Summary of Benefits of Using LED Lighting in Commercial Applications

Over time, LED lighting has become more popular than any other type of illumination. Slowly but surely, businesses have also been making the change that many homeowners already have by installing retail LED lighting. Below are some of the main drivers of this switch to LED lights.

LED Lights Last Longer Than Traditional Lighting

LED lighting is far more efficient than typical lighting, and greater efficiency means a longer lifespan. Whereas most traditional light bulbs such as halogen last around 1,000 hours before needing replacing, an LED light bulb can last for a minimum of 20,000 hours. Since it is possible to outlast thousands more hours than traditional bulbs, commercial LED lighting can benefit the budget of any business. There is less of a need to constantly replace the bulbs, so the overall cost of lighting a building goes down. Without the need to change the lights often, there is less manual effort that goes into changing the many light bulbs each year. This is especially true of LED ceiling lighting that requires a lift or ladder to reach.

LED Lights Offer Much More Flexibility with Lighting Schemes

Unlike traditional bulbs, LED lights give you greater control over their appearance and the subsequent appearance of your shop. This is due in part to the colour temperatures that LED lights have to offer as well as their minimal heat output. LED Colour temperature is measured in units Kelvin, with the lowest numbers being the warmest shades and the higher numbers being the coolest. Both have their places in showcasing products and creating moods. With colour temperature options such as these, you can use different colour temperatures for different applications. For example, warmer colours can create a moodier shop, while cooler colours can create one that is bright, open and accurately depicts the colours of the items. In the same vein, you can choose the lumen level of the light. This indicates its brightness, so you can play around with various levels of light to get the look you want. Since LEDs produce negligible heat, you won’t have to worry about placing lights too close to fabrics and causing the colours to dull. The lack of heat also means less money spent running the air conditioning to offset the discomfort of the heat. The design capabilities of LED lights are also broader, thanks to the ability for them to be quite small. You can place LED lights in compact areas, display cases or along short stretches of walls with LED track lighting without making it look bulky and distracting. This provides not only better lighting opportunities but also enhanced aesthetics. Your business can even use occupancy sensors to decide whether to turn a light on or off. This means the lighting will react to the number of customers in the store to provide the right level of brightness. You can also set LEDs on a timer or use smart technology to further customize the lighting scheme.

LED Lighting Is Much More Eco Friendly Than Traditional Lighting

It is a priority of many companies to have more eco-friendly practices to reduce their environmental impact. Switching to LED lights is one of the biggest ways they are doing this. A few reasons why LED lights are more environmentally friendly are: – Fewer bulbs in the landfill. Since LED lights last for so long, people aren’t throwing out as many bulbs every year. With substantially fewer bulbs going into the bin, fewer light bulbs are adding to the mess. – Less time spent replacing lights. The longevity of LED lights also means that you are less likely to have to put in as much effort to replace the lights. This can save a lot of labor especially if you have a large building and many lights in the ceiling. – Less of a strain on the air conditioning system. Since LED lights output almost no heat, they do not warm up the environment around them the way halogen bulbs do. For this reason, you can expect to run the air conditioning less to cancel out that heat you’d have otherwise. – Saving on energy bills. The energy saving properties of LED lights mean that they require less power to operate. Less electricity needed to run the low energy lighting means that less money is spent on the energy bill. For businesses that are open 24/7 or just have many lights installed, this can be a huge benefit financially speaking. – Smaller carbon footprint. Studies have shown that one LED bulb producing the same level of luminosity as an incandescent bulb puts out 80 percent fewer greenhouse gases. Parts of these lights can sometimes also be recycled. Non-toxic elements in the lights further their environmentally safe nature, as you won’t have to worry about harmful toxins seeping into the ground when you throw them away.

