Commercial LED vs Fluorescent Fluorescent Tubes: The Winner

Typically in lower level ceilings in places like offices, hallways, and lobby rooms we find tube lights installed in the ceiling. Two of the most popular technologies that are found in their fixtures include fluorescent and LED. But while fluorescents were the winner for the longest time; LED is quickly catching up in popularity and becoming the “go to” lighting technology for office buildings and the like. Why exactly? Well this post will probably shed some insight on that point as well.

But when you come up with the decision of choosing either LED or fluorescent tubes, which should you choose? And better yet, why should you choose one over the other?

To let you in on the “winner” of the obvious winner, it’s the commercial LED tubes and the fluorescent ones are on the losing end of the battle. For reasons from more efficient to higher quality, we are going share and explain why LED products simply win in almost every (if not every) aspect of commercial lighting and it’s requirements.

Defining Your Lighting Needs

Before we start talking about why LED is the clear winner in virtually every aspect, we need to discuss the topic of defining your lighting needs.

What type of building are you in (or just area you need light in)? Here are some common areas / applications you made encounter:

• Office Floor Area
• Private Office Rooms
• Hallways
• Lobby
• Meeting Rooms
• And so on…

Basically anywhere that the ceiling is low will typically involve a commercial tube to be the lighting source.

If no areas like such exist in your building (rare) then tubes probably aren’t for you. This is common in industrial sized warehouses and factories where ceiling are very high.

Why LED is the winner:

Now that we’ve identified who the winner is of LED vs fluorescent tubes, we can now discuss why exactly LED systems simply win over the competitions products.

As you can tell from each winning benefit, the reasons LED wins will only get more and more obvious, Let’s start off with the first major reason that wins 90% of people over to making the switch from fluorescent to LED tubes.

More efficiency with LED:

LED is known to reduce energy consumption by upwards of 50% or more when replacing fluorescent lighting. This can allow you to actually see a ROI for your investment of a LED lighting system.

Save more with qualifying rebates:

Utility company’s like to “reward” those who install qualified efficient lighting systems into their buildings. By installing commercial tubes that are qualified (typically by DesignLights Consortium), you open your business up to rebate opportunities that may of not been available previously with fluorescent technology installed in your building. Rebates will allow you to generate a larger and quicker ROI for your investment in new lights, which is huge for any business’s bottom line.

Less heat generated:

A common problem with lower ceiling lights (like tubes) is the heat that they generate. Especially with fluorescent fixtures which generate excess heat; it can cause for increased cooling costs by having to offset the heat generated by your lights. This is yet another way to lower your operating costs by allowing you to turn down the air control and use less of it. With LED compared to fluorescent; LED generates very little and virtually no heat compared to any other competing technologies.

Quality light:

Believe it or not; LED also offers higher quality of light and better options. Certain color temperatures allow for higher productivity in the workplace; which can again decrease costs and even increase revenue. Quality light has been proven to decrease stress while increasing productivity, and this is a major benefit of LED lighting; especially in a office like environment.

Another note is this: LED will never flicker nor buzz. If you’ve experienced this type of issue: LED will solve this issue. They never flicker nor buzz not even when they are nearing the end of their lifespan. Flickering / buzzing lights goes back to the higher productivity. From experience you probably know that just a few minutes under such lights can prove to become irritable and decrease your attention on your work and more on the low quality lighting.

Notes:

The benefits of LED tube lighting system are obvious over the competing fluorescent technology. Have any other benefits that LED or fluorescent may have that we missed? Let us know in the comments below!

source http://my-led-lighting-guide.tumblr.com/post/150973223743

How LED Food Grade Lighting Will Improve Your Facility

With any type of facility we talk about, LED lighting seemingly always improves the environment and facility in so many ways that just beats all other technologies. Lighting within a food production environment is even more critical to get right otherwise it could lead to some issues.

If you are a facility manager, building owner, or just a general manger for a facility or building that deals with food production you probably know the requirements for your lighting system. They’ve got to be washed down, and be able to withstand that. They must be food safe, and if broken be able to clean up safely, and so on.

Common technologies in food production building consist of metal halide, HPS, and more and more often we are seeing LED technology being installed. Here we are going to discuss the added benefits that LED can bring to your lighting system within your facility and how much they can improve your buildings standards.

LED reduces costs. It’s practically a known fact that LED can save you money when it comes to your energy bill. But how much exactly people often don’t really know. So, how much can LED fixtures save you vs metal halide or HPS fixtures? The savings can be up to 50% or more! That’s a surprising and staggering number to any building; small or large. If you run your lights 12 hours a day, imagine the savings you could realize by making the switch away from older technologies to LED.

They last longer. Food grade lighting can be a pain to change out when they burn out and no longer work. You often have to be very careful as to not break the light which could force you to stop your production line which costs you money. Since LEDs can last 2-3 times longer; it will require less changing of bulbs and more production time on the line. The added benefit to longer fixture life food grade LED lights can bring is a reduced maintenance cost. We all know changing lights high up can be costly; especially when your lights burn out quickly. If you can increase your lights life span by 2-3 times; this incurs a 2-3 times decrease in maintenance cost related to the switching of your bulbs. This alone can be a huge cost saving benefit that appeals to any facility manager or building owner that is cost-saving oriented.

