Is it time to replace your Parking Lot lights?

What to know when replacing your Parking Lot Lights

In Wisconsin, where it seems to get dark at 4pm for half the year, keeping the parking lot lights on is critical for the safety of your employees, customers, or residents.  Dark parking lots due to burnt out lights or uneven coverage can lead to an increase in vandalism, additional vehicle accidents, and other dangerous situations. Not to mention the negative message it sends about your organization and your apparent neglect of such an important area.
High-intensity discharge (HID) fixtures have traditionally been the choice for parking lot lighting.  These high powered fixtures provide low-grade light, consume a large amount of electricity, are expensive to maintain, and are generally unpleasant to the eye.  As these HID fixtures continue to age, they become even more inefficient to own and operate.  Over the last decade, parking lot owners have started to “see the light” and are changing out these inefficient HID fixtures with high-efficiency LED parking lot light fixtures.
Is it time for you to consider an LED parking lot lighting retrofit project?  Here are 6 signs that it’s time to replace your parking lot lights:

1. Burnt out lights: are your parking lot lights burning out frequently?  Dispatching a utility truck with a lift and a work crew is expensive, so if you find that your lights need frequent replacement, it’s time to consider replacing your current lights with LED parking lot pole lights that have an average life span of 50,000 hours (over 10 years).
2. Uneven coverage – patches of darkness: have you taken a drive around your parking lot late at night to see if the light is evenly dispersed?  With today’s LED technology, we are able to create a lighting pattern that will adequately cover the entire lot without spilling light over to neighboring properties.
3. High energy costs: HID fixtures and bulbs are expensive to operate.  Replacing them with high-efficiency LED lights can cut your utility cost by upwards of 50-75% and can result in a pay-back period for the LED upgrade of less than 5 years.
4. Increases in crime/vandalism: As the parking lot owner you have a responsibility to protect (as best you can) the people who use your lot.  Dark areas in your lot due to burnt out lights or uneven coverage just invites vandalism and increases the likelihood that something bad could happen.  Don’t wait until it’s too late – consider an upgrade to LED lights today.
5. High maintenance: as the HID fixtures continue to age, they require additional maintenance and repairs to keep them operational.  When you combine the cost of maintenance, replacement bulbs, and high energy costs, the decision to change over to LED fixtures becomes much easier to make.
6. Eco-friendly alternative: LED lighting is a much more Eco-friendly option for your parking lot lights.  LED lights do not contain mercury, emit UV rays, and generate less light pollution than their HID counterparts.

At PKK Lighting, we can help your company evaluate your current parking lot lighting solution, the total costs of ownership (including the fixtures, electricity, maintenance, and repairs), and provide you with our recommendations and pricing options.
This post was originally published at https://www.pkklighting.com/time-replace-parking-lot-lights/

Remember Emergency Exit Lights during your LED Retrofit Project

LED Retrofit Project – don’t forget Emergency Lighting

If your company or organization is planning an LED Retrofit project to upgrade your lighting, you’ll need to insure that you consider emergency exit lights as part of your project.  Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has established requirements that all commercial buildings must have clear exit routes from any point within the building to a place of safety.  OSHA acknowledges and accepts the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) emergency exit lighting requirements as to levels of illumination and that the emergency lights must work for a minimum of 90 minutes in the event that normal power is interrupted.
The types of commercial buildings that need to have Emergency Lighting include any facility that allows the general public (e.g., Churches; Retail stores; Hospitals; Sport complexes), employees (e.g., factories; office buildings), or specific use buildings (e.g., apartment complexes).
As the building owner, you have four options for generating the backup power to keep the lights on:

1. Emergency Power Generator
2. Emergency Inverter
3. Designated Emergency Lights
4. Individual Emergency Backup Drivers

Emergency Power Generator: Generators are normally powered by natural gas, propane, or diesel fuel. The generator powers a motor that generates electricity for critical operations, like emergency lighting. Generators can be expensive (several thousand dollars), but can keep your building operational for several days, if needed.
Emergency Inverter: if you only need the emergency lights to work for a shorter period of time, you could use an emergency inverter, which is essentially a giant battery.  The inverter gets charged from the main power supply and becomes operational when the main power supply fails.  The inverter can power large sections of emergency lighting and many can handle LED lights.  Inverters can handle both interior and exterior emergency lighting.  Because inverters are powered by a battery, their lives are short, typically 90 minutes.
Emergency Lights: many companies install traditional emergency lighting, which consist of light fixtures with built-in batteries.  The fixtures are powered by the main power supply (when the power is on) and via the batteries when the power supply is interrupted.  Similar to inverters, 90 minutes is the average limit these fixtures will work when the power is out.  These lights have a smaller upfront cost as compared to purchasing a generator or Inverter, but will still meet OSHA and NFPA requirements.
Emergency Backup Drivers: the final option for providing power to your emergency lights are backup drivers or emergency ballasts. Note that these are specifically made for lights that already have a driver to regulate their power supply, so they won’t work for every application.  The emergency backup drivers/ballasts have a battery that powers the light when the main power supply goes out.
OSHA has provided a handy checklist so you can evaluate if your building complies with the NFPA Emergency Illumination Standards.
Contact the experienced lighting installation team at PKK Lighting and we can discuss your LED Retrofit project, emergency lighting needs and potential options.
This post was originally published at https://www.pkklighting.com/remember-emergency-exit-lights-led-retrofit-project/.