphasis on every product in every location in your establishment.

Whatever LED lighting plans you want to use for your store, you will immediately begin to see the benefits, and your customers will too.

Your Warehouse & Distribution Center Can Maximize On The Benefits Of Better Lighting

When it comes to keeping your warehouse or distribution center in good condition, it most certainly will not be an easy task to accomplish.  These types of operations can take a significant amount of energy and time, especially when it is compared to other types of businesses. If someone has a small clothing store or another business of that nature, it can be managed more productively in a small amount of time. Distribution centers and warehouses have more space to cover, so it will take more time to manage it effectively. 

Lighting is always a key aspect to consider in any kind of business, no matter what kind of building it is in. Effective lighting is not just something god to have, but effective and proper warehouse & distribution center lighting is basically a legal requirement. Your employees have to pack and unpack things from boxes. They will also have to load those boxes onto vehicles, so it is highly important that your warehouse and center have enough lighting. That allows everyone to see when he or she is working throughout the warehouse. 

Some warehouses and distribution centers may still use the traditional lighting methods, but many businesses are deciding to switch to LED lighting, which is not only a cash saver, but it is also an energy saver that does not require a high level of maintenance. LED lighting gives your business operations the lighting that it needs to ensure everyone remains safe in the warehouse and/or distribution center. 

When your warehouse is well lit, everyone will be wide-awake because of the lighting. You will not have to worry about any darkness. If your warehouse is not properly lit, your employees may have no idea where things are or where they are supposed to be. However, when they can see everything and they know where they are going in the well-lit warehouse, they will be more productive and efficient in their work. There will be a smaller change of preventable accidents occurring because the better lighting will improve the safety of the warehouse. 

Save Money and Score Loyal Business with LED Hotel Lighting

While businesses with normal hours are able to enjoy many hours where lighting is not used, hotels are quite different because they require sufficient lighting at all times. Since there is such an emphasis on lighting, it makes sense for hotels to plan a considerable amount to provide the best lighting possible.

In order to get the best hotel lighting, you should be looking to save money while also impressing guests to the point where they come back in the future for additional stays.

Make Guests Feel Comfortable

From guest rooms to breakfast areas, you need to make your guests feel comfortable with lighting. It is not hardwood floors or high quality pictures on the wall that will accomplish this, it is simple and effective lighting placement that allows guests to do what they want to do without a problem.

Focus on Walkway Lighting

After making guests feel comfortable, you cannot forego the importance of walkway lighting that makes everyone feel safe when they are walking through hallways of the hotel building. It is having a seamless check-in experience that can create loyal customers out of first-timers.

Help Guests Feel Safe Outside

When people first arrive to your hotel, you must make them feel welcome from the get-go. If you have a designated area for future guests to park their vehicle, you need to provide enough lighting for them to get their documents out of their vehicle without having to fumble around. It is also important to make all guests feel safe when they are heading to the parking lot, pool, or their guestroom.

LED Lighting is the Way to Go

With so much lighting that is required to keep a hotel running, you really need to invest in the most efficient lighting type possible, which is LED lighting. It is a long-lasting and inexpensive option for lighting, and making the switch will provide you with years of significant savings.

Improve Your Restaurant with Proper Restaurant Lighting

A restaurant cannot solely rely on the quality of the food to remain in business. It is necessary to impress in other aspects, which means details such as seating, employees, and lighting that need to be top-notch. Excellent lighting can create a desired ambiance, which can help your restaurant succeed.

Learning about what you can do to improve lighting will ensure restaurant lighting is one of the main reasons you see your growth in your restaurant’s business.

Provide Just Enough Table Lighting

Excessive lighting can make an eating space look clinical, and this is something you want to avoid. It is best to create a calm and relaxing atmosphere, which can be accomplished with properly placed lighting, correct color temperature, and lighting fixtures that enhance illumination.

Make an Appealing Entrance

Whether you are going for a candlelit dinner look or a welcoming family restaurant feel, how you set up entrance lighting can have an enormous impact on the kind of response you get from others. It is vital to stay with the same plan and intentions throughout your restaurant to create a cohesive experience.

Sufficient Outdoor Lighting

Both the outside entrance and the outdoor seating need to be lit properly to ensure people feel safe when choosing your restaurant, along with when they choose to eat outside. It can be a little challenging to create perfect lighting for your outside customers, but professionals will be able to devise a plan.

Although lighting is just one of numerous important factors that determine the success of your restaurant, making some upgrades to lighting can be an excellent investment for overall improvements.

