The customers experience at night begins in the parking lot, making Parking Lot Lighting the most valuable tool for a business at night. If a parking lot is poorly lit, customers will not stop, park, or shop. When a potential customer or client is considering visiting a store, shopping center or dealership, light can create a great sense of curb appeal attracting potential buyers or shoppers. A Well illuminated facility sends a clear message to customers that your business is open, ready to conduct business, and represents a more inviting, safer place to shop.

Making a good first impression!

Making this first impression a good one is vital to the success of any business. It is human nature to subconsciously be attracted to well illuminated areas, and thus increases traffic flow. Recently we received a call from a National Store Chain that the parking lot lighting was poor and needed to be improved. The concern was that most shoppers at night were female, and the lack of good, bright lighting made the store look unattractive to these potential shoppers. This is not just an assumption. As stores and shopping centers become larger in today’s real estate world, the walking distance from store to car becomes larger. Men have a tendency to not think about safety as much as women, so business owners must cater their lighting to the concerns of most women.

Poorly illuminated areas provide drastically increased potential risks, ranging from theft or purse-snatching to assault, rape, an even kidnapping. Women feel especially at risk walking to their car alone after dark. Few people realize the dangers inherent in this commonplace activity, but the fear alone may prevent potential customers from shopping at stores or centers with lower light levels. The criminal element is more likely to strike in these areas because the lack of Parking Lot Lighting allows the element of surprise and reduced visual acuity and increasing premise liability.

Target Corporation prides itself in offering more for less. Target Corporation operates Target stores, a chain of large, general merchandise discount stores, The company currently operates 1,272 Target stores in 47 states, all of which are required to maintain a pristine, warm atmosphere for shoppers. Target established a corporate policy to maintain standards for light levels for its stores’ main parking, peripheral parking and front drive areas. As part of their store maintenance program, Target periodically evaluates the light levels of each of its store location’s parking lots. That’s why when Target believed its parking lot light levels at a popular location were not meeting its corporate standards, they called in the lighting experts to measure light levels, and take corrective action.

How much light should a parking lot have?

First we must understand that there is no such thing as too much light in a parking lot. Most often we find that retailers do not put a focus on parking lot lighting fixtures due to high costs of repair and energy consumption. There are many alternatives such as LED and Induction lighting that can reduce these costs while providing high levels of light. The Illumination Engineering Society in Partnership with Nema, the Nations leading authorities on parking lot lighting standards, has determined that the most appropriate light level for a business at night is 4.0 foot candles or greater. Local ordinances controlling light pollution may require lower levels, however meeting a maximum light level is most beneficial. This foot candle recommendation is both vertically and horizontally across the plane. Some businesses or centers that just measure light levels directly beneath a light pole may have inadequate lighting across the parking lot.

How can parking lot lighting be improved affordable?

Synergy Lighting offers a wide variety of HID, LED and Induction based lighting products that can improve parking lot lighting design scotopically, without requiring additional expenses of poles and wiring to be added. The human eye responds to brighter whiter light on a scotopic level with increased see-ability or visual acuity. Any of the following tips can improve a lighting system on an affordable basis:

• Convert High Pressure Sodium HID, to Metal Halide
• Use Natural White Lamps whenever possible
• Convert HID to LED or Induction which provides improved see-ability and scotopically rich lighting
• Change older fixture heads to newer heads with type III polished reflectors
• Replace hard mounted fixtures with adjustable angle fixtures

Why use LED or Induction for Parking Lot Lighting

With vast improvements in efficiency and affordability, the LED Parking Lot Lighting and Induction Parking Lot Lighting alternatives are an excellent choice. Both of these options offer over a 50% savings on energy waste while providing some of the brightest white light in today’s market. The ratio of light measured photopically (standard light meter), and scotopically (human eye), this is known as the S/P Ratio. The S/P Ratio for a 5000K natural white light source is 2.1. Standard metal halide light bulbs are 4000K cool white and have a S/P ratio of 1.65.  where as a High Pressure Sodium system has an S/P ratio of 0.64 with the same photopic luminance as metal halide. This means that Metal Halide is twice as effective as HPS, while LED and Induction which are standard at 5000K are three times more effective while reducing electricity costs by 50% or greater.

For more information on Parking Lot Lighting Systems, view our website or call Synergy Lighting for a free consultation.

Phone: (941)-756-4844

Toll Free: (877) 220-5483

e-mail: sales@synergylightingusa.com

Energy conservation is rapidly being realized as a viable way to cut expenses and add positive cash flow to any business or home budget. In the growing popularity of Compact Fluorescent Lamps and LED Light bulbs, one other great investment is Occupancy Sensors. Lighting is typically the single largest users of electricity in a commercial building. Occupancy Sensors, commonly referred to as an “Occ Sensor” are installed to turn lighting on when a person approaches or enters a room, and have a built in, programmable time delay to turn the lighting circuit off after a brief period of time. Over the past few years, this technology has changed to incorporate a wide variety of sensors for use in many residential and commercial applications.

One of the biggest drawbacks in years past was the use in commercial bathrooms. If a bathroom stall was in use, the partitions would block the sensor from detecting that there was an occupant in the restroom, and the lights may turn out while the bathroom is still in use. Often perople would find themselves waving a hand over the stall door to try and activate the sensor again. This problem has been rectified with the creation of a “Nocc Sensor”, or Noise and Heat Activated Switch. The Nocc Sensor has a decibel rated noise sensor capable of detecting so much as a murmur or footstep, preventing it from turning off even if direct view of an occupant is blocked.

