Traditional Lights Versus LED Lights: Which Is Better for Commercial Buildings?

Lights

If you are looking for new lightbulbs, you know what it feels when faced with seemingly infinite options. Technological breakthroughs and innovations all brought out different kinds of lighting systems. Now, we can even find lightbulbs specifically designed to react to sound waves or fight off bacteria.

On top of these innovations, there are also different options for commercial lighting. LED lights in residential buildings allowed homeowners to save more. If you are an owner of a warehouse, gym, office, or any commercial space that requires lighting fixtures higher than 10,000 lumens, you will be glad to know that high bay LED lighting will help your business save more in monthly utilities.

These lights are competing against traditional lights. Despite the glaring difference, most business owners are still not convinced that LED lights are more beneficial than traditional ones. If you are one of these people, the facts below might point you in the right direction.

Lifespan

The longer lifespan is one of the best advantages of LED light compared to traditional lights. A LED light, on average, can operate somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 hours or more. The lifespan is twice or four times as long compared to sodium vapor lights, metal halide, or fluorescent. Compared to incandescent bulbs, LED lights last 40 times longer.

Since you would not have to replace it frequently, you will incur lower maintenance and labor costs. The cost of replacement parts will be lower, too.

Energy efficiency

To compare the energy efficiency of different lighting solutions, the metric used is lumens or luminous efficacy. These energy efficiency metrics can describe the level of light emitted per unit of power consumed by the electric bulb. LED light retrofit projects often result in 75% overall energy efficiency improvement. And depending upon your existing system, the savings can be as high as 90%.

Cost-efficient

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, LED light is energy efficient and can potentially change the future of lighting not only in the U.S. but in the world. Residential LEDs, especially those bearing the Energy Star rating, allows you to save more than 75% of energy. It also lasts 25% longer compared to other lighting solutions. If all houses and commercial buildings use LED lighting, the world can save huge amounts of energy. If this happens, by 2027, the Energy Department estimates that the world can save around 348 Terawatt-hour (TWh) of electricity. This is equivalent to the yearly electric output of approximately 40 large electric power plants that are capable of generating 1,000 megawatts of electricity each. This would mean a $30 billion total savings on electricity cost.

Improved safety

Safety is one of the most overlooked benefits of shifting to LED lighting. Particularly, if you have commercial businesses, the safety of your customers, staff, and inventory is highly important. To help keep your commercial establishments safe, invest in high bay LED lighting.

What people fail to recognize is that heat emission is the most dangerous hazard in lighting. As opposed to traditional lighting solutions, LED light emits almost zero forward heat. Incandescent bulbs, on the other hand, convert more than 90% of all the energy it uses into direct heat. This means that only 10% of the total energy initially used to power incandescent lights is specifically used for its primary function — providing light. Because of this mechanism, it can be called incredibly inefficient compared to your LED lights. LED lights can also operate well even on a low-voltage electrical system because they consume less power.

Small physical size

LED devices are extremely small. They can be as small as 1/10th of an mm2. Larger LED power devices are still small at one mm2. Because of their petite size, LEDs are incredibly adaptable to a vast majority of different lighting applications. Various uses include an even broader spectrum from circuit boards and traffic signals, all the way down to its roots. These parts can be used for major stadiums, commercial property, residential, and mood lighting applications.

Excellent Color Rendering Index

CRI is used to measure the light’s capacity to reveal an object’s actual color when placed against an ideal light source or natural light. The higher the CRI, the better.

The best way to magnify the CRI rating difference of LED lights and traditional light is by comparing LEDs with a sodium vapor lamp. The values for LED lights can range between 65 and 95—which is already considered excellent.

The takeaway

With the scales tilting in favor of LED lights, it is therefore recommended that commercial owners shift to this lighting system. These will not only protect their properties, but they can also save on energy and utility expenses. If you are still not using LED, it’s high time that you make the switch.