LED Lighting Solutions for Cold Storage Facilities and Warehouses

It’s no secret that an LED light bulb will last longer than a comparable fluorescent light bulb. Besides that, LED light bulbs are more energy efficient, meaning lower electricity bills. Nevertheless, many cold storage facilities and other warehouses still use fluorescent lighting systems. The problem is that many believe an LED lighting system will have high upfront costs. The good news is that LED lighting costs have dropped significantly over the years. It’s indisputably worth it for cold storage facilities and warehouses to make the switch to LED lighting.

There is a reason that the meat drawer of every refrigerator is on the bottom shelf. It’s because the top shelf is the warmest place in the refrigerator. This is not only because heat rises, but also because that’s usually where the light bulb is. Traditional light bulbs, including fluorescent bulbs, emit excessive heat. Using this type of lighting system limits the safety and dependability of a cold storage facility. LED light bulbs emit far less heat than traditional and fluorescent light bulbs. That’s why LED lighting systems can be found in state of the art cold storage facilities around the world. Additionally, using an LED lighting system will let the air conditioning system relax a bit, resulting in lower energy consumption.

Not only do LED light bulbs last longer, they require less maintenance. LED light bulbs are known for their durability. They have the capability to last for decades without a hiccup. Additionally, modern systems are set up to be controlled and monitored from afar. At large facilities, there are many variables to worry about. For example, machines require maintenance and electronics require troubleshooting. Having an LED lighting system means having one less thing to worry about.

Relumination is a company dedicated to delivering energy efficient lighting solutions across the United States. Contact us to discuss an LED lighting system today.

Study Suggests Brighter Interior Lighting Could Make Employees Smarter

Spending too many hours in workplaces with dim lighting may have adverse effects on brain structure, and impair an employee’s ability to remember and learn. That’s the conclusion from a recent research study by neuroscientists at Michigan State University.

The subjects of the study were Nile grass rats, chosen because they have sleep habits similar to humans. The rodents were divided into two groups and exposed to different levels of light. The rodents who received dim light showed a 30% decline in functioning in their hippocampus, a part of the brain that helps to regulate learning and memory, as well as a decrease in spatial skills. By contrast, the rats exposed to bright lights showed a significant improvement in both areas.

Perhaps even more interesting, the effects appeared to be substantially reversible. After a break of one month, the first group of rats appeared to make a full recovery in terms of both brain capacity and performance when they were subsequently exposed to brighter lights.

The researchers have suggested at least one theory to explain these events. In part, it may be due to dim light suppressing a certain peptide called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which helps neurons to communicate.

In the short term, the immediate applications of the study may be especially important for elderly populations and those with certain eye disorders. In the long run, it could have much broader implications. The levels of light used in the study resembled typical interior lighting, and the average American spends about 90% of their time indoors, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Brighter lighting could significantly improve the well being and performance of many workers.

Energy efficient lighting solutions may be good for your employee’s productivity and safety, in addition to reducing costs and reducing your company’s environmental footprints. Contact us to start discussing a custom lighting plan to meet your needs.

Don’t Just Replace Your Light Bulbs: Why Parking Lot Lighting Needs to Be Redesigned Around LEDs

LEDs are a great transformation in lighting, both in the private and public sector. The individual bulbs are more energy-efficient and give a greater degree of control to the operator. They give off less heat, and they last thousands of hours longer than other types of bulbs. But sometimes their brightness and advantages can get in the way of good lighting design. Here are two constraints to plan for when lighting up your parking lots with LEDs.

Bright LEDs create strong shadows.

Bright lighting in potentially dangerous areas creates more good than it creates harm. Parking lots and parking garages with high degrees of illumination deter significant percentages of criminal activity, and it makes people feel safe. But bright light creates harsh shadows, especially if the light is directionally controlled, and the sudden contrast between bright and dim can make it harder to see as people transition to darker areas. Make sure your new lighting design minimizes blind spots and dark patches that can be dangerous for pedestrians and drivers.

Too much brightness can be dangerous in other ways, too. Because the light output of LEDs doesn’t diminish with distance like with other lights, it can increase glare and misperceptions of distance. If you have a lot with tightly-packed, highly reflective cars, this can increase the number of small traffic incidents on your property. Look for designs that minimize glare and any wanted aspects of brightness.

