5 Things You Should Know About LED Parking Lot Lights

It is always an expensive way to maintain parking lot lights well lit at night especially during certain seasons when daylight hours are minimum. This means it is really a challenge for business owners and general public to get enough light on their premises. Besides, dark shades offer a lot of opportunities for criminal activities in many areas including parking lot. It surely affects safety of employees, customers and other visitors that frequently need to travel through these parking spaces.

It is therefore foremost for all to have efficient lighting installed so that the dark spaces are lit up properly. In order to reduce exorbitant cost of traditional lights new LED alternatives have become a boon for those that return late from their workplaces. LED light have been in spotlights due to their high efficiency, low maintenance cost and longer life spans. They also give you excellent ROI that can easily offset your replacement costs.

Below are listed 5 important points that you need to know about LED light while making your purchase.

1) HID versus LED

HID or High –Intensity Discharge lamps functions by transmitting of electric current between two electrodes and ionized gas. Use of these gases determines whether the HID is sodium, mercury or metal halide lamp. The gas and other ensembles are sealed in a quartz glass capsule. All HIDs require a ballast to regulate power and create the initial surge to start light. In comparison to halogen bulbs, HIDs consumes less power.

However, LEDs uses even less power than both above type of lightings which makes it the best option for business premises. LED or Light-Emitting Diodes are tiny bulbs that are semi-conductors and are fitted into an electrical circuit. When the module is turned on electricity passes through these semi-conductors and this causes them to emit photons of light and enables whole fixture to light up. Best part of LEDs is that the light produced is even spread and is very pleasing.

Traditionally, HIDs have been used in almost all parking lots and open spaces. However, with invention of LED lighting people use them for both private and public spaces. Unlike HIDs which require some time to get warmed up LED lights shine up the moment they are switched on. There may be a case with HID bulb as they result in lower upfront costs, yet regular re-lamping and ballast replacements often exceed in costs when compared to one time investment in LEDs. LEDs last for longer period than any other lighting and therefore is backed by exceptional warranty.

2) Pole Placement

It is generally seen that layouts for parking lots differ from one another and almost all parking lot lights fixtures are attached to tall poles. This makes it mandatory with traditional lighting to have several poles at strategic places so that there is an even spread of light throughout the parking lot. Since, LED lights offer you greater flexibility as they provide better and greater light to surrounding areas you may make use of fewer light fixtures. This obviously reduces overall cost as you also get a choice of whether to remove fewer existing poles too. In other words, you may also be able to retrofit new LED kits into existing light fixtures too.

In above context you may carry out retrofitting without the need for replacements of poles. Retrofitting is a process of adding new and improved technology to the existing one and in this case you may even create your own architectural design. The only thing that you need to see is that the old fixtures are not old and have the ability to support the new lightings.

3) Ideal Light Characteristics for Parking Lot Applications

Some characteristics of LED parking lot lights perform better than others. These are the product’s Correlated Color Temperature (CCT) or color temperature, Color Rendering Index (CRI), Light Distribution Properties, Heat Distribution Properties, Eco-Friendliness and Earned Safety Ratings.

It is seen that the color temperature defines the color of a light’s glow that ranges from warm reddish-orange to a cool white or bluish color. CRI ratings tell you how an object looks when illuminated when compared to daylight. Higher the rating better is the illumination. It is also important for LED fixtures to have heat mitigating system to keep the temperature low. LEDs decrease their efficiency when temperature inside the fixture rises.

4) Increase Efficiency with Controls

LED lights typically offer technology that delivers high-quality lighting with significant energy savings especially when paired with adaptive control integration. One of the biggest advantages of LED lighting is its dimmability.  There are adjustable Passive Infrared Photo Motion (PIR) sensors that can detect motion and adjust light output as necessary. Photocell controls are another option that allows you to turn on or off based on the current ambient light.

5) Professional Lighting Assessments

LED technology is continuously and rapidly improving and the price of commercial LED parking lot lights are going south. If you are still confused and not decided about LED lighting then you may schedule a complimentary, no hassle Professional Lighting Assessment. Here, a lighting expert would analyze and submit a complete report based on current system and projected cost estimates of LED lighting.