Ballast and Bulb Replacement
When you are looking for ways to improve your energy consumption and increase company profits, your commercial lighting is a factor you should consider. Many business owners don’t even realize that the lighting in their facilities can account for as much as 35% of their total energy costs. Nipper Energy is a locally owned and operated Virginia Beach electrical company that can help you to find the right lighting solutions to save on your utilities and increase revenue for your business.
How Is Commercial Lighting Different From Residential?
When you choose lighting for your home, it is a matter of personal preference and the design of each individual room. Garages and utility rooms, for instance, generally have a different type of lighting than a living room or bedroom, but it really depends on the homeowner’s tastes. The point of commercial lighting, however, is to facilitate the needs of workers to efficiently perform their job duties and optimize productivity. The nature of your business is the main determining factor in the type of lighting and bulbs you should be using. Factories, offices, medical facilities, and restaurants all require different design concepts, colors, and light intensities that are customized to the specific needs of the environment.
What Types of Lighting Are Used in Commercial Settings?
There are a wide variety of lighting fixtures, bulbs, and configurations that work together to provide the best type of light for the work being performed, and the comfort of clients and customers who may enter the building. A few of the most common types of lights used include:
● Light Emitting Diode (LED). LED lighting is one of the most efficient types of lighting, and the bulbs have a long lifespan. They generally last more than 35 times as long as traditional incandescent bulbs and use as much as 75% less energy.
● Metal Halide or High Intensity Discharge (HID). These bulbs are very efficient, long-lasting, and provide a very bright light source for workers. The most common use for this type of lighting is in industrial environments and warehouses.
● Fluorescent. Fluorescent lighting is perhaps the most commonly used type of lighting in commercial applications. These lights include traditional fluorescent lights and compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL). These lights must always be properly disposed of, as they contain mercury, but they last 10 times as long as traditional bulbs and are considerably more efficient.
● Halogen. These bulbs are most commonly used outside. You will often see them in outdoor stadiums. The light they produce is a very bright white light, and their energy efficiency is twice that of traditional incandescent lighting.
● Incandescent Bulbs. These traditional light bulbs are the old tried and true type that most people have used in their homes for years. Unfortunately, they are not very energy efficient. The best commercial use for this type of bulb is for task lighting. The level of brightness required for the job is easy to accommodate with incandescent bulbs.
What Is a Ballast?
In a commercial environment, ballasts are used as a control mechanism for fluorescent lights. Without ballasts limiting the flow of current to the bulbs, fluorescent lights can get overheated and burn out. When fluorescents are used with no ballasts, commercial fluorescent lighting can interfere with electronics and pose a fire hazard.
The professional electricians at Nipper Electric can assist you in all areas of lighting selection, bulb, and ballast replacement, and help to improve employee productivity while protecting your work environment from danger. Give us a call today at (757) 842-1710 to find out how our reliable staff can help your business with all of its lighting needs.