Use LEDs to lower costs instead of increasing illumination too far.

While certain areas need to be brighter for more effective mobility and greater safety, the low price of lighting is making many properties use more light than they necessarily need. When you’re redesigning your lighting system, make sure to find the right balance between increased illumination and decreased expenses. The value of switching to an LED lighting system isn’t just in the brightness; it’s in the long-term savings.

Go to Relumination for more tips about how to design the optimal lighting environment for both your users’ safety and your budget.

4 Reasons Why Exterior Lighting is Beneficial

You may be wondering if investing in exterior lighting for your business or organization is the right decision. We at Relumination are dedicated to helping you make an educated choice. To aid in the decision-making process, we have developed a short list of 4 reasons why exterior lighting is beneficial for businesses and organizations.

1. Security

While you might have a top-notch security system or other means of securing your facility, exterior lighting offers extra protection against intruders. Having exterior lighting around your structure can stop criminals in their tracks before they even consider entering your facility’s grounds.

2. Safety

Owning and operating your own business or organization can often mean long hours and late nights. Having exterior lights around your property means added safety for you and your employees/volunteers as you lock up and walk to your cars after dark (and even in the early morning hours).

3. Practicality 

Not only does outdoor lighting provide more safety and security, it also provides ease for you as you maneuver the grounds. Whether you are locking or unlocking doors and gates or just loading things into and out of vehicles before the sun has risen or after it has set, exterior lighting helps make these processes easier as you do not have to fumble around with keys and search for things in the dark.

4. Advertisement 

As people are driving home from work or social events in the later hours, what better way for them to see your business or organization’s name than to have a spotlight on it? While lights deter burglars and vandals, they also draw the right kind of attention and put it where it needs to be, and that is on your sign(s) and services offered. This adds advertisement (in addition to security) for your business.

If you would like more information on exterior lighting and the other services that we offer, please contact us. We are here to help with your lighting needs!

The Many Benefits of a Commercial Lighting Retrofit

The many ways that retrofitting your existing commercial lighting can be beneficial can also be surprising. When most people think of retrofitting their existing lighting they think of merely the energy savings that they will save. While this benefit is real and quite often saves enough money on electricity to pay for the cost of the retrofit, there are many additional benefits as well.

Safety is one of the benefits that is hard to quantify but can more than make up for the cost of the lighting upgrade. Dim, blinking, or dirty light bulbs and fixtures can create a safety hazard by hiding trip hazards, objects sitting or protruding into walkways or wet slippery floors. The better the lighting the less likely that a trip or fall accident will happen. The cost of a workers comp claim or the cost of a lawsuit from a customer will greatly outweigh the costs of upgrading your lighting. This problem can be compounded if equipment, shelving, or decorating has been changed significantly since the lighting was originally installed. Light fixtures may be blocked by equipment that wasn’t originally there when the lighting was installed, making most of the light they produce be blocked off from illuminating the areas needed.

Additionally, better lighting can improve the atmosphere in a room. A well-lit room will contribute to happier and more productive employees in addition to contributing to a better customer experience. It’s hard to put a dollar figure to this benefit but it’s clear that this benefit is real. A dim workspace becomes miserable to work in, and nobody wants to patronize an establishment that feels like it’s trying to hide something in the shadows.

One often overlooked benefit is the decrease in hassle that you gain when retrofitting your lighting. Besides the energy savings that newer bulbs provide, they also provide longer life, which equals less changing out of bulbs. Although the act of changing out a bulb seems simple enough, compound that with all of the bulbs in a large facility or building and that task can quickly become a job. Longer lasting bulbs such as LED’s practically eliminate this hassle. No more rushing to replace a bulb that went out in an area that needs to be very bright. No need to bring in equipment routinely to change out hard to reach bulbs. No more changing out working bulbs because the other ones in the area went out and you don’t want to bring in the lift next week to replace it. No more hunting down bulbs that are no longer carried by many suppliers or that are obsolete.

Bottom line, retrofitting your commercial lighting saves you money in the long run, improves your safety, improves the quality of life for your employees and customers, and simplifies a recurring problem. It’s hard to argue with that. If you are considering a commercial lighting retrofit contact us here at Relumination to see how we can help.

Is It Time To Upgrade Your Parking Garage Lighting Fixtures?

