If you are a commercial property manager or business owner, then you are aware of the importance of having adequate lighting on your property for both aesthetic and safety purposes. On one hand, having plenty of light is key during evening hours to help customers locate your building and create an atmosphere for them that is inviting. On the other hand, you absolutely need lots of light for safety and security purposes. You are probably aware of how poor lighting can drive down customer traffic to the property or plaza, so having the right amount of lighting that is both durable and consistent, and topped off with being the most energy-efficient, should always be kept high on the list of priorities.
Now back to these fixtures that you see above. If you have these flood light fixtures on your property and they have not already been converted to LED, then they are most likely to contain either metal halide or high pressure sodium lamps. Both of these high intensity discharge lamps are completely inefficient in terms of cost and maintenance. The life expectancy is anywhere between 15-20,000 hours, and if they are located on poles that are at least 10' high, most likely consume either 250 or 400 watts each!
But keep this in mind though: the lamp wattage may be 250 or 400 watts, but the total input wattage with the ballast factor is actually 290 and 458 watts respectively. Think about this for a second. You have a parking lot flood light fixture with a lamp that is consuming either 290 or 458 watts! On top of that, the light output of these lamps depreciates a lot rather quickly and the cost of ongoing maintenance and lamp replacement every few years adds up as well.
Switching these fixtures to LED is the smartest investment in terms of cost savings in energy and maintenance. There are replacement options out there for these fixtures that can help you produce savings upwards of 75% and last up to 5 times longer than high intensity discharge lamps! To sweeten the pot even more, there are available rebates from the SaveOnEnergy program for these LED retrofit options!
If you're planning to pursue a retrofit project for your parking lot fixtures but are not aware of the best available solutions that will give you the most savings, call our office at 416-548-7847. We will provide you with all the information and guide you through all the steps involved in the process, from providing you with an initial free lighting audit, all the way to ensuring your receiving of the maximum rebate amount from your utility provider after the retrofit has been complete. We will work with you to add the most value to your property.