Practical advice on commercial lighting from LED retrofits to lighting design.

Linear LEDs have come a long way over the last couple of years. Between questions on plug-and-play versus bypass ballast to figuring out when it’s the right time to retrofit, it’s clear that linear LEDs are here to stay.

Now, what part of a commercial office should be the first to undergo an LED retrofit? That would be the natural next question.

Our Lighting Pyramid is a good resource to get your retrofit prioritization process started.

When it comes to linear lamps in particular, I like to recommend beginning with 24/7 applications, which are often outside of the main areas of the building –– perhaps in the parking garage, stairwells, or the basement. Then, gradually move inside to the sockets at the core of the building, strategically making high burn areas top priority. 

Here’s a quick breakdown of some of the most common applications.

Dimming LEDs can be tricky for a variety of reasons, and it can sometimes be difficult to pinpoint the source of the particular issue you're facing, like flickering. In this post, we'll zero in on one particular issue: a lack of load resistance.

Conventional (TRIAC) dimmer switches –– the ones designed to work with incandescent and halogen light bulbs –– require a certain amount of "holding current," or wattage in non-electrical-engineer terms, in order to work properly. When paired with an incandescent, the bulb draws enough voltage for the dimmer to work with and reduce. The control cuts the voltage, sending less to the lamp, or bulb, resulting in reduced light output (dimmed lighting).

Linear fluorescent lighting has for decades been the workhorse light source for so many applications, thanks to its long life ratings and relatively efficient use of energy. But the emergence of linear LED technology over the last decade or so has really changed the landscape, making buying decisions for linear applications more complex.

We get questions all the time about linear lighting. Is it risky to invest in LED lighting products? Are more fluorescent phaseouts ahead? What linear lighting products does Regency suggest?

What products should you retrofit to LED first? 

Our lighting experts get that question all the time. Fortunately, there’s a pretty simple answer.

If you have any applications in your building that still have incandescent or halogen lighting, start there first. Why?

The retrofit from incandescent or halogen to LED gives you the biggest energy savings and almost always the fastest return on investment. We all want to make our money back quickly on investments, right? If you’re using linear or compact fluorescent lighting anywhere in your building, your lighting is already fairly efficient, especially when compared with incandescent or halogen lighting. 

Earlier this year, the Department of Energy published a report on LED failure that, among other things, found the lifetime claims for more than half of LED products to be inaccurate, or miscalculated.

Why is there so much bad information out there? Are manufacturers just fudging their claims, or are there other pieces to the puzzle?

Well, though we frequently stress the importance of vetting manufacturers, and manufacturer reps, a lot of this bad information just comes down to the industry adjusting to a new, still emerging and evolving lighting technology. That said, we're not here to make excuses for misleading or inaccurate lifetime claims. We're here to make the technicalities behind these inaccuracies understandable, so that you can effectively avoid the risk of getting left high-and-dry with early failures or poor light quality from LEDs.

We’ve written a fair amount on when the right time is to upgrade to LED. It seems like this is one of the most charged questions in lighting today with strong opinions on both sides of the spectrum.

Some pragmatists look at the cost of long-life fluorescent –– both in terms of efficiency and low materials cost –– and recommend a conservative approach to retrofitting to LED. Heavy proponents of LED point to the mercury in linear fluorescents, LEED points, and the energy savings and can’t imagine operating without LED.

Linear LED tubes have become more competitive over recent months, and it also seems like there are more options than ever. So, if you’re operating with discontinued T12 fluorescent tubes, you’re probably beginning to weigh the options for a retrofit. 

The University of Texas at Dallas faced a number of problems with the metal halides it was using to light its Activity Center. If you've used high intensity discharge (HID) lighting before, you can probably empathize with their troubles. The challenges the university was facing with its HID lighting system are commonplace –– the very ones you'd expect with HID.

Click here to see how we helped make UT Dallas' lighting easier

Have you ever considered cutting your cable TV subscription? With faster internet speeds and more video streaming services out there — Netflix, Amazon Video, Hulu, and YouTube, to name a few — it seems like more people are considering changing the channel from traditional cable or satellite TV providers for on-demand, more customizable TV streaming services.

If you’ve considered this, you’ve probably looked at a cable bill and thought, "How can they get away with charging that kind of money?"
If you’ve had this experience, you’ve certainly evaluated the high cost of the status quo.

March Madness is underway. We've got an office pool going and my bracket is a mad, blazing disaster.

Evidently, I don't know much about college basketball. I do know this, though: all of the lighting nerds tuning into the tournament should keep an eye on the performance of Eaton's Ephesus LED lighting system, which was on display over the weekend at some of the tournament's regional venues, like KeyBank Center in Buffalo, Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, BOK Center in Tulsa, and will light the Final Four next month at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.