Switching To LED Lighting Gives a Better Working Environment

Reports have indicated that LED lights are capable of producing a happier and healthier working environment. LED lights may be able to improve the conditions in the following ways: – Fluorescent lights can worsen headaches. Those who suffer from migraines often report that traditional lighting makes the problem worse. By using LED bulbs, you make the space more habitable for those who struggle with migraines. – Improves focus. LED lights have been shown to improve one’s ability to focus on the task at hand in schools and offices. This could increase overall productivity. – Enhances reading comprehension. It is thought that LED lights can increase production, thanks to their ability to improve reading speed by five percent while reducing spelling errors and typos. – Natural daylight options. It is true that the sun is a big regulator of one’s mood. This is evidenced by the prevalence of SAD or Seasonal Affective Disorder. Choosing an LED colour temperature that is similar to daylight colours may positively impact the mood of your employees. When they are happier, productivity and morale both rise. – Light levels matter. Studies have indicated that office workers do better in terms of performance in specific light levels. You can control lumen levels and even dim lights with LED bulbs, so you can tailor the illumination with that thought in mind.

Is LED Lighting Tax Deductible?

The government has recently introduced the Superdeduction tax scheme means to let businesses claim 130 percent of their capital allowances using various investments. One of the investments in this includes LED lighting. In this way, LED lighting is indeed tax deductible for businesses.

Which Big Companies and Government Departments Have Already Made the Switch To LED Lighting?

Many of the big-name businesses you shop with every day have begun to make the change. Some of the most popular ones are found below. – Marks and Spencer’s has placed a Sustainable Learning Store in Sheffield, meant to be entirely sustainable hrough the use of many energy efficient methods. One of these methods is using 100 percent LED lights throughout the building, saving them around 20 to 30 percent on their energy bills. – Starbucks has also implemented LED lights in more than 1,000 stores. Each store uses seven percent less energy than it did before it made the switch. – Google has set a good example as a leading company using LED lighting in various rooms of their headquarters and other physical locations. – Co-Op has decided to use dimmer lighting in approximately 500 of its 2,500 stores across the nation. They are doing this knowing that they could reduce their electricity bills by several thousand every year. This occurred after Morrisons and Sainsbury’s did the same thing. – Wiltshire is working toward their goal of becoming carbon neutral by the year 2030, which in part has meant replacing its traditional lighting with LEDs. – London’s Elizabeth Line received an update on escalator shafts, stations and concourses when LED lights were installed. – IKEA stores have used LED lighting for a long time now and only sell LED light bulbs in their light fixtures.

Summary of Benefits for Using LED Lighting in Commercial Applications

Commercial LED lighting is taking the world by storm, both at home and at work. With businesses looking to improve their environmental image, many are changing due to the eco-friendly and energy efficient nature of LED lights. Just as many businesses are taking advantage of the productivity-boosting powers of LED lights that are shown to increase focus and reading ability. Beyond that, businesses are taking their finances into account, using LED lights to lessen the amount they pay in energy bills each year. The long life of LED bulbs also means spending less time buying and installing new lights, while also reducing the number of light bulbs that go into landfills. With so many benefits from control over lighting schemes to a more comfortable commercial environment, it’s no wonder retail LED lighting is growing in popularity.

Great Reasons For Your Business to Use LED Lighting

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The last several years have seen a massive switch towards energy efficient lighting solutions. LED lighting benefits are numerous, and business owners are seeing more clearly than ever before just why they should make the change.

Read on to learn about the biggest benefits of LED lights and why you should consider switching to commercial LED lighting.

LED Lighting Saves Energy

Cost effective illumination is a top priority for many business owners. With lights running more hours of the day than not, electricity bills can quickly add up. Taking advantage of LED energy efficiency is a surefire way to cut costs on those bills while still enjoying ample business lighting.

LED bulbs consume 80 percent less energy than their traditional counterparts such as halogen and incandescent bulbs. Traditional options use most of their energy as heat which happens to give off light.

Energy saving LED lights, on the other hand, skip the generation of heat entirely. They transform their energy right into illumination, making them far more efficient and effective than any other light source.

With such efficient generation of heat, the LED lighting cost saving benefits are clear. You’ll spend less money on your energy bills throughout the years, letting you spend those savings on electricity bills in other areas of your business.

LED Lighting Has a Much Longer Life

Due to the significant decrease in energy needed to run LED lights, they run substantially longer than other light sources. LED bulbs last for tens of thousands of hours, which is an exponential increase over the average lifespan of traditional bulbs.

