Uncategorized - Relumination | Energy-Efficient Lighting, Reduce Energy Consumption

Improve your Business’ Sustainability with LED Lighting

The cost of being energy inefficient is rapidly rising – both for the environment, and for your bottom line. Helping your business run more sustainably is much easier than you may think and making many little changes now can make huge differences in the long run. Switching to LED lighting, for example, is a great way to promote sustainability while keeping your overhead costs low. As 20% of the world’s energy is being used for lighting, every energy-efficient LED bulb you install works towards protecting the environment.

If you’re thinking about sustainable solutions for your business, consider these benefits to using LED lighting:

LED lighting is energy efficient: Compared to conventional bulbs, LED lights use 70-85% less energy. That’s no negligable difference. Up to 85% less dirty energy is being used to power your lights, and if your local utility produces sustainable energy, 85% more of it can be used elsewhere.

LED lighting has a long lifespan: LED lights burn for up to 50 thousand hours. Since they don’t need to be replaced as often as traditional incandescant bulbs, not only does this save you the money you would have used to replace them, but it also saves the energy required to manufacture more bulbs, and saves the landfill space that would have been taken up by burnt out bulbs.

LED lighting is 100% recyclable: Unlike incandescant bulbs, which use mercury and other harmful chemicals in their manufacture, LED lights are 100% recyclable. By recouping much of the energy that would need to go towards manufacturing new lights, as well as keeping the lights out of the landfill, LED lighting greatly improves the sustainability of lighting.

Relumination specializes in helping companies of all sizes reduce their carbon footprint and their utility bills. We work with our clients every step of the way, from planning your new LED lighting installation or retrofit, through to filing the necessary paperwork for qualifying rebates. Contact us today for a free estimate on an LED lighting installation.

Sustainability

Relumination’s LED Lights: The Solution to Cold Storage Lighting

The efficiency of cold storage units are essential to the cleanliness and food safety of any restaurant or supermarket. In many of these businesses however, this sanitation is ineffective due to faulty cold storage lighting. Fortunately, Relumination’s design for LED lighting solves these risks while saving the food industry money.

Many lights in cold storage units produce heat, compromising the necessary food temperatures. Restaurants will increase the use of air conditioning in an attempt to combat this. This is costly and does not guarantee that food will be kept within health code regulations. However, less than 10% of the energy used in Relumination’s LED lights is converted to heat. Unlike other lights, Relumination’s LED lights stay cool, maintaining the temperature in cold storage and saving money on air conditioning.

Another fault of many cold storage lighting systems is that they are operated with a light switch. This may seem like a insignificant factor but it can actually be a major health concern. For instance, in a restaurant, workers prepare various raw and cooked ingredients. They rush in and out of the cold storage, flicking on and off that light switch as they go. The many hands touching that same light switch with various ingredients and even cleaning chemicals creates a huge health hazard. Yes, the lights in the cold storage could be left on during the entire work day but again, it is costly. Not only on the electric bill, but if they are heat producing lights, as mentioned above, on the air conditioning bill as well.

Relumination, of course has a solution. Relumination offers lights controlled by motion sensors. This means that as soon as a worker walks into the cold storage, the lights turn on. These motion sensor LED lights also have a feature called, “Instant On.” Unlike most motion sensor l ights that need time to warm up, Relumination LED lights instantly turn on to the full power with dimming options.

Finally, Relumination LED lights are durable and are not made of glass. So if a light is dropped in the cold storage, there is no messy or dangerous clean up near or in the food.

For more information, contact us.

LED

LED Parking Lot Lighting Shines as an Energy-Saver

While it is often a necessity to leave a car at the airport, one of the most frustrating and exhausting tasks awaiting you upon arrival is locating your vehicle in a dimly lit parking garage at night. This is no doubt due to the number of burnt out and dim bulbs that maintenance has difficulty keeping up with.

But one busy airport, Detroit Metropolitan (DTW), has a plan that may just ease the pain of this experience with the replacement of 6,050 lighting fixtures with LED bulbs. With the current bulbs having an average life of only 13 months, the new LED lights are guaranteed to keep shining for years. As Wayne County Airport Authority (WCCA) CEO Tom Naughton states in Parking Network “It will improve lighting in our parking facilities, reduce energy consumption, save on maintenance costs and shrink our carbon footprint.”

The planned DTW project may will be the largest LED conversion in the country thus far. While the project is slated to cost $6.2 million, the cost savings will continue to pay off to the tune of $1.2 million yearly. The energy saved alone can power 880 households for a year.

Incorporated with the energy-saving LEDs, will be a motion detection system. This system will automatically reduce lighting when there is no activity in the area and then activate additional lighting when vehicles and pedestrians are detected.

DTW airport is not the only site saving energy costs by using LED technology. According to the Environment News Service, the University of California Davis campus also replaced their parking lot lighting systems as well. Michael Siminovitch, director of the university’s Lighting Technology Center spearheaded the project which uses 20 percent of the energy of conventional parking lighting systems.

While LED lights give off brighter light, they use less electricity and last longer. Traditional parking lighting uses metal halide lights with 175 watts of power each while the LEDs are only 85 watts.

