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Lighting Insights Blog

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Common light bulbs and LED upgrades for retail stores

Posted by Andrew Thomas on Jan 28, 2019 1:19:00 PM
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Regardless of what your retail store sells, lighting is one of the most important components of a successful retail space. Lighting mistakes rarely go unnoticed and can have a direct impact on a customer’s shopping experience – and we all know what happens when a customer’s shopping experience is poor.

We’ve created this guide to common light bulbs and LED upgrades for retail stores so you can properly highlight your products and give your customers the best experience. We've also included links to where you can buy either the product or the appropriate LED upgrade. If you'd like to jump straight to a specific area of your store, use one of these links:

  • General lighting
  • Cove lighting
  • Accent lighting
  • Fitting room lighting
  • Stock room lighting

General Lighting

retail-track-lightingRetail locations can have a wide range of general lighting. Most of the fixtures include a combination of track lighting, overhead fluorescent lighting, and recessed lighting.

Track lighting fixtures provide a focused beam of light with the use of a type of reflector bulb (PAR38 or PAR30). 

PAR38-E26

PAR38 Track Bulb

Technical Jargon:

  • Shape: PAR38 (4 3/4" diameter)
  • Base: Medium (E26)
  • Wattage: 39W to 100W

What are you looking for?

Buy PAR38 halogen bulbs
Buy PAR38 LED bulbs
PAR30S-E26

PAR30 Track Bulb

Technical Jargon:

  • Shape: PAR30 (3 3/4" diameter)
  • Base: Medium (E26)
  • Wattage: 39W to 60W

What are you looking for?

Buy halogen PAR30 bulbs
Buy LED PAR30 bulbs

If a retail store has overhead fluorescent lighting, it's usually 2’ x 2’ or 2’ x 4’ troffers. These fixtures use linear fluorescent tubes (T8s).

T8-G13

Linear Fluorescent Tube (T8)

Technical Jargon:

  • Shape: T8 (1" diameter)
  • Base: Bi-pin (G13)
  • Length: 1 foot to 4 foot
  • Wattage: 13W to 32W, based on length

What are you looking for?

Buy T8 fluorescent tubes
Buy T8 LED tubes

One final type of general lighting applied in retail locations is recessed cans that use BR30 bulbs. These bulbs are great in retail spaces that lack natural light because they evenly illuminate a space.

BR30-E26

Reflector Bulb (BR30)

Technical Jargon:

  • Shape: BR30 (3 3/4" diameter)
  • Base: Medium (E26)
  • Wattage: 40W to 65W

What are you looking for?

Buy BR30 incandescent bulbs
Buy BR30 LED bulbs

Cove Lighting

retail-cove-lighting copy

Retail spaces often use cove lighting to create an aesthetic appeal. This type of fixture typically requires T8 bulbs.

T8-G13

Linear Fluorescent Tube (T8)

Technical Jargon:

  • Shape: T8 (1" diameter)
  • Base: Bi-pin (G13)
  • Length: 1 foot to 4 foot
  • Wattage: 13W to 32W, based on length

What are you looking for?

Buy T8 fluorescent tubes
Buy T8 LED tubes

 

Download our Linear Lighting Playbook to learn the four ground rules of linear lighting for a retail space.

Accent Lighting

retail-accent-lightingMany retail locations specifically use track or recessed lighting to accent products and displays. Both track lighting and recessed cans use Halogen PAR bulbs (PAR 20, PAR 30, PAR 38), or some will use similar shaped HID bulbs.

PAR30S-E26

Common Track Light Bulb (PAR30)

Technical Jargon:

  • Shape: PAR30 (3 3/4" diameter)
  • Base: Medium (E26)
  • Wattage: 39W to 60W

What are you looking for?

Buy halogen PAR30 bulbs
Buy LED PAR30 bulbs

Other track light bulbs:

Buy halogen track light bulbs
Buy LED track light bulbs

HID track light bulbs:

Buy HID track light bulbs

Fitting Room Lighting

retail-fitting-roomA majority of buying decisions happen in the fitting room – which means proper fitting room lighting is vital to a retail store’s success. The perfect fitting room lighting will eliminate shadows and provide flattering light.

Most fitting rooms have recessed cans as the primary lighting.

R20-E26E

4" Recessed Can Bulb (R20)

Technical Jargon:

  • Shape: R20 (2 1/2" diameter)
  • Base: Medium (E26)
  • Wattage: 30W to 45W

What are you looking for?

Buy R20 incandescent bulbs
Buy R20 LED bulbs
BR30-E26

6" Recessed Can Bulb (BR30)

Technical Jargon:

  • Shape: BR30 (3 3/4" diameter)
  • Base: Medium (E26)
  • Wattage: 45W to 75W

What are you looking for?

Buy BR30 incandescent bulbs
Buy BR30 LED bulbs

Additional fluorescent lighting that requires T8 tubes can be found next to or in mirrors – this will help both your merchandise and your customers look their best.

T8-G13

Linear Fluorescent Tube (T8)

Technical Jargon:

  • Shape: T8 (1" diameter)
  • Base: Bi-pin (G13)
  • Length: 1 foot to 4 foot
  • Wattage: 13W to 32W, based on length

What are you looking for?

Buy T8 fluorescent tubes
Buy T8 LED tubes

Stock Room Lighting

retail-stockroomMost stock rooms in retail spaces have overhead fluorescent lighting – often 2' x 4' fluorescent strip fixtures that require linear fluorescent tubes (either T8s or T12s).

T8-G13

Linear Fluorescent Tube (T8)

Technical Jargon:

  • Shape: T8 (1" diameter)
  • Base: Bi-pin (G13)
  • Length: 1 foot to 4 foot
  • Wattage: 13W to 32W, based on length

What are you looking for?

Buy T8 fluorescent tubes
Buy T8 LED tubes

If you still have T12s in your fixtures and you're looking to save money on lighting, there are several ways to go about retrofitting to LED. Read more about LED replacement options for T12s here.

 

As always, we're here to help guide you through the difficulties of lighting. Check out this blog post for more information on retail lighting design tips, or contact us today to speak to a lighting expert.

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Topics: LED, Lighting maintenance, Retail Lighting

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All Rights Reserved.

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