Halogen bulbs, for example, tend to only last for around 1,000 hours at a time. Incandescent bulbs are slightly better than halogen lights in some cases, ranging from 750 to 2,000 hours on average. Fluorescent lighting, or CFLs, can last upwards of 15,000 hours, but they are known to decrease in brightness over time.

LED bulbs, on the other hand, have an average running time between 20,000 hours to 50,000 hours, sometimes even more. They can provide you with decades of daily lighting without the need for constant replacements.

A longer life brings with it many perks, including contributing to your cost-effective illumination plan. Since you won’t have to purchase new bulbs nearly as often, you’ll save big on up-front lighting costs.

This also means you generally won’t have to worry about as much maintenance over the years. LEDs are sturdier and better built than most traditional bulbs, essentially taking care of themselves. Of course, it would still be a good idea to periodically check the bulbs for faulty wiring or to dust off any accumulation of debris.

LED Lighting Produces a Much Better Quality of Light

LED lighting has an unsuspecting benefit that you may not even realize you appreciate until you see it in action: light quality. LED lights are stronger and bolder, and they turn on instantly — as opposed to some traditional bulbs that may flicker for a few seconds before they get going.

These lights provide much brighter, crisper light than other light sources. They generate uniform illumination to make sure that the lighting is consistent throughout a space. With their directional lighting, you can also provide more precise illumination in the areas you choose and stop it from spilling over into unintended areas.

Commercial lights with LED bulbs are also quite diverse. They exist on a large spectrum of colour temperatures, ranging from cool to warm. This allows you to choose the right lighting that fits your specific business, which is especially beneficial for retail stores that want to uphold a brand personality.

LED Lighting Has a Reduced Environmental Impact

Due in part to the reduced energy consumption, LED bulbs are a great way to lessen your carbon footprint. Energy saving lighting puts less of a strain on the natural resources used to ultimately generate electricity, which promotes an overall healthier planet.

The parts of LED bulbs themselves are also good for the Earth. Many special recycling facilities can take the parts of LED bulbs and recycle them for use. Traditional bulbs do not have the same reusable parts, meaning they simply add to the overflowing landfills.

Furthermore, LED bulbs are mercury-free, unlike some traditional bulb options. With no harmful chemicals to speak of, there is no risk of further polluting the environment with them. In a more abstract sense, fewer purchases means fewer transports across the continent or even the world as well. This reduces carbon emissions from trains, boats and planes that would otherwise be generated to replenish the stock of light bulbs.

LED Lighting Has Health and Productivity Benefits for Employees

Perhaps one of the least-known benefits of LED lights is their potential health benefits and overall productivity improvement. Lighting design for productivity is the first step in making sure the employees of your office or warehouse are working at their most efficient.

Studies have shown that light can significantly impact the mood and mindset of those seeing it. More specifically, bright, natural lighting is known to help boost energy levels and mental alertness. By choosing LED lights, you can emulate these effects with the brighter, more natural-looking illumination that these bulbs provide.

Visual comfort with lighting is also an important reason to include LED bulbs. Eye strain, stress and headaches are common symptoms of working in poor lighting conditions for a long period of time most days out of the week.

Uniform, bright, eye-friendly illumination reduces strain and fatigue of the eyes, which can, in turn, lessen the occurrence of headaches. This can not only improve your employees’ comfort and focus while working, but it can also be beneficial to them in the long run.

Even after your employees go home for the day, they may still notice the indirect benefits of working under LED lights all day. Since LED lights are closer to the light that sunlight provides, it helps to keep the circadian rhythm in check.

The circadian rhythm, of course, is responsible in part for helping people get restful sleep. Well-rested employees are more productive employees, so it benefits everyone all around.

Final Thoughts

Whether you are seeking out sustainable lighting options, lower energy costs or greater versatility for your lighting design, LED bulbs are the way to go. Their versatility, long lifespan and energy-efficient nature create the perfect recipe for a happier, healthier commercial environment — and a much happier wallet.