Relumination assists companies of all sizes in providing cost-effective lighting solutions. Contact us for more information on how your company can save energy costs and maintenance expenses with a lighting upgrade or retrofit.

Parking

Not Just Energy Savings, but Aesthetics: The Advantage of LED Retail Lighting

Whether we are aware of it or not, the aesthetic qualities of retail lighting contribute to the sales and success of an establishment. Though obviously we would rather trust a bright space for our commercial needs than say, a dark alleyway, that inherent sense of comfort is just part of the reason.

Lighting is not just an overhead expense for a store; it is as much a factor in driving business as a professional logo or a promotional campaign. Let us explore some of the reasons why this is true, and also illustrate that LED lighting scores over incandescent light in delivering this type of value.

Contrast and Color Richness are Decisive

The color rendering index (CRI) is an objective measure of a light’s ability to reproduce the look of an object in natural lighting. Think about the appearance of fresh fruit in a sunny orchard versus in a refrigerator crisper. Richer, deeper colors and natural, clear contrasts contribute to a sense of ease and comfort for shoppers. This is true in all forms of retail, and the brighter mood within the shopping space contributes to a better traffic flow and a greater propensity for customers to make purchases.

Lighting is Indispensible to Jewelers

This is especially true in the jewelry business: the refractive and reflective properties of the merchandise are the key selling point. Jewelry, no matter how rare or valuable, must sparkle. Lighting should come from above and inside the display case, in order to keep shadows from falling on the goods.

LED Energy Savings

In all situations with a potential return on investment, we must seek to lower long term costs. Lighting is no exception, even though some retailers unwisely look at it solely as a chunk of the energy bill and not a part of value creation. However, LED lights can offer up to 90% lower energy costs, with 25 times more durability. In terms of CRI index, they can now reach up to a rating of 90+ (the sun has a CRI index of 100).

If you could cut marketing costs down by such ratios while maintaining the same returns, you would jump on the opportunity immediately. Professional LED lighting is no different.

Retail

Factors to Consider in Warehouse & Distribution Center Lighting

If someone said you could cut costs up to 90% and become more efficient, wouldn’t you jump? “Show me!”

That is the potential savings using energy saving and long lasting LED lighting. Warehouse & distribution center lighting can be a daunting task considering that these tend to be large buildings, which need a great amount of lighting, temperature control and maintenance. Often, these facilities have to run 24/7.

Warehouses can also save on maintenance costs. Common lighting systems will erode over time and dim and darken what can be seen and illuminated and create unsafe situations. Think about how a low light looks with bugs crawling on it. With efficient LED lighting systems there won’t be as many maintenance calls because the lighting is built to last over a much longer period to time. Another interesting fact is the more usage you have, the sooner you will see a return on investment. For example, a facility running lighting for 16 hours a day will wait just under three years to see the return, while a warehouse operating 24/7 will see the return in less than two years. Want to add an annex to your building? You can do so without adding electrical requirements.

The Relumination web site is here to help you with a calculator to figure out your savings, explanations about their seven step process: Needs Analysis; Preliminary Assessment; Engineered System Design; Project Proposal; Implementation and Project Management; Post-Implementation & Project Verification, and Service and Support. Plus you can ask for a demonstration.

For more information, click over to the warehouse & distribution center section of our website.

Hospital Lighting May Help Improve Senior Care Unit Outcomes

It is estimated that there are currently more than 41 million elderly residents in the United States. Of those residents, 5 million+ are likely to develop a cognitive impairment that will require them to spend some time in a hospital’s senior care unit. As such, facility administrators may want to consider installing an LED lighting system. Here are a few reasons why:

Over the years, research has proven that some elderly residents with dementia develop what is known as sundowner’s syndrome. It is a condition that involves manipulative behaviors that typically occur during periods of low light. Thus, those behaviors may be managed non-pharmaceutically by improving hospital lighting.

LEDs are the perfect choice for such applications because they provide glare-free illumination that is similar to natural sunlight. That, in turn, helps to reset the patient’s circadian rhythms as well as reduce the visual disturbances that could lead to behavioral issues.

In addition to minimizing behavioral issues, the intensity and directionality of LED lights are also worth noting. They can provide enough light for elderly patients to move around the unit safely. Furthermore, in the case of shared rooms, LED bedside lights can be positioned in a way that will keep one patient’s late night care from disturbing the other. Some LED beside lights may also be equipped with dimming capabilities, which would help with cohabitation issues as well.

While we are on the subject of safety and comfort, there are two other characteristics worth mentioning. LED lights also feature shatter resistant, cool surfaces. Thus, the likelihood that confused patients will accidentally burn or cut themselves on the bulbs is reduced as well.

Maax Spas Selects Relumination for LED Light Retrofit

We are excited to be the chosen contractor for Maax Spas office and manufacturing facility in Chandler, AZ. As part of this project, we will update their current lighting to become more energy efficient in their 120,000 sq ft space and will save nearly 550,000 kWh of electricity per year. That’s a savings of nearly 90% on lighting related electricity usage.