How a Lighting Audit Can Help You Save

auditIf you are interested in lowering your utility expenses, you may have heard about some of the ways that lighting rebates can help you become more energy efficient for less. However, did you know that a free lighting audit could help you maximize your efforts and save more?

Lighting Audits: What Are They? 

Generally a representative of your utility company will come out to perform a lighting audit. While they are free, you will need to schedule an appointment in advance.

During a lighting audit, an energy specialist will tour your facility and take notes on the current lighting setup.  The energy specialist will photograph your workplace, obtain information about light fixture placement and quantity, and ask what type of work is performed in different areas. He or she will also calculate stationary light wattage and quantity. Then, the specialist will come up with a specific and actionable plan to make your workplace more energy efficient.

These plans typically include:

  • A detailed plan showing the optimal lighting layout for your business
  • Calculations that show the return on investment your business will see if you make the changes
  • Financial information on the total cost of changes
  • Information on grants, rebates, and other ways that can help you make these changed for less money
  • “Next steps” that will help you commit to making these changes

If this sounds like a lot of work, don’t be alarmed. You’re having most of the work performed for you by a lighting expert, and you will receive a free list of actionable tips that allow you to jump-start your plan to achieve greater energy efficiency in the workplace.

 

How to Find Business Lighting Rebates

rebateHow to Find Business Lighting Rebates

Lighting costs can account for as much as 40 percent of business electric bills, which makes finding eco friendly lighting a high priority for business that are looking to reduce their energy expenses. Lighting rebates can help your business cut costs without spending a lot on light fixtures, so let’s learn how to find these rebates.

How to Find Business Lighting Rebates

DSIRE, the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency, offers a clearinghouse of rebates, grants, and initiatives for businesses as well as individuals. DSIRE allows you to sort by sectors, so you only see industrial or commercial savings opportunities. Start by searching DSIRE for potential rebates in your area to identify some ways to save on business lighting.

Don’t overlook your utility company. Many utilities offer a free lighting audit. This can be a great way to quickly learn what lights are hogging your energy and which lights only use a small amount of power. In a light audit, you’ll learn the optimal layout of lights to maximize visibility and save money, the estimates ROI of adding eco-friendly business lighting, proposed finances, and your next steps. If you want to change your business lighting but feel overwhelmed by the process of finding rebates and scheduling electric work, this can demystify the process for you. Your utility company may also have rebate information that they can provide to you free of charge.

Considerations

If you’re thinking you’ll be able to replace everything from the exit sign to the copy closet light with an energy-efficient bulb, think again. Not every type of lighting will be available at a rebate. The good news is, once you switch to energy-efficient fixtures, you will begin to see cost savings immediately!

 

School Lighting can Change the Way Students Learn

It appears that school lighting may affect not only the way students perform, but their health as well. We have long recognized the effect of natural sunlight on the human body to produce both physiological and psychological health. Research cited by“Academia.edu” indicates that artificial lighting can approximate the sun’s beneficial effects and stimulate student learning.

Two characteristics of light are noted in the study. One is the brightness, or intensity, and the other is the color temperature. Together, these aspects can alter our sleep patterns and quality, our blood pressure, heart rate variability and core temperature as well as regulating the amount of melatonin we produce. They also affect our mental alertness and the perception of how well we understand a subject we are studying. We have supposed that natural sunlight is superior to artificial lighting, but research shows that artificial lighting can have a positive effect on the speed with which we work and our accuracy.

How does all this play into choosing school lighting? First, it has been demonstrated that lighting which approximates natural sunlight can keep children healthier. That translates to less “sick days” out of the classroom. When the student is in class, proper lighting can keep her alert and help her be more attentive to teacher instruction. Lighting has also been shown to affect mood and behavior. Brighter light (over 500lux) seems to promote better moods and less aggressiveness.

Data from schools in the study also shows how a dynamic lighting system (one in which the lighting can be changed) can bring about relaxation in students after periods of enhanced learning. This could keep students from tiring too early and having dulled senses in the afternoon.

Why LED Lighting is a Better Choice for Your Grocery Store

The type of lighting you select for your grocery store is important. When food looks attractive and appetizing, shoppers want to buy them. When you have the best lighting possible, you can save energy and money, and in addition provide your customers with an enjoyable shopping experience.

More and more grocery stores are finding the benefits of using LED lighting over fluorescent lighting. If you’re a grocery store retailer, here are some reasons to use LED lighting, as well as some considerations to make.

Offers Exceptional Coloring

LED lighting improves the color of foods.

