LED, or light-emitting diode, is all the rage for home use in a bid to lower residential energy costs and ‘go green’ through efficiency. But what about businesses and applications in industrial and commercial sectors? Industrial and commercial LED lighting can be even more powerful and effective than their residential counterparts since they function at their peak when left illuminated for longer periods of time. This makes LEDs the perfect choice for factories, office buildings, hospitals, schools, parking lots, and more. Residents and business owners of Tampa, Orlando, any major city in Florida, or readers elsewhere, please consider the following for your edification:
LED Lighting Is More Efficient Than Incandescent
Efficiency is the name of the game when you are trying to convince people to go green, as it requires less effort on the end user. It also has the added benefit of using fewer resources, which translates into monetary savings. It is that latter point which should catch the eye of any business owner; industrial and commercial LED lighting in Tampa, Orlando, or anywhere could save business owners thousands of dollars every year. Here are some factoids about LED lighting from the Department of Energy themselves:
- It uses 75% less electricity than incandescent
- It can last 25% longer than incandescent
LED bulbs emit very little heat; incandescent bulbs lose about 90% of their energy as heat, whereas that number for light-emitting diodes is 10% or less. This fact should be important Florida residents, in Tampa and Orlando, who know all too well how hot it already gets, and you do not need hot lights jacking up your air conditioning bill.
Control Direction of LED Light
With a standard incandescent bulb, the filament is heated up, and that is what produces light, whereas a fluorescent bulb is just a tube of gas. LED is neither, so when a current is run through an LED bulb, it instead goes through a strip of lights inside the glass with a heat sink on the back. When it comes to industrial and commercial LED lighting, this is a much better alternative to fluorescent, as it allows any business (Tampa, Orlando, or elsewhere in Florida) to have fewer lights installed, which saves money and energy. Best of all, the light produced does not “bleed” into space, or need reflecting mirrors to direct its focus. Instead, an LED bulb directs its light in the way you want it to and lights up surfaces better than an incandescent or fluorescent light could.
LED Mimics Natural Light
Just as ‘synergy’ was the hot buzzword of the 80’s office, so has ‘productivity’ become today’s. With businesses struggling to recover from the recession, (especially here in Florida, and its major cities of Tampa and Orlando) management teams are looking for reasonable ways to maximize their workforce in the most cost-efficient ways. Worker happiness is the key to a productive worker, and some people believe that praise or raises are the way. So, what does this have to do with industrial and commercial LED lighting? This new form of lighting may prove to be the way to a happier, more productive worker.
LED mimics natural light so much that it is used in areas completely shut off from the sun. The tube also does not flicker, unlike fluorescent bulbs, which is better for the eye and causes less stress and eyestrain. Yes, LED is marginally more expensive than fluorescent and incandescent, but every year they are getting cheaper. The bottom line is this: be it in Tampa, Orlando, or any other city in Florida, people like natural light, and if you want workers that are more productive, you will invest in a better environment for them.
Fluorescent Is Bad and Bad for you
As previously mentioned, fluorescent lighting has this nasty tendency to flicker and, even if you cannot consciously see it, it can cause eyestrain and stress. However, the rabbit hole goes much deeper from there— fluorescent lighting is insidious in how bad it actually is. While it lures you in with its cheaper price point, it is actually bad for you, the environment, and altogether unpleasant. Did you know:
- Switching the light on and off actually lowers the approximate life expectancy of fluorescent bulbs.
- Fluorescent bulbs contain mercury.
- If you break a fluorescent bulb, it requires special cleanup procedures because of how the glass particles shatter and due to leaked chemicals. (In contrast, light-emitting diode ‘tubes’ are darn near impossible to break from drops because of their plastic exterior.)
- Fluorescent bulbs give off UV radiation, which is problematic for people with sensitive skin.
- UV radiation from the bulbs can cause bleaching in photographs and artwork.
- The magnetic ballasts create an annoying humming noise.
If you live somewhere hot like Tampa and Orlando, your fluorescent bulbs will not function at peak performance. The heat causes them to drain and burn out rapidly. If you are a fan of dimmer switches, it is important to note that fluorescent bulbs are non-compatible, and attempts at doing so create a fire hazard. If you do not recycle, you will if you use fluorescent bulbs; they cannot be placed in the garbage or at the curb and must be taken to a proper recycle center because of their mercury content
Ultimately, when considering industrial and commercial LED lighting and what light source you want for your business in Florida and major cities like Tampa or Orlando, do yourself (and the environment) a favor and go with LEDs and leave fluorescent bulbs in the 90’s where they belong.
