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LED Lighting Controls Are The Future

In general terms, lighting controls enable the user to regulate lighting levels and quality depending on the needs or location of the user. Better control of the user’s lighting system allows them to customize their space while potentially increasing energy savings. If you are interested in learning more about the benefits of smart control systems, you can check out this blog! The Future of Lighting Controls A traditional LED lighting upgrade will save a customer up to 70% on their lighting cost annually. These savings are significant, but the implementation of controls can further increase these savings. As LEDs become more adopted in the marketplace, LED control systems will become the leading force in reducing energy cost. Furthermore, control systems are becoming more advanced with new features to create more benefits for you. Below are two diagrams, the one on the left shows energy usage without a control system and the one on the right shows energy usage with RAB’s LightCloud system installed. As you can see, each feature of their control system offers subsequently lower energy usage. This reduced usage is what causes the cost reduction in your utility bill. For example, you can see that occupancy controls create significant savings during the middle of the day. The reason behind this is that many employees leave for lunch around noon without turning off their lights. Occupancy sensors will automatically turn off or dim those lights depending on your needs which can create additional savings for you! How Can I Get Started? The first step in improving your lighting system is gathering information on the current system to establish a baseline. Integra LED offers complimentary energy assessments to help you gain necessary insights such as current energy usage and maintenance cost. Once this assessment is completed, our engineering team will create a custom proposal based on your lighting needs. Our lighting upgrades are completely turnkey from securing incentive funds to commissioning your new LED control system!

Smart Lighting Control Systems: Top Benefits

What is a smart lighting control system? Although the name may sound technical, these systems are quite simple to understand. They enable you to regulate lighting levels and quality depending on the location or need. Having control of your lighting enables you to have a more customized space while increasing your energy savings using different features. Daylight Harvesting This simple technology utilizes sensors to recognize natural light in a space then adjusts the artificial lighting accordingly. For example, if your office has a lot of natural light shining in, the control system will automatically dim the lighting. By doing this, you are reducing energy consumption at times where it is not needed. Overall, this increases your savings on energy especially when paired with a LED lighting upgrade! Increase Comfort and Productivity Have you ever sat in your desk and became frustrated with the painful excessively bright lighting above you? With smart lighting control systems, you can quickly and easily dim your lighting to better suit your preferences. By increasing comfort, you may be more productive in your workspace because you won’t have the distractions of overly bright and painful lighting. Occupancy Sensors Do you ever forget to turn off the lights after leaving a space? Occupancy sensors do exactly what the title says, they sense if a space is occupied and adjust the lighting accordingly. This creates massive savings by reducing the amount of energy consumed in spaces that don’t need to be lit. On top of this, it removes the human element of switching off all your lights so you will never have to worry about forgetting again! Increase Lighting Lifetime The three benefits listed above all reduce the unnecessary usage of your artificial lighting systems. By reducing usage, these lighting systems will last significantly longer! Pair this with an LED upgrade and you can see your lights lasting well up to 50,000 hours. This reduces the time and money required to constantly switch out bulbs giving your maintenance or facilities team more time! Savings Smart Lighting Controls decrease your energy consumption. The less energy you consume, the lower your lighting cost will be. Therefore, control systems can offer massive savings for your business. Pair this with a LED lighting upgrade and you will be saving up to 75% on your utility bill every single year.

What is an LED Driver?

In general terms, an LED driver is a device that manages the power sent to an LED lamp or fixture. Like a ballast, they correct the amount of voltage sent to the light to ensure it performs properly. Most buildings supply voltage between 120-277V of alternating current electricity (AC) while LEDs are designed to run on voltage of 12-24V, direct current electricity (DC). Therefore, if you don’t use a driver the LED lamp or fixture will fail and could even catch on fire. Internal Vs. External LED Drivers One example is replacing fluorescent tubes with efficient LED tubes. Certain LED tubes come with an internal driver where the driver is contained within the tube itself. Therefore, the installer would bypass the ballast and direct wire the tubes in the same housing. Conversely, if you are installing LED tubes without internal drivers, you would replace the tubes then replace the ballast with an LED driver. Additionally, fixture replacements such as LED flat panels or troffers commonly come with an external driver that is mounted to the fixture. This allows the entire fixture to be replaced quickly without the confusion of purchasing a separate driver. To be safe, check the spec sheet of the product you are ordering and make sure it comes with a driver. Certain manufactures don’t include a driver which you would need to purchase separately and install. Internal and External drivers both have pros and cons. Internal drivers can simplify the installation process and ensure seamless performance between the driver and the LED lamp. External drivers do require an extra step but can increase the lifetime of the product and remove certain safety concerns during installation. Drivers & Smart Controls Besides managing voltage sent to an LED lamp or fixture, drivers can enable LED products to be compatible with control systems. Capabilities such as dimming, occupancy sensing, and daylight harvesting require a compatible driver. If you are interested in learning more about smart controls, you can check out our blog here! As you can see, drivers are easy to understand yet a crucial accessory for any lighting system. If you choose the incorrect driver or improperly install it, you can risk damaging your newly installed LEDs and reducing the lifetime of your product. Integra LED offers turnkey LED installations so you don’t have to worry about any of these issues!

