Is It Time To Upgrade Your Parking Lot Lighting?

Lighting your business’s parking lot is critical in providing your employees, clients, and customers with safety. If you have a dark parking lot, you could put everyone at risk for car accidents and theft. If your business has been opened for many years, there is a good chance your business still has the same lighting in place from the first day it opened.

Over the years, it is likely your lighting is not as good as it used to be. If your lighting is not efficient, it could result in major consequences for your business. If you are unsure if your business needs to replace its parking lot lighting, we want to make you aware of some signs.

Your Lights Have To Be Changed Often

If you have to constantly change the light bulbs in your parking lot, you are likely spending an excessive amount of money that can be used elsewhere. The good thing about LED lights is that they can last for a significant amount of time. If you are tired of replacing your parking lot lights, this could be a sign that you need to choose another option for parking lot lighting.

Complaints From Customers/Employees

Do you hear from your employees and/or customers about how unsafe they feel when they are in the parking lot? Crimes do take place in parking lots, especially when there is not enough lighting. When there is not enough lighting in an area, some people usually take that opportunity to commit crimes against an unsuspecting person.

Dark Areas

When you drive around your parking lot, do you notice that some areas are brighter than others? If there are some places that are not fully lit, your business parking lot has bad lighting. When you use better lighting fixtures, especially LED lighting, you will have better lighting placement.

Two Important Benefits of LED Parking Garage Lighting

Many people consider parking garages as ugly, dark, and dangerous places. This reputation is due in large part to poor upkeep and poor lighting. It doesn’t help that commonly used lights in parking garages produce an eerie off-white color that disorients the customer. However, this can be changed by using clean reflective surfaces on the ceiling and walls and by using LED lighting. Here is how you benefit from this change:

More Attractive to Your Customers

Bright lighting elevates the mood of your customers and makes them feel safer. The feeling of safety that people experience in daylight is both real and psychological. This feeling is reproduced in parking garages brightly lit with LEDs. LED lights closely resemble daylight and therefore produce similar psychological feelings. The improved lighting also makes the area more attractive and upscale. Customers are then more inclined to come back and do repeat business.

Improves Your Customer’s Safety

Bright lighting and surveillance cameras reduce crime. The improved lighting also allows customers to see slippery areas, irregular surfaces, curbs, wheel stops, and other features that might cause slip or trip-and-fall accidents. Reduced crime and falls decreases your risk of customer lawsuits arising from crime victimization and fall injuries. Poor lighting is a common reason property owners are required to pay damages in these lawsuits.

The above benefits are further enhanced by clean, white reflective wall and ceiling surfaces. This disperses light and increases the overall illumination. The right choice of paint or surface treatment will also repel dirt and soot buildup, which diminish the garage illumination over time.

Two other benefits you’ll enjoy from LED parking garage lighting are lower energy bills from the high energy efficiency of LEDs, and reduced maintenance costs from the long operating life of LEDs.

Parking Lot Lighting Helps Customers Feel Safe

If you are a proud business owner, you certainly want to excel in your field. There are some very smart ways of doing this. You want to do things that bring repeat customers. You can accomplish with by, first and foremost, make your customers feel valued. Allow them to see that you understand the fact that without them, your business could not survive.  Do you want your customers to feel safe when they enter your parking lot? Of course you do. This is why adding quality lighting in your parking lot  is essential.

If you are establishing a rapport with your customers, then you likely know many of their names. This gives much more depth to the idea of keeping them safe. How can  quality parking lot lighting keep them safe you ask? Just think about the things that are happening in our world today. There are people who refuse to leave their own home after dusk. Wouldn’t it be gratifying to know they will still come out to visit your establishment, despite nightfall, simply because you’ve made their safety a priority? With the right lighting, customers will be worry-free of getting out of their cars to come inside, because any danger lurking is visible.

Is Your Parking Lot Lighting Adequate?

There are many opinions as far as parking lot lighting is concerned. Many feel as if the lighting in a parking lot is sufficient if it simply exists, and others feel it should be very bright, and meet all of the needs of the people.

