A lot goes into planning office or commercial buildings. From the foundation to the technological infrastructure, every piece of the property goes through a rigorous process of decision making. Selecting which lighting options to go with is included in those conversations.
Office building lights range from light emitting diodes (LEDs) to fluorescent to halogen and more. What are the best inside and outside commercial building lighting options? As experts in the commercial lighting industry for over four decades, Imperial has seen a transformation of installing and maintaining cheaper lamps to making the decision of investing in more expensive office building lights — at the beginning of a project — but more environmentally-friendly and, in the long run, more cost effective.
Dependability of LED Lights for Office Buildings
There is great value in installing LED lights in commercial buildings including the cost savings that are realized. However, the value of installing LED lighting in commercial buildings does not just stop at saving money.
One of the biggest values that LED lights have, regardless of the purpose that the building they are installed in serves, is the dependability factor for which they are known. Each type of light bulb touts how long they last; however, LEDs usually last the longest. Most manufacturing brands that carry LEDs have noted that the lights can last up to (sometimes!) twenty years.
Although 20 years is likely to be the longest time of use of an LED bulb that is shining brightly, on average, the LED light lifespan is about 6 years. The lifespan of office building lights, especially those that are LEDs, is dependent on external factors such as the temperature of the building and how often the lights are being used.
For instance, if the lights are flipped on from 4am to 11pm, those lights are not as likely to have the same lifespan as lights that are on and running from 6am to 7pm. Like electronics (think: mobile phones and tablets) that see degradation of the product when in hot temperatures, lamps also experience a similar effect. According to LEDtronics, the “ambient temperature” that will see indoor LED lights perform at the peak of their efficiency is 25 degrees Celsius, or 77 degrees Fahrenheit.
If you’re looking for more ways to save through using LED lights in commercial buildings, states tend to offer lighting rebates for residential and commercial usage, in the hopes of creating a more energy efficient lifestyle. Whether you’re in Illinois or elsewhere across the country, there is likely to be a rebate service that is likely worth checking out.
Why Using LED Lighting in Commercial Buildings Saves Money
Although other types of lighting, for commercial or residential use, are often less expensive initially, LED lights can be surprisingly cost effective, in the long run, if they are the chosen option for a lighting project.
Not only do LED office building lights check the box of the lifespan dependability factor, LED lights also require low maintenance once installed. What’s more, because of the ability of LED lights to not require much maintenance throughout their longer light lifespan, LED lighting in commercial buildings, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), is the second-most common type of light you will find.
By utilizing LED lights in your commercial buildings and saving that energy, that means there will be money left over that would have normally been used up powering other types of light fixtures.
If an organization is needing to strip their older, possibly fluorescent, light bulbs for newer and more energy and cost efficient LED lights, the project will be expensive up front. However, once light bulbs are replaced and LED lights are used, it is said that for every 5 lamps that are updated, savings can be up to $200. Although it can be difficult to put an exact price on savings and project cost, this blog from Smarter Finance USA breaks down the commercial LED lighting financing.
About 20 years ago, lighting was the biggest energy consumer in office and commercial buildings. But with the advent of the popularity of LED lights, that has decreased the amount of spending, or likely overspending, on an energy bill for lighting consumption. Luckily, over the past decade, more strides have been made to increase the use of LEDs, saving energy and money for organizations.
When the decision to undergo a project to upgrade office building lights has been made, the next step is understanding the breadth of the project. The up front cost of a lighting renovation project, depending on the size of the building, can run up to or around $20,000 (or more). However, because lighting and the health of the commercial building is important to monitor, a normal commercial lighting project for any size building should look to consider LED maintenance and energy savings as a vital component of the full project’s scope.
Despite LEDs being the fairly hands-off lighting option, LED maintenance is still a crucial part of any project with LED lights at commercial buildings and should be considered in a project scope.
Are you looking for an example of an LED upgrade project? See our Chicago office LED retrofit project. A larger project with the cost at a little over $160,000, the savings from both energy and lighting maintenance help make it back quickly with the upgrade from fluorescent to LED lights.
The possibility of saving money on energy, maintenance, and monthly energy bills is enticing. Call us today or fill out our contact form so you can get your own LED lighting upgrade project started.
