If you own or manage a business in Oswego, Naperville, Aurora, Yorkville or Plainfield (IL), you might be surprised to know that the purchase of the business facility can often be only around 10% of the cost of operation over the building’s lifetime.
Whether the business is a warehouse, a restaurant or a retail storefront, a notable part of the remaining 90% will typically be spent on energy costs and building maintenance.
Of the energy costs, electricity for lighting is the greatest expense. This is particularly true if you still use traditional lighting technology such as fluorescent bulbs and halide lighting (which also generates extra heat).
If your goal is to reduce energy bills, upgrading to LED lighting is both efficient and financially smart. LED lights convert close to 100% of the energy they draw into light energy that is both desirable and usable. In contrast, incandescent lighting converts about 10% of its energy to light and the rest is wasted as heat. Where incandescent lights may provide light for about 1,000 hours, LED lighting can operate for 50,000 to 100,000 hours.
LED light also is more abundant, lasting and affordable than traditional lighting, and it reduces your carbon footprint as well. Beyond having this ideal combination of factors, you can include LED lighting for both interior and exterior illumination at your facility. LED lighting may even qualify you for state or federal rebates as well as incentives or rebates from energy suppliers.
You can achieve these advantages simply by arranging for an LED lighting retrofit with your professional lighting electrician.
What Is an LED Lighting Retrofit?
When you are retrofitting your facility in Oswego, Naperville, Aurora, Yorkville or Plainfield, it means you are adding something that wasn’t part of the original construction and that wasn’t added after it was built. A retrofit is also sometimes referred to as a conversion or an upgrade. LED lighting is probably the most common retrofit at businesses today.
Another benefit of an LED retrofit is that you can still potentially maintain existing light fixtures. In ensuring proper lighting performance and longevity, your lighting professional will assess your fixtures as well as your wiring to determine which components must be replaced and which could stay if you would like them to.
An LED retrofit can be especially advantageous for retail operations because LED lighting is by nature directional. The light shines with the intended focus straight from the source and does not spill (waste) light into areas that do not need it. By opting for an LED conversion, the operation can provide more-ample and better-aimed light for customers and employees alike.
With an LED upgrade, you can also save money and energy with advanced lighting controls that let you set your lights’ color temperature or intensity. If you wish to establish a workplace mood or “vibe,” you can even put your lights on a schedule to emulate daytime and nighttime light progressions (known as color tuning).
You can also implement features such as motion sensors and daylight harvesting, which is the adjustment of interior electric lighting to maintain a set level (e.g. near windows and skylights).
What Else Should I Know About an LED Conversion?
Because LEDs operate differently from most traditional lighting, you’ll want to keep a couple of things in mind for an LED retrofit.
First, if you choose to keep certain fixtures that can be retained in the LED upgrade, it is possible that conversion options for bulbs could be more limited. If on the other hand you replace both the bulbs (the light) and the fixtures (the light housing), you’ll be able to consider all available options. In either case, many LEDs are made to be compatible with standard fixtures.
Second, the hardware that is needed for dimming the lights for an LED retrofit is typically not compatible with traditional lighting such as incandescent bulbs. LED bulbs require will LED dimmers.
What Other Benefits Are There from an LED Retrofit?
As we’ve discussed, an upgrade to LED lighting can reward you with much better lighting efficiency and much lower electrical expenses.
An LED retrofit can further lead to increased productivity and even higher employee morale. Research continues to indicate that proper light levels factor into how people think, feel and act while at work, even if that awareness is beyond their immediate recognition.
An LED conversion likewise contributes to greater safety and security because of the enhanced quality of lighting and therefore vision.
As we touched on briefly above, because they use so much less energy, LED lamps also support the movement toward non-polluting lighting. Building codes, environmental concerns and the expectations of customers, tenants, employees and investors will all continue to drive the greater inclusion of sustainable energy solutions.
The Commercial Lighting Electrician Near You
Trinity Electrical Services provides skilled consultation and service for commercial LED retrofits in Oswego, Naperville, Aurora, Yorkville and Plainfield. If you have not yet upgraded but are interested in the benefits of a conversion, simply call us at (630) 499-1492 to start discussing a retrofit and schedule an audit of your current lighting. We will be glad to hear from you and assist you!
We also provide commercial LED retrofits for businesses in Sugar Grove, Batavia, Montgomery, North Aurora and Plano (IL).
