Everyone these days is a consumer of gasoline, and in the United States there are nearly 280,000 Gas Stations and Convenient Stores offering customers a seemingly unlimited supply of petroleum, fast food, quick service and easy access. Despite prices at the pump, or the somewhat higher prices of convenience, these stores operate on extremely tight margins and depend highly on volume based sales.

Lighting is one of the most important aspects of Gas Station and Convenient Stores which often operate well into the late night hours. Owners and Operators need to be highly aware of subconscious reactions from customers that may shy away to an adjacent competitor based upon the appearance of the business at night. Naturally, people are drawn to businesses that give a stronger sense of cleanliness, friendly service and an environment that feels safe and secure. Well lighted spaces both indoors and outdoors sends a clear message to customers that you are open and ready to conduct business.

Gas Station Lighting Systems

Typically a Gas Station or Convenience Store has outdoor lighting that consists of 3 different types of lighting. These are Canopy Lighting over pumps and portico’s, Wall Packs mounted to the building structure and Parking Lot Lighting. These fixture types are usually Metal Halide – High Intensity Discharge Systems which provide high levels of illumination along with extreme amounts of glare. With the ever growing size of the stores offering more and more products and services to clientele, the lighting systems can become quite extensive with massive amounts of fixtures to draw in customers. However the operating and maintenance costs of the metal halide system is extremely high. The metal halide lighting systems suffer from a wide variety of problems from color shift (lamps turning pink and green) and if not replaced regularly well before the useful life is reached of the lamps, the metal halide lamps will lose an average of 35% of its original light output.

The Advantage Of Induction Lighting

An alternative to the Metal Halide lighting systems is LED Lighting, and Induction Lighting. Each offer distinct advantages, however the Induction Lighting System offers a greater cost

effectiveness while drawing in larger volumes of traffic flow to a gas station. Unlike metal halide which suffers from rapid lumen depreciation and color shift, the induction lighting system maintains 95% of its lumen output and never changes colors. The induction system uses a cathode-less high lumen fluorescent lamp which operates at much cooler temperatures and requires up to 68% less energy than metal halide. A standard 320W Pulse Start or 400W Metal Halide canopy fixture can be retrofitted with a 200 Watt induction fixture and provide higher light levels with tremendous savings. Because the induction system does not use cathode lamps, the systems offers 20 years of maintenance free operation with no bulb or ballast replacements as there is no cathode to burn out and the generator is completely electronic. This is a phenomenal feature that rivals LED Lighting systems with twice the life and less than half the cost. The induction lighting system offered by Synergy Lighting come standard with 5000K Pure Natural Daylight Lamps which most closely resemble natural sun light. This creates a very bright, clean and glare free presentation to customers and is attributed to increased customer traffic and sales.

The BP Gas Station and Convenience Store pictured in this article utilized Synergy Lighting’s 5000K Induction Lighting Fixtures. The end result for BP is a higher level of attraction to clientele, 20 years of maintenance free operation and a cost savings over the life of the fixtures in excess of $300,000. BP Corporate and franchise stores often operate at 5% net profit. This means that the energy and cost savings to BP is equal to an increased revenue of $6,000,000.00 not to mention the increased revenue resulting from the increased customer traffic.

Where there is light, there is Synergy Lighting. For more information on switching to Energy Saving, Induction Lighting, view our website and call Synergy Lighting for a free consultation.

Phone: (941)-756-4844

Toll Free: (877) 220-5483

e-mail: sales@synergylightingusa.com

Installation of this Project was Performed by WES Inc. FL-EC0001689

One of the most common forms of industrial warehouse and large commercial lighting is Metal Halide High Bays. These fixtures which are often selected initially because of their high lumens per watt and relatively low price are found virtually every where you look. They can be found in Grocery Stores such as Publix, and Retail Stores Like Sports Authority and HHGregg as well as 90% of all warehouses. We like to refer to these fixtures as the “Engineers Choice” when a new construction project is being developed. They are easy to specify, very bright and can be laid out using a relatively low amount of fixtures.

Metal Halide High Bays Are Really Not Efficient

It is highly likely that the era of the Metal Halide High Bay still being used today is not out of necessity or efficiency but merely that of imitating others. “Well, Best Buy has those lights, we should too”. The unfortunate situation is that nobody upfront considers the true reality of metal halide lighting. This reality is:

• Color shift, lights turning green and pink
• Enormous electricity cost of operation
• High priced replacements of ballasts and bulbs
• High heat loads emiting from the light fixture
• Possible harm from explosion and uv radiation
• Long start up and restrike time

T8 Fluorescent High Bay Fixtures Can Do The Job

T8 Fluorescent has been around for years, in fact you may have them above your head right now in an office! Most people do not realize that those lights used in the office can also be used to provide the high levels of light required where Metal Halide High Bay fixtures may exist. T8 Fluorescent has improved so dramatically just in the past 12 months, that these lamps can now be used for the same purpose. Using specially designed 6 lamp T8 High Bay fixtures such as those available through Synergy Lighting can reduce the electrical consumption by 54% compared to 400 Watt Metal halide Fixtures. Warm up and Restrike times from power outages is elliminated with Instant On/Off illumination. Additionally, there are large tax deductions available to those who makes this change.

Benefits achieved are:

• No color shift with aging lamps
• Improved light quality without hot-spots
• 54% energy savings
• 210% reduction in heat output from the light fixture
• 70% reduction of maintenance costs
• Ellimination of safety hazards
• Instant On / Off

The above retail store converted from MH400 Highbays using 468 watts per fixture to T8 Highbays supplied by Synergy Lighting using only 221 watts per fixture.

Installation of this Project was Performed by WES Inc. FL-EC0001689

A Metal Halide lamp has a rated life of 20,000 hours compared to 36,000 hours of a ECO Friendly Super T8 Fluorescent. For more information view our MH to T5/T8 Retrofit Flyer, 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

Recently we we’re asked to produce a Techno Look to a retail fashion store in Brandon, Florida. This was a very unique challenge for Synergy Lighting, as the customer wanted natural bright white light bulbs for color rendering throughout the main portions of the store, but also did not want it to be too bright.  Usually our depth is increased with brighter lighting, however to achieve a “Techno” Look, we had to get a little advice from local teenagers. It seems Synergy Lighting is not quite in touch with the “Techno” Community of younger generations.

The end result was a combination of Bright White Skybrite lamps utilized in 2×2 troffers, and Compact Fluorescent Warm White PAR’s to develope contracting color schemes between display and racks. This project not only achieved a more than satisfying result for the client, but resulted with a 35% energy reduction over the previously installed Cool White Troffers.

Synergy Lighting goes beyond the realm of ordinary lighting with the ability to research and design nearly any concept in lighting. Our design services are no-charge.

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