Does Temperature Effect LED Lights?

Temperature plays a major role in the performance of your lighting system. This can be concerning considering that facilities such as manufacturing spaces commonly see ceiling temperatures above 100°F. In this blog, we dive into the relationship between temperature and the effect it can have on your LED lighting system. In general, there is a close correlation between the temperature of an LED and the amount of light it produces. The cooler the environment, the more lumens or light an LED will be able to produce. Therefore, controlling the temperature of your space will help ensure you maximize the efficiency of your LED lighting system. To the right, we can see that 100% light output is reached at 25°C or 77°F and as temperatures increase beyond that, light output slowly decreases. This may be concerning at first because certain facilities reach temperatures well above 77°F but we need to look closer. At 48°C or 120°F, LED’s still maintain around 90% of their light output so even at high temperatures, the effects are not highly concerning. Overall, LED’s light output is affected by the temperature of the environment they are installed in. Most facilities operate under 77°F so temperature should not be a concern. In high-temperature facilities such as manufacturers operating at 100-120° F, you may see slight decreases in light output. Looking at the other end of the spectrum, LED’s perform extremely well in cold temperatures.

Top 5 Benefits of EV Charging Stations

Tenant Attraction If you own a commercial or residential building, attraction and retention of tenants is extremely important for the financial health of your investment. EV charging stations are a great way to increase interest in your building while retaining those who already occupy your space. As we have seen over the past few years, electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are becoming more prevalent on the road. By having EV charging stations, you create an added benefit that puts you ahead of the curve compared to other apartment buildings or commercial spaces that lack them. Furthermore, as we will discuss below, EV charging stations make your space greener which can attract more people due to your building being more sustainable than competitors. Advertising Opportunities As charging stations become more prevalent, EV drivers now have a variety of resources to find local stations where they can charge their vehicles away from home. There are now several mobile applications and websites that allow businesses to list their public stations for EV drivers to locate and use. This is a great way to get your business or building on the map and bring in traffic that previously may have passed up on you for another space that offers EV charging stations. Furthermore, certain EV stations offer different advertising opportunities directly on the station. For example, some stations have screens where businesses can place videos and images to advertise to customers or tenants. Additional Revenue EV charging stations present the opportunity for business or property owners to charge people to use their stations. Depending on the EV charging station you choose, there are different pricing structures and options. For example, you may be able to charge the user a fixed fee per charge or an hourly rate depending on the station. Furthermore, each state has different regulations regarding how electricity can be billed to users of your EV charging stations. Therefore, we recommend working with an experienced installer such as Integra LED who can help you navigate this process and get your station up and running! Customer Traffic Connected to the benefit above, EV charging stations can increase traffic and the amount of time customers spend at your location. Not only do EV drivers seek places with EV charging, but they will also spend more time once they are there because their vehicles will be charging. Furthermore, by listing your station, EV drivers will be able to find your station giving you an advantage over other retail locations that don’t offer them or have their stations listed. For example, PlugShare is a mobile application and website that enables users to list and find local EV charging stations. You’d be surprised to find how many businesses and buildings near you offer them! Greener Business By installing an EV charging station, you are incentivizing employees to purchase and utilize electrical vehicles which reduce emissions creating better air quality. If your company owns a fleet of vehicles, replacing them with electric vehicles can take your impact one step further. On top of this, it will reduce the operating cost of them by using electric instead of fossil fuels. EV charging stations create a positive image to customers as well and are an excellent way to show that your company values being green and taking the initiative to make an impact. If you are interested in installing an electric vehicle charging station, contact us today to learn more! Integra LED works directly with utility companies to help secure incentives making the project significantly cheaper for you! Furthermore, our projects are completely turnkey from ordering the product to the final installation.