When considering an upgrade to your lighting system, there are many things to consider. For example: if your lighting has not been upgraded in many years, you may want to consider the five basic questions below, and then decide if you need to upgrade your lighting system:

  • Intensity of the lighting: how bright are your lights?
  • Uniformity of lighting: how consistent is the light level throughout the lighted area?
  • Color of lighting: how accurately does the lighting show colors?
  • Efficiency of lighting: how much light per watt of electricity does the lighting system give?
  • Lamp life: How long do the lamps last before they will have to be replaced?

If you follow the suggested list above, you will be well on your way to ensuring that your lighting is up to date, and safe for anyone who enters your parking lot. Following this list will ensure that your lighting meets all the needs of the people.

Many business choose to wait until the lighting is not working to replace them. This is not a wise idea. Updating your system with brighter lighting will ensure your parking lot is running smoothly and is at the ultimate level of safety for your staff, and customers.

Protect Your Customers, Protect Your Business

You want to protect your business, and you also want your customers to feel safe.  How can you accomplish that with a minimum of expense?  Parking lot lighting can go a long way toward all these ends when done properly.

Protect Your Business

Outside lights are a big deterrent to criminals.  The LAPD lists outdoor lighting as a way to protect your business, and the city of Charleston, SC calls lighting the “most cost-effective deterrent to crime.”  If the police are telling everyone that lighting is one of the best ways to keep criminals at bay, shouldn’t we listen?

Keep Your Customers Safe

Safety and security are not the same.  According to FacilitiesNet, Safety requires light to see tripping hazards, while security requires lighting that allows people to see faces, etc.  Both under-lighting and over-lighting increase certain risks.  That’s why it’s important to have a professional examine your space and work out the safest plan with a company that has nearly 10 years of experience.

Don’t Spend Too Much

Lighting is one of the least expensive options you have for adding security to your business.  Compared to a security company or lots of locks and bars on the windows, lighting is quite an appealing choice.  But what about running all those lights?  We use LED lights, which drastically cuts your costs.  Suddenly, you don’t have to worry about your wallet when it comes to lighting.

There are so many reasons to invest in outdoor lighting for your parking lot, we can only list a few here.

LED Lighting And Daylight Savings Time

Daylight Savings Time is in full effect. Some people enjoy this time of the year because the extra hour of sleep. However, others are never thrilled about seeing nightfall come quickly. This change will have an impact on your ability to have the outdoor lighting you need.

Your lighting, or lack thereof, can help or hurt your business. Many people do not like shopping at stores or walking through parking lots when it is dark. The right mixture of lights can highlight your business, hospital, parking lot, etc. You do not have to flood your parking lot or the outside walkway with lights that are too bright and a little annoying.

You can use lights that you can place along your walkway. This will give your customers and employees enough light, and it will also help them see where they are going during the dark evenings and nights. There are several LED lighting options for you to choose from, including solar lights. When you use solar lighting, you do not have to worry about plugging and unplugging lights or buying replacement batteries.

It does not matter what type of lights you will choose to put outside, you will want to make sure the lights fit the style of your business. You will also want to make sure the lights are subtle. No one will be hesitant from navigating from your walkway or parking lot during the dark.

Save More Than You Expect by Using Solar LED Lighting

There are some really great savings when using solar-powered LED parking lot lighting.

The company saves a lot of time and money on installation.  No wire has to run underground to the lights.  Good money stays in your bank account just because it doesn’t have to pay for the wire.  Even more money stays with you because you don’t have to pay an electrician to lay the wire.  An additional benefit is the lack of a system of buried wires to deal with.

If a storm or accident knocks down a light, repair takes a lot less work.  The electrician bills for a lot less time and takes a lot less time too.  They do not have to find the breaker and shut down the outside lighting.  They do not have to replace wiring, a job that can easily cost more than when they originally installed it.  An added benefit is the fact that a downed pole carries no dangerous electrical charge.

Because LEDs use about ten percent of the power, the business owner would save a lot of money on power if it did tap the mains.  Solar lighting uses zero watts of metered electricity.

There is nothing for copper thieves to steal.  The business owner saves the cost of stolen copper, the cost of damage, and the cost of insuring against that damage.  Call that a hidden saving.  The business also saves on dealing with safety hazards caused by copper thieves leaving exposed hot wires.

In some areas there are also tax breaks and energy rebates for LED lighting, new and retrofit.

