You’ve decided to do a lighting upgrade—exciting! When it comes to commercial and industrial LED lighting you should hire an LED retrofit contractor. You’ll be hiring someone who knows what they’re doing because it’s their job—their only job. Time is money, and you’ll save both in the end. Take it from some of our customers: Don’t DIY or go cheap on the LED lighting installation in your commercial or industrial spaces when you’re ready for a lighting upgrade.
Consider why you’re doing an LED retrofit installation: gain energy savings, save money, improve safety, reduce carbon emissions, and boost morale—right?
Reason to Hire a LED Contractor #1: Avoid Accidents
If you decide to go your own way, and take (what you think is) the cheap route by doing it yourself, you could create a bigger problem than the one you’re trying to solve. Accidents, poor thermal management, and fires can all be caused by incorrect installation or choosing the wrong kind of lighting solution for your building and needs. Retrofitting your current lighting requires a significant amount of assessment and knowledge.
All too often, we hear customer horror stories of TLEDs and substandard or poorly specified LEDs that led to major building damage. Take one of our (eventual) clients for example:
A large multi-site steel company had 6 Lamp T5 light fixtures (with fluorescent bulbs) throughout their facility, and wanted to upgrade them to TLED tubes, using the current ballast. TLEDs are not meant to run 24 hours a day, 5 days a week, and the TLEDs were soon unable to manage the heat they produced—the facility shut down production, replaced with a second set of TLEDs from the manufacturer (who cited the first set as a “bad batch”) and shortly thereafter had to replace the second set with another set. Each of the three times the bulbs were replaced, production was halted. Yet, this third round, the fixture began to melt, and started a fire at the facility, which spread to the wood roof.
The fire department was able to contain the spread, and this company’s next call was to PEC —to help them choose and install a lighting solution that would minimize accidents, not cause them.
Reason to Hire a LED Contractor #2: Maximize Efficiency
Commercial LED lighting can be complicated, but it has so many benefits, including energy savings, a longer lifespan than alternatives, improved light quality and efficacy. A partner with in-depth knowledge of fixtures, purchasing power with high quality manufacturers, and post-project support (if you ever have a warranty issue after your lighting project is complete) will give you peace of mind and help you focus on what’s important to you – your business operations. But, these benefits are really only part of the consideration if the lighting is specified, designed, and installed correctly! Everything that you’re using should be known and tested for quality, from the fixture, LED driver, optics, lumens output, and sensors (advanced controls if you opt for these) to hanging and mounting hardware. If your lights are needing replacement with a short-shelf life (if they’re from big box stores, for example), or worse: melting and starting fires, your company will lose the edge in efficiency, having to pause, or shut down operations while lights are replaced (or the burning building is being extinguished). That’s the opposite of efficiency.
In addition to shutting down while maintenance or replacements occur, without expert specification you may also lose efficiency in your effort to find the right lighting for your space. The right LED retrofit contractors know the industry like the back of their hand, choosing the right fixtures, optics, and systems, and installing them with precision the first time. With so many conditions to consider, such as the temperature of the space, the dust level, and the exact purpose of the lighting, a proper LED contractor can assess your facility to determine exactly what is appropriate for your space, saving the facility manager time and money. Appropriate specification and expert installation will help you keep your business going at the rate it needs to. (If you’re ready for an “easy button” when it comes to LED retrofit installs, contact us.)
Reason to Hire a LED Contractor #3: Save Money
Improved safety and optimized efficiency—both are good things. But saving money is often how companies justify their investment in a lighting upgrade. In addition to the energy savings you’ll make from using more efficient fixtures and lighting systems you could qualify for energy rebates. Don’t leave any money on the table when it comes to a LED lighting project. There are plenty of energy incentives and rebates available to larger commercial and industrial facilities who upgrade to LEDs. But, because there are extensive amounts of paperwork involved in the energy rebate application process it can be difficult to ensure you capture everything possible. To help you maximize the incentives available, choose an LED contractor that has an in-house energy incentives team that coordinates all the required inspection visits and information gathering with the installation team.
LED lighting upgrades can improve light levels, limit downtime, and increase safety, but their key contribution? They have significant energy savings—all of these benefits can only be fully realized if the lighting is specified, designed, and installed correctly.
Reason to Hire a LED Contractor #4: Protect Your Investment
There are a lot of LED lighting companies out there and a LED lighting upgrade is an investment. It’s important to protect your investment and avoid getting burned, both physically and financially. But, as it turns out, doing it yourself may seem inexpensive but can end up costing a lot on the back end. Hire an LED contractor for your commercial or industrial LED lighting projects so you can get it done the right way the first time.
Conclusion
Energy-efficient lighting retrofits are a cost-effective “low-hanging fruit” with a fantastic ROI, offering improved safety, increased productivity, long-term energy-efficiency, cost savings, and benefiting your employees, your company, and the earth. Protect this investment by hiring a knowledgeable LED lighting contractor.
We can help with each step of your LED upgrade: specifications, design, installation, project management, and rebates/incentives. Reach out.
