Incandescent or CFL? The correct answer is none of the above
LED lighting is the correct answer!
So you know you want LED but should you buy New Fixtures or Retrofit the old?
While upgrading your lighting technology to the latest in LED lighting you will hear all about the savings related to the bulbs, electricity consumption, and length of life. You may not hear all of the other savings available and all the reasons that you should look to change even without the savings.
New or Retrofit your fixtures?
- Most will never think about this option. And for your home you won't need to because most home fixtures operate off of the incoming electricity and the incoming electrical lines are connected directly to the building via a socket where the bulb is plugged in or screwed into place. Most business lighting however, does not work that way. Business lighting, fluorescent or outdoor lighting often uses Ballasts, or Transformers, to change the incoming electricity into another form to match the bulbs needs.
- Due to the differences, some home and most businesses considering upgrading to LED are faced with a decision:
- 1) replace the existing fixture with a "new" fixture that is made to work with LED technology
- 2) retrofit their existing fixtures to work with LED retrofit technologies. The savings can be as much as 60%-70% on the total project cost. Retrofitting existing fixtures also provides the following:
- Ability to maintain architectural look of decor. Often parking lot fixtures are chosen to match a building or to add to or blend in with existing look. By retrofitting your existing fixtures you maintain the look you have and still get the benefits of LED technology.
- Save the cost of the fixture. Let's face it, most fixtures are just sheet metal, aluminum, or steel. These materials are made to last much longer than the bulbs or technology they were originally designed with.
- Reduce the amount of waste we create. If LED technology is helping you or your business with efforts to go "Green" retrofitting should be the first choice.
- Realizing that all fixtures are not able to be retrofitted, you get the choice on the ones that are. A call or photo is usually all it takes for you to confirm our ability to use a retrofit in a fixture.
Products
We can source practically any LED lighting option. We work directly with manufacturers and importers to provide our customers with the best Lighting Solution for their needs. We generally recommend retrofitting existing fixtures but we can certainly find appropriate new complete solutions.
Installation?
We also recognize that while most of our customers have in-house personnel to install our new or retrofit solutions we will happily engage qualified electrical contractors to provide you a quote with a complete turnkey solution.