LEDs are all the rage now. LED vendors are beginning to advertise to a wide audience; they are being accepted. There have been great advances in LED lighting technology in recent years. Illumination no longer varies. LEDs can be dimmed or adjusted in other ways. LEDs can be made to resemble the fluorescents they replace and fit into their ballasts with little additional effort, yet reduce electrical wattage significantly.

While LED bulbs are highly energy efficient with a payback often of 3 years or less, it is important to plan out any LED replacement project to get the best financial and operational benefits. Here are some things to consider.

Do an illumination survey. Before you replace your lights, take this opportunity to determine whether changes in lighting are necessary. Are there areas that are relatively dark – in comparison to the need? Are there areas overlit? Have an illumination survey performed to determine levels. And don’t forget exterior space, too. Before you replace, determine where additional or different ballasts and lamps may be necessary for proper illumination and where you can remove some or have fewer lamps in a fixture.

When and where to install LEDs. You might think with such great energy cost savings and incentive programs in some states, it is best to just replace every existing bulb with LEDs. But that is not necessarily financially prudent, as LEDs do have a high upfront cost. Therefore, it may be best to prioritize your replacement program. If you cannot replace all of your lighting at once, then replace, as a first priority, your least efficient types of lighting or the lights used the most hours.

Save even more with lighting controls. Even LEDs use electricity needlessly if they are left on for extended periods with nobody around. Therefore, consider lighting controls, such as occupancy sensors and daylighting, sensors that dim artificial light as sunlight enters a room. LEDs can be installed that are compatible with these control types. Consider which areas of your building get used. In offices, occupancy sensors ensure that lights are not left on all night when nobody is around. In warehouses and storage and utility rooms that often go many hours, if not days, without activity, sensors can save, too. Which places in your facility get sunlight (sky lights or south-facing windows)?

Light locations. Do you currently have lights in inconvenient places that take a huge effort to replace? If so, prioritize LED bulbs in these locations to save you labor, storage space, and equipment rental expenses. I had a client that rents a cherry picker once every third year to replace burned out bulbs from a very high ceiling. As luck would have it, the day after the job was done one time, a light went out! With LEDs generally lasting well over 10,000 hours, the frequency and cost of replacing lights from an inconvenient spot drops markedly. Remember that reduced light replacement activity gives your maintenance crews more flexibility to perform other needed tasks. And fewer trips by your personnel up the cherry picker or ladders mean lower risk of an accident for you.

CCES has the experts to perform an evaluation of your lighting needs – to perform an illumination study and assess the right priorities for a lighting upgrade to give you the maximum financial benefits. We can manage and implement a complete turnkey lighting upgrade for you. Besides our technical expertise, we can help you apply for and get applicable incentives for such an upgrade. Contact us today at 914-584-6720 or at karell@CCESworld.com.