High quality light is produced. LEDs not only offer higher quality of light but also a wider range of light too. This creates a safer environment for everyone within the facility; which is especially important to your line workers or any guests that you may have. Liabilities in the workplace can cost you bigtime and it’s almost paramount to such fragile and dangerous environments to put safety first. On top of the quality of light LED offers; the lumen depreciation is much slower and less overall. This allows for you to buy less lights initially to avoid overcompensation for your lumen degradation of 1, 5, and 10 years. This can prove to be a great way to ensure your lighting doesn’t become useless after just a few years due to high depreciation in lumens. This high lumen depreciation we talk about is very popular in regards to HPS and MH technology; which depreciate at much higher rates than LED products do.

They meet food code standards. As long as you ensure to buy fixtures specifically qualified for food grade environments; LEDs can prove to be an approved lighting fixture that meets food code standards. Only thing we warn is to always question and ask your supplier that they meet food standards in your state and country. Any reputable company will be able to answer these questions, but you should also be prepared to educate yourself to avoid not-to-code light fixtures.

Conclusion

There you have some reasons that LED food grade systems will greatly improve your food production building.

Always remember these few key points and you’ll be much more likely to gain approval of an upgrade to LED products from those above you:

●     They save lighting energy costs by 50% or more

●     They offer quality lighting that increases safety and consistency in your products

●     They can meet food code standards (just be sure to educate yourself and ask questions!)

There you go, keep all of these things in mind next time you run into issues with your lighting. Have questions? Ask them in the comments!

source http://my-led-lighting-guide.tumblr.com/post/150816061108

4 Reasons to Invest in Indoor LED Grow Lights

The grow light market is growing, and growing fast. With the uptick in demand and competition,  better and higher standards of grow lighting systems have increased in efficiency and overall quality. This is why it’s paramount to understand the importance of LED grow technology versus other less efficient and simply outdated grow technologies.

If you’ve been considering an investment in indoor grow lights; don’t get caught up in buying technologies like HPS or metal halide simply because they are initially cheaper. Overtime, you will have wished you invested in indoor LED grow lighting systems for all of the following 4 reasons and benefits they offer. As with anything, cheaping out is seemingly better option initially but overtime you will realize lower margins on your crops and higher expenses and ongoing costs associated with outdated grow technology. The following 4 reasons shouldn’t be ignored and should be looked into and researched more to get a true overview of the best option to go with when it comes to grow lights. Here they are…

1) LED offers longer life span.

Believe it or not the life span of your lighting can make or break your growing venture. Consider this: would you rather spend 1.5 times more but get a fixture that will last twice as long? Or would you rather cheap out and get something that will need replacing far before LED technology would and have to buy new lights more often? The answer is obvious: the first option. Because although it’s cheaper initially to go with outdated products like HPS, it will cost you more when it comes to the end of the life for your lights. You’ll wish you had invested in LED, trust me on that one!

2) Targeted  wavelengths for optimal growing conditions.

LED plant lights offer more options for targeted wavelengths that match your need for grow light conditions. Depending on the stage of your plants; this is a highly important option to have available to you as a grower. Full spectrum LED grow lights allow you to target very specific wavelengths which other technologies simply don’t typically offer. As any professional (or even beginners know) this is highly invaluable when it comes to the quality of your crop and grow setup.

3) Less heat generated.

All LED technology produce virtually no heat compared to other heat exhaustive technologies. LED’s can reduce your lighting heat generation by unprecedented numbers. An incandescent grow light could produce 80 BTU’s per hour while the comparable LED grow light would be producing only 2.5 BTU / hour. If heat is an issue (and it typically is for indoor growers), you can greatly and virtually get rid of that issue by buying, switching, or upgrading to grow light LED products.

4) Less watts, same light.

LED lights in all markets are known for their energy saving benefits, and it’s often the biggest reason people make the switch over to them. Grow lighting LEDs can offer you energy reduction by up to 50% or more which can seriously increase your bottom line. Being an indoor grower, you know that energy costs are one of your biggest expenses and a savings in 50% of energy costs can be huge for any grower (small, medium, or large scale in size).

Conclusion

That about wraps it up for the 4 biggest reasons to invest in high end indoor grow lighting systems. The benefits are obvious overall in just about every single aspect when it comes to grow lighting. The only downside is that LEDs are typically a little bit higher in initial investment. But with all these benefits, the higher initial investment will pay back itself and then some. Don’t be put off by the higher initial costs because if you are a serious grower and in it for the long run; a smart decision is to invest in quality grow lighting systems. This isn’t something you want to cheap out on!

Have any more questions, comments, or tips? Comment them down below!

source http://my-led-lighting-guide.tumblr.com/post/150815719573