With the great advances in LED lighting technology, many business owners, property managers, HOA leaders, and property owners are very excited about the prospect of saving money while giving their property a facelift.  This optimism can give way to feelings of being overwhelmed with all the decisions that must be considered in order to properly evaluate all the information and make the right decisions for the organization.  The mission of this article, and Turnkey LED as a lighting company, is to partner with our customers to ensure the right decisions are made for the right reasons and accelerate the timeline toward savings.  This article will shine some light on just two of the major decisions that must be properly navigated in order to make a lighting upgrade a success.

1. Who you partner with matters- It’s wise to partner early with a lighting contractor to accelerate the time it takes to specify, source, procure, install and warrant the lighting option for your project.  Some customers rely on their electrician or current lighting company for this but are often disappointed with the outcome.  This is because most electricians are experts in dealing with electricity safely, they are not experienced in everything that makes a successful commercial LED lighting project.  They may not have access to photometric software to make a digital mockup of the space to be lit to ensure the right lighting levels are achieved.  They may not understand the intricacies of lighting controls or mounting options.  They probably don’t have a relationship with their utility rep to maximize the rebate potential of the project.   They may be limited to the few manufacturers that their supply houses carry thus limiting selection of the ideal manufacturer and lights for the job.  Many lighting maintenance companies won’t present a business with an LED upgrade because they are either not set up for the newer technology or are happy to milk the maintenance budgeted for the existing system in place.   A quality lighting company should provide you with a one stop partnership for your entire project from clarifying and understanding your needs, to identifying the proper lighting solutions, and then presenting metrics and information to help you make an educated decision.  These metrics should include your simple payback period or a return on investment calculation based on savings as well as a savings to investment ratio and if requested much more.  A sound lighting contractor is partnered with Energy Efficient Financing programs that will allow your organization to make your upgrade now and finance the upgrade with your energy savings thus keeping you cash flow positive through the entire process.  Whomever you decide to partner with, they should be honest, knowledgeable, and aim to make the purchase of your new LED lighting system seamless so you can focus on your business with minimal interruptions.

1.  Lighting selection- Whoever you choose to help navigate the waters of today’s lighting market, ensure that quality lighting components are selected that will perform in your unique scenario.  Some considerations are as follows:  a) Ensure replacement wattages are not too much so that you are over lighting your environment and thus wasting power and blinding users but also not too dim so as to create shadows or hazardous situations.  b) Select color temperature based on desired appearance of your space.  c) Choose the appropriate color temperature, 5000 Kelvin is recommended for exterior lighting where a lower Kelvin temp may be more suitable for interior and architectural spaces.  d) Be sure to utilize controls such as daylight harvesting and photocells to maximize energy savings when there is adequate natural light or when the space isn’t being used. e) Most importantly, select lights from reputable North American manufacturers with DLC or Energy Star certifications and come with solid warranties from companies who will be around in 5-10 years in case something goes wrong.

Give us a call or text at Turnkey LED to see how we can help make your commercial lighting upgrade a breeze and get you on the path to substantial energy savings quickly.  303-999-5108