Where should you use an Occupancy Sensor?

Residential: Occupancy sensors should be used in areas that are not normally occupied for extended periods of time. Use of an occupancy sensor in a Bathroom, Closet, Garage, Laundry Room and other low use areas can provide added sensor of luxury with hands free switching as well as ensuring non priority lights do not remain on when not in use.  Children often leave these lights on, so the use of the occupancy sensor corrects bad habits affordably.

Commercial: We recommend a (2) Visit Rule. Besides Bathrooms which are an almost given in a commercial building, the two visit rule is the best way to judge Occ Sensor usage. How this rule works is simple. Perform a walk through inspection of your facility. If you enter a space, room or area that lights are on and no one is occupying that space at any two given times during your walk through, it is likely a great place to install an occupancy sensor. Primary considerations should be placed in:

• Independent Offices where the user works in and out regularly
• Warehouse Isles and Back Room Areas
• Conference, Meeting Rooms
• Storage or Supply Areas
• Bathrooms
• Stair Wells and Corridors

How much electricity is saved by an occupancy sensor?

Saving electricity by use of an occupancy sensor is very hard to calculate precisely, but should result in a 50%-90% reduction in usage. The following example should help you understand the principle. If a bathroom uses (3) 2×4 fluorescent fixtures is left on during an 8 hour day, the cost of electricity is approximately $112.93 per year. By installing an Occupancy Sensor (Average cost $30.00) the lights in the bathroom may be cut down to as low as 1.5 hours per day. The resulting savings would be $91.76 per year. Times an average switch life of 10 years is equal to a positive cash flow of $917.60. Return on investment is an average of 4.2 months. By using Occupancy sensors in multiple areas, a business can reduce its electricity expenses measurably.

For more information on using Occupancy Sensors  view our website  or call Synergy Lighting for a free consultation and walk through.

Phone: (941)-756-4844

Toll Free: (877) 220-5483

e-mail: sales@synergylightingusa.com

 NEMA Case Study – Occupancy Sensors

If there is any ideal candidate for color corrected light bulbs, Art & Frame of Sarasota would be near the top of our list! Robert Antovel; Owner of Art & Frame had reached the point where he realized that it was time for a significant change. With the current economy as it is, and with the changes going on globally, it was time to Go Green, and Go Big! That’s just what Robert did when he decided to enlisted the help of Synergy Lighting of Sarasota to help achieve his goals. One of the top of Robert’s list was to cut the electricity costs of his nearly 10,000 s.f. facility on US41 & Bahia Vista. The Second on his list was to Go Green.

Synergy Lighting helped by hand selecting light bulbs that were bright enough to use less wattage, but had to be of the highest available color rendering. With the customer in  agreement, Art & Frame converted to Natural White Lighting using the latest in Tri-Phosphor Technology with the Ultra 50 Pure Natural Daylight Lamps. Unlike standard daylight bulbs, the Ultra 50 yields a true replication of natural light produced by the sun. This special Tri-Phosphor technology available exclusively through Synergy Lighting has the greatest levels of light output, allowing the client to use less light bulbs through a practice called “De-Lamping”. This is a common practice used by Lighting Experts to improve light quality while reducing the number of lamps, and ballasts in a business.This results in a 50% energy reduction per fixture that is de-lamped.

The end result for Robert was an extremely well illuminated store that shows all color accurately to natural sun light. In an art supply store such as  Art & Frame Sarasota, there couldn’t be a greater reward for the store and it’s large clientele. Customers can more accurately select the paints that they need, match any colors for Framing and Matting as well as showing products with visual acuity. Going green was achieved due to the low mercury content, and the reduction of our natural resources used to produce the electricity to power the Mega Art Store. 

For more information on using Pure Natural Daylight bulbs such as Sky Brite and Ultra 50, check out our Natural Lighting Articles, or call Synergy Lighting.

Phone: (941)-756-4844

Toll Free: (877) 220-5483

e-mail: sales@synergylightingusa.com

Ultra 50 Specs
Download Ultra 50 Light Bulb Article

Sarasota, Florida Landscape Lighting is somewhat challenging and far from boring. When the manager of a local Apartment Complex asked us to “Spruce Up” the pool area on a budget of $500.00 we were scratching our heads to figure out how to accomplish her goal. That’s when the light bulb came on out of nowhere. Could we use Self Ballasted Metal Halide lamps to provide incredible uplighting effects and maintain a budget? YES! The customer installed (6) Par 38 Bullet Light Fixtures with (6) 25 Watt Philips Metal Halide Light Bulbs: Total prject cost: $487.43. Just enough left over for a nice Margarita By The Pool!

Energy Savings acheived by using the MasterColor® Integrated 25W PAR38 Ceramic Metal Halide Lamps over Halogen was 50 Watts per fixture or $203.43 per year savings, and a 15% Increase in light quality.

For more information, visit www.synergylightingusa.com , or call Synergy Lighting.

Phone: (941)-756-4844
Toll Free: (877) 220-5483
e-mail: sales@synergylightingusa.com