  • Meats—Although sliced meats that look discolored may only be an aesthetic concern, it can turn off shoppers from buying. When you use LED lighting, you don’t have to worry about meat discoloration.
  • Produce—Fruits and vegetables look better under LED lighting. To draw additional attention on certain types of produce, use special optics that can enhance the color spectrum of fresh foods even more.

Is Ideal for Cold Foods

Although fluorescent lighting may be an efficient way for many applications, it’s not as effective as LED lighting when it comes to freezer and refrigerator lighting. For example, cold temperatures can cause a drop in the mercury vapor pressure that’s inside fluorescent lamps. This can result in a light output reduction of as much as 25 percent.

On the other hand, LED lightening doesn’t have this effect. In fact, sometimes the light output from LED lighting actually gets better in a cold setting.

LED Lights Last Longer

LED lights can last for more than 50,000 hours or about three times longer than fluorescent lights. This means you don’t have to change bulbs as much, which saves money. This type of lighting also reduces heat emissions.

It’s Environmentally Friendly

Since there are fewer bulbs to change, there’s not as much garbage in landfills. This gives LED lighting another advantage, making it more environmentally friendly.

Considerations

  • Unlike incandescent lights, there isn’t a single size of LED lamps.
  • Consider your store’s dimming needs.
  • A growing number of grocery stores are now using track fixtures for lighting up food displays such as in their produce sections.
  • Replacing fluorescent lights with LED lights in vertical and horizontal freezer cases can save your store as much as 50 percent in energy expenses.

Lighting Your Business With Clean Energy

Clean energy, also known as green energy, is energy that can be extracted, generated, and/or consumed without any significant negative impact to the environment. Moving towards energy sustainability will require changes not only in the way energy is supplied, but in the way it is used.

In 2014, market data assembled by the U.S. Department of Energy shows that the historic shift to a cleaner, more domestic and more secure energy future is not some far-away goal. In fact, LED lighting, one of the four transformational technologies mentioned, has emerged as a powerful market competitor to traditional, inefficient incandescent bulbs. The DOE report states that a standard 60 watt incandescent light bulb can be replaced by a ~9 watt LED light that is 84% more efficient while emitting the same amount of light. And although LEDs cost more up front, they also last as much as 25 times longer.

Another beneficial energy source is solar power. The cost of solar energy is declining, and each year tens of thousands more Americans begin to reap the benefits of clean energy from the sun. Energy is now being generated right on the rooftops of their places of business. A recent report released by Environment Maryland mentions the fact that solar photovoltaics (PV) produce 96 percent less global warming pollution per unit of energy than coal-fired power plants over their entire life cycle, and 91 percent less global warming pollution than natural gas-fired power plants.

In addition to the jobs directly created in the renewable energy industry, growth in renewable energy industry creates positive economic “ripple” effects. For example, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, industries in the renewable energy supply chain will benefit, and unrelated local businesses will benefit from increased household and business incomes. In addition, costs of renewable energy have fallen dramatically in recent years, and continue to fall. This means that between solar photovoltaics and LED lighting, your business can save money and achieve greater customer satisfaction at the same time.

The Benefits of Upgrading to LED Lighting in Your Business

Many businesses are choosing to upgrade to LED Lighting due to the energy savings they can benefit from in doing so. However, upon converting to LED lighting many of these businesses are surprised to discover how many additional benefits they have gained. If you are currently debating whether or not to convert to LED lighting in your business, here are just a few of the many reasons why you should consider doing so.

Maintenance Costs
Replacing the numerous, oddly located, lights in one’s business can eat up a great deal of time and money. This is an area in which businesses can benefit from upgrading to LED lights. LED lights last a great deal longer than traditional light bulbs and will likely not need to be replaced for 12 years or more. This will give you a piece of mind knowing that you will not have to worry about your lights for years to come.

Energy Subsidies
Many power authorities, private organizations, and government agencies are offering grants and subsidies to businesses that choose to upgrade to LED lighting. These benefit programs can greatly reduce the costs of upgrading to LED lighting in your business. Furthermore, the reduced cost of upgrading will shorten the amount of time it takes to earn back your investment in energy savings.

Energy Savings
While many businesses are already aware that they can save money by upgrading to LED lighting, they are often surprised by how much energy these light bulbs save. The fact is that these lights use roughly 80% less energy than incandescent or halogen light bulbs. These light bulbs are actually brighter than traditional light bulbs, but they use a significantly smaller amount of energy as well as being much cooler than other lighting options.