As an owner of a property, improving the safety and security of your tenants, clients, guests is likely one of your top priorities. Another top priority of yours should also be saving energy. When energy savings and lighting become the topic of a conversation, people usually discuss switching from the fluorescent light bulbs to LED lighting.

LEDs have a greater energy efficiency, they have a longer period of life, and they will provide outstanding illumination for your parking garage. If you are already using LED lighting in your building, you are probably wondering how you can get the most out of LED lighting for your parking garage.

Building owners will spend billions of dollars on their parking garage lighting and other fixtures. Your parking garage and other areas of your property are operating 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. It is not surprising that the costs are so high when you factor in all the expenses and the countless usage hours. When you take the time to upgrade your traditional parking garage lighting fixtures to the improved LED lighting fixtures, you will see major improvements in regards to security, safety, and your finances.

Safety Is Always Important

LED lighting will provide you with incredible illumination throughout your entire parking garage. When the color rendering is improved, you will be able to better assist people who are walking to and from their vehicles. You will also make pedestrians feel more comfortable because they can see what is taking place in the parking garage. The improved lighting will also provide better results when you need to view your video cameras and security systems.

Finances

LED lighting will provide you with the energy reduction you need to improve your financial savings. You will see a 3/4 reduction in the amount of energy that is consumed on a daily basis. This means you will be able to save over 60 percent in lighting costs. Your LED lights will not consume as much energy as the fluorescent bulbs you are currently using. LEDs can also last for many years without needing to be replaced.

You may think upgrading your parking garage lighting will cost you a significant amount of money, but that will not be the case when you make LED upgrades. Contact us today for more information.

Top Benefits of LED Lighting

LED lighting is one of the newer forms of illumination to hit the mainstream. Most people know that these bulbs need less power to operate, but this is really just the start of how they save energy. They actually conserve power and help both the environment and your company’s wallet at many points after leaving the factory. Here are a couple of the top ones:

They Last Longer Than Most Alternatives

This has the obvious benefit of saving you from having to have them replaced as often, but it also has ecological benefits. Less-frequent replacement means that fewer new bulbs have to be made, so fewer resources are used over time. There is also less air pollution produced because fewer bulbs need to be trucked from manufacturing plants to sellers, fewer raw materials have to be obtained and sent to plants, and more.

They Can be Safer

Many LED bulbs are made with plastic diffusers to get the “soft white” appearance and hide the individual LED lights that make them up. Plastic covers don’t shatter if dropped, so liability brought on by missed broken glass shards is a thing of the past. These bulbs also don’t overheat and blow up like some incandescent ones used to.

LED lights are also safer because they don’t generate a lot of heat. It was easily possible to get burned by touching a running incandescent bulb, but you can put your hand on most LED bulbs with only a minimum of discomfort. This doesn’t just minimize the chance of personal injury at displays with low lights. It also reduces the risk of fire. The reduction in fire risk is important in commercial settings where the bulbs may be positioned in places where they can’t easily be reached.

These are just some of the reasons you should give your business an LED lighting upgrade. To learn more, just contact us.

How an Expert Can Make Your Lighting More Efficient

For businesses in all industries and of all sizes, finding ways to reduce operating costs to improve profitability is very important. For many companies, one of the best ways to reduce costs is by reducing energy costs. For those that are looking to reduce their energy costs, working with a lighting efficiency service provider could be very beneficial as they can provide you with a number of different tips and services.

Consultation

One of the first things that a lighting efficiency expert will be able to provide you with is a consultation on your current situation. The company will be able to examine your property, your energy bills, and areas of lighting usage to determine where lighting is being used the most and where it is being wasted. Based on this information, and other information about your business, the company will be able to provide you with a detailed plan to reconfigure your lighting sources. This will help to drastically reduce the amount of light you waste in unnecessary areas of the building.

Automation System

A lighting efficiency provider will also be able to help you to establish an automation system for your lighting plan. Building automation systems provide a range of different services to organizations. One of the main benefits is that it can help to control energy and lighting usage at your property. For example, this can include turning off lights in rooms that are not in use and reducing the amount of light used when the building is closed at night and on weekends. Over time, this can drastically help to make your property more efficient.

If you are interested in learning more ways that you could reduce your lighting usage, you should contact us to learn more about the services we provide and how we could make your property more efficient.