Save On Lifts By Using Industrial and Commercial LED Lighting
Bulbs eventually need to be replaced, regardless of how high they might be located, or how much of a pain it may be to reach them. Locations such as theaters, churches, or stadiums have lights that are so far up they need to hire a lift to be reached. What this translates to is a lot of money in lift rentals, so businesses often wait until a large number of lights have blown before they hire a lift in order to save money.
You can hardly blame a business for not wanting to shell out hundreds to thousands of dollars in lift rentals, but at the same time, this creates a safety issue (especially at nighttime or if enough bulbs blow to make visibility an issue indoors). These bulbs are usually going twenty-four hours a day, so they are under heavy usage, which shortens their lifespan. Imagine if they were to be replaced with LEDs— suddenly, you could get years out of them instead of maybe fifteen months or so. Bulbs for industrial and commercial LED lighting would literally pay for themselves in the Tampa Bay area and greater Orlando areas, or any major city in Florida.
Help Fight Light Pollution
Light pollution is defined as the brightening of the night sky by artificial or otherwise manmade light sources. So what does this have to do with industrial and commercial LED lighting? Everything! As previously discussed, the bulbs allow you to direct the light source to where you want, and because the light-emitting diode is not a tube filled with gas, nor a tungsten filament, there is no wasted ambient light. Ambient light from non-LED lights flies out of lightbulbs from every home, from every street lamp, from every business and eatery in America and chokes up the night sky with unintended illumination.
Most of the light pollution map trackers have placed light pollution to around eighty percent globally; that is to say eighty percent of the entire world, from Tampa and Orlando in Florida all the way to Beijing, China, is suffering from this horrendous pollution. LED is simply a more efficient light source and can significantly help reduce light pollution.
The Environmental Impact of Light
So the night sky gets filled with light, who cares? It is not like the rivers are being poisoned, the oceans being plundered of fish, or air filled with noxious smoke; why even care about a little light? Well, for several reasons. The first of which is that light pollution can disrupt the lives of nocturnal animals. It can also disrupt the migration pattern for migratory birds. Additionally, here in Tampa and Orlando, Florida light pollution can affect the sea turtles so much so that all beach lights have to be amber-colored. If you value biodiversity, the environment, or the lives of animals, consider investing in industrial and commercial LED lighting. It will reduce the ambient light and protect animals from undue manmade stress.
Starlight, Star Bright
The second reason you should care about light pollution and ambient light is a little more intimate than saving animals or not interfering with a bunch of birds: stargazing. Go outside right now, if it is after sunset, and see if you can see the stars. For the majority of the planet, particularly in the developed West, the odds are that you cannot see anything save for an orange haze. Imagine that, living in the twenty-first century with all the sophisticated tools at your disposal, and something as simple as stargazing is beyond your reach. Unless, of course, you are willing to drive an hour to the middle of nowhere, or are fortunate (or unfortunate, depending on perspective) to live in the middle of nowhere. Then you might be able to take that special someone out stargazing. The light pollution map of Florida, and its major cities like Tampa and Orlando, shows that the state is absolutely covered in light; you would have to drive all the way past Dade City or Myakka City to escape the pollution. Industrial and commercial LED lighting has been a blessing for businesses, so perhaps it is time for us as a society to move towards less ambient, and more efficient light sources such as LEDs.
Light Trespassing
Yes, you just read that correctly: there is a thing called light trespassing, and yes, you can get in trouble for it, just like any other kind of trespassing. Imagine it is late at night, you have to be up at six a.m. for work, and your next-door neighbors are throwing a raging party. You would be more than entitled to call the cops for a noise complaint, right? Well, the same goes for errant light shining onto other people’s property. If you did not care about light pollution for environmentalism, or for some stargazing, perhaps grouchy neighbors mad at light on their property may get you onboard. The good news is, this annoyance can be easily rectified through more efficient industrial and commercial LED lighting. Tampa and Orlando both have codes against light trespassing, as do most of Florida’s cities, so it is in your best interest to make the change.
Hopefully you will consider the benefits of LED lights for your industrial and commercial lighting needs, and are better educated on the topic of ambient light. If you are in Tampa or Orlando, or any part of Florida, for all your energy needs, give ECO energy management a call today at (727) 444-4414.