The right light in the workplace

A commercial lighting project has different specificities from all other lighting. It is necessary to take into account some, and in many cases all, of the following situations:

• Very large spaces and very high ceilings.
• Activities are carried out for extended periods, often 24 x 7.
• Depending on the nature of the facility, environmental conditions can be very aggressive to the equipment, e.g. high temperatures and humidity and/or corrosive environments.
• Lighting equipment is often subject to the electrical phenomenon of harmonics (dirty power) induced by operating low-power equipment such as induction motors, power transformers, rectifiers and electronic equipment.
• It is common to perform very different tasks inside in the same space, and then it becomes necessary to “customize” illuminance to each function.
• Shadows can pose a danger to humans, so horizontal lighting plays an important role. It can represent 25% to 50% of vertical lighting in order to eliminate shadows in critical areas.

Efficiency is a constant concern for managers of commercial enterprises. Depending on the type of activity, lighting can represent up to 75% of their total electricity costs, as is the case in the logistics sector. Commercial lighting systems are one area where it is possible to simultaneously increase quality and reduce operating and maintenance costs.

One of the most common ways of optimizing electrical consumption in a commercial lighting system is to focus on some luminaires, automatically switching them on and off according to occupancy and whether there is activity. It is also possible to use dimming depending on the amount of natural light coming in from outside, by applying motion sensors and controllable photocells. This can result in savings of up to 50%.

High Intensity Discharge (HID) light sources and fluorescent lamps have for many years dominated lighting in commercial facilities. However, their characteristics do not allow us to use the good management practices mentioned above.

These types of lamps have high inertia loads at start-up and shut-down, so they are not suitable for the application of motion sensors and are rarely associated with control systems. In addition, although these traditional technologies can be used with dimmers, this significantly reduces the lifetime specified by their manufacturers.

Energy savings in lighting systems mainly result from introducing more efficient lighting, sensors and control systems. This is an area where LED technology excels.

LED technology offers clear benefits over conventional lighting, including better lumen efficiency and energy efficiency, longer life and lower maintenance requirements. And these benefits are enhanced when you use luminous flux control and sensor systems.

Also, the permanent lighting needs of commercial units make the payback period very short, which means that LED technology is the best lighting solution for any commercial environment.