Upgrades will be made to both the inside and outside of the facility and will include LED exterior lighting, high-efficiency fluorescent lighting with occupancy sensors in the office areas and intelligent LED lighting in the production and manufacturing areas.

Maax Spas was eligible for a large utility rebate from Salt River Project (SRP) with an estimated payback of less than 2 years.

Best Way to Reduce Your Firm’s Portion of the World’s Carbon Footprint

In June 2013, it was revealed that the world’s carbon footprint is still not where it should be. At last count, it was an eye-popping 31.6 gigatonnes. Upon announcing the new number, the Internal Energy Agency made a few suggestions on how it could be reduced. One of them was increasing the world’s use of eco-friendly lighting systems like LEDs. So how can switching to LEDs help minimize your firm’s carbon footprint? Let’s take a quick look: Just in case you’re unaware, the world’s carbon footprint is measured by analyzing the amount of greenhouse gases that are present in the earth’s atmosphere. They are an amalgamation of various gases including hydrofluorocarbons, methane, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide. Collectively, they are generated during our use and subsequent disposal of services and goods. Electricity and the items used to generate it understandably fall into those two categories. That’s where using LED lights to illuminate your business can help.

When looked at in unison, the LED manufacturing process and the lights themselves do not generate a lot of greenhouse gases. In addition, the bulbs have an extended life span and don’t require a lot of electricity to provide brilliant illumination. As such, their continued use over time will essentially reduce the world’s carbon footprint even further.

In addition to being carbon footprint friendly and recyclable, LEDs provide other benefits to the environment too. For starters, the bulbs do not contain mercury or emit harmful radiation (i.e. IR and UV). They also don’t generate intense heat. Because of those features, their extended use will minimize light, soil and water pollution too.

Would you like to learn more about how our LED lighting systems may help your business reduce its present day carbon footprint? Contact us!

Restaurant Lighting: Light Your Grand Opening, Reducing Energy Costs and Saving Electricity

There are so many tasks on your checklist to complete before your restaurants’ grand opening. Finding a prime location for the type of clientele you are catering to, gathering the funds for startup, space and menu planning, hiring staff and ensuring that you have all required licenses and permits to open your venue on time; are tasks that may be difficult, time consuming, and costly. Phew! Don’t fret. Let’s set the mood with “light”. This may not seem like a big deal right not, but restaurant lighting plays a big role in your venue, and it’s up to you to decide what type of lighting is appropriate for the ambiance and style of your particular business.

First of all, what will be the overall mood of restaurant you are you looking to open? What will be your hours of operation and what will be your target audience?

“Choosing the Correct Music/Lighting/Décor for Your Restaurant” an article featured on Fohboh.com, suggest that the following are key points in choosing the right type of lighting for your establishment:

For instance, if you will be opening a breakfast restaurant, you’ll want bright lighting, establishing a wakeful, energetic tone. Restaurants catering to the dinner crowd will want to feature less intense lighting to convey a sense of relaxation and unwinding after a long day. Themed restaurants give you more room to play around with lighting fixtures, colors and placements to convey your theme.

Now, we know that keeping your establishment lit during long periods of time may be mandatory, yet a costly expense for your restaurant. According to energystar.gov, “the lights will remain on in a typical restaurant for 16-20 hours per day.”

Cut the cost of your light bill, significantly! Lighting fixtures and bulbs endorsed by Energy Star reduce the consumption of energy, cuts the output of heat by up to 75% and lasts 10-25 times longer than standard lighting fixtures and bulbs.

For more information on restaurant lighting, as well as case studies and product information, click here.

Restaurant

Interior School Lighting Improved with the Addition of LEDs

Have you been tossing around the idea of upgrading your school’s interior lighting? If so, you and the other decision makers involved may want to think about incorporating LEDs into your school district’s plans. There are an array of advantages to using LED lighting in an educational setting. Read on for a quick overview of the benefits:

To begin with, it has long been established that the signs and symptoms of certain neurological disorders may be exasperated by select lighting situations. Those disorders include, but are not limited to ADHD, autism, PDD and Asperger’s syndrome. The reasons why such individuals’ symptoms may worsen are often connected to the light fixture’s inherent design. For example, some light fixtures emit noises, UV rays, infrared lights and pulsating illumination that can overload the senses. There are even some light fixtures that contain neurotoxins (mercury), which would obviously be harmful to those with neurological deficits.

LED lights, on the other hand, do not have any of those undesirable characteristics. Thus, that makes them ideal for use in special needs and combination classrooms. In addition, the light that emanates from LEDs is also directional, sufficiently bright and glare-free. All three are features that may help to reduce eye strain for students and staff alike.

A better environment for students, staff and visitors is not the only advantage that may be gained by updating a school’s lighting elements. Installing LED school lighting may also help districts to minimize operational costs, improve safety and become more eco-friendly. That’s because the lights do not increase room temperature, use a lot of electricity or burn out quickly. They are also shatter resistant and cool to the touch. As such, there is less of a chance that your staff will experience school lighting related lacerations and burns.

For more information on how installing LEDs can improve your school’s lighting, contact us via the Relumination website.