Invest In LED Parking Lot Lighting for its Impressive Reliability

Replacing light bulbs throughout your workplace can be a simple task to accomplish. However, when you have problems with parking lot lights, you generally have to rely on professional assistance. It is best to invest in LED parking lot lighting because it is such a reliable type of lighting.

Better Directed Lighting

LED lights are ideal, especially for parking lots because they excel at directed lighting. It is important to maximize the safety of your parking lot for your employees and customers. High-quality lighting will ensure that these people have safe passage to their vehicle and while driving through the parking lot.

Reliable Once Installed

When you invest in LED lighting for your parking lot, you get top-notch reliability. Not having to worry about lighting problems can be a huge relief, especially when you consider the fact that fixing a problem in the parking lot requires a lot more work than most other lighting issues.

Less Replacing Bulbs

Since LED lights last so long, you can replace your current bulbs and forget about replacements for a long time. Not having to replace bulbs as frequently leads to reduced costs on professional services.

Reduced Costs

In addition to saving money by not having to get professional help as often, your light bulbs will also last longer, which balance out the higher cost of LED light bulbs in comparison to the alternatives.

When you are willing to spend more in the beginning, you will enjoy savings in the long run.

3 Great Reasons to use LEDs for Parking Garage Lighting

LED lighting has benefits for every industry and every application. For example, if you manage a parking garage. Check out these 3 great reasons you should make LEDs your parking garage lighting solution.

Energy Savings: If your parking garage has underground or otherwise dimly lit sections, at least some of your lights have to be left on 24 hours a day. Even if your parking structure is fully above ground, for safety and convenience, you’ll need to leave the lights on from dusk ‘til dawn at the least. That much up time can quickly burn out conventional bulbs and add up to major utility costs. LED lights, on the other hand, are up to 85% more energy efficient than conventional bulbs, translating to major energy savings.

Instant On: Especially as the seasons change, setting the right time for your lights to turn on can be a pain. LED lights, unlike conventional bulbs, though, don’t require any warm-up time. This means you won’t have to guess the average time of sunset for the next few months and then subtract another 15 minutes or so to account for the lights warming up. Best of all, if you weren’t able to get the right time, if it’s a rainy day, or if you have a sensor system, your LED lights will instantly turn on to the proper brightness level.

Long Life: Running lights 24/7 will quickly burn out conventional bulbs. LEDs, on the other hand, last up to 5 times as long as conventional bulbs. This means you’re spending 5 times less on replacement bulbs, and you won’t have dangerous dark spots in your parking garage.

No matter what kind of business you operate, switching to LED lighting can save you a small fortune in utility bills.

 

Parking Lot Lighting: Don’t Leave Customers In The Dark

If you operate or own a business, it’s important to protect the area, the building, and all of the employees. Installing parking lot lighting can protect your business from a safety and security standpoint. If you are running a business that does not have enough lighting, it may lead to receiving some unwanted attention from people who want to break in and steal your valuables.

Protect What Belongs To You

If your business property becomes one of those buildings that attracts the wrong kind, you may lose valuable computer equipment and other equipment your company uses to keep the daily operations running. Even if you have a security in place, there is no certainty that your building will not be broken into. It is recommended to have security systems installed, but it is also highly recommended to add adequate and quality parking lot lighting to lower the risk of unwanted criminal activities.

Protect Customers/Employees

Lighting in a parking lot will help ensure the safety of customers, pedestrians, and on goers. If people are walking in a dark parking lot, there may be some fear that someone can be hiding somewhere. With a well-lit parking lot, people will feel safer when they walk to or from their cars. You also want your employees to feel safe when they are walking to their cars after work. It can also be easier for people to have car accidents when they can’t see where they are going. Installing parking lot lighting can help prevent unnecessary accidents.

Can you imagine walking out of your building when it is dark, during those late nights? The lighting is weak, inadequate, and not all of the lights are working. What if you have forgotten where you parked? Would you feel safe walking through the parking lot, or would you wish someone would have walked with you?

You never know what kind of things can happen in a dim parking lot; that is why it is so important to have parking lot lighting. It can give people a sense of security. Everyone wants to feel safe, no matter where they are. Think of the people who make your business successful. You don’t want them to feel left out in the dark when they leave your building.