top 15 strategies for creating the most efficient and energy-saving office lighting


Obviously, the secret of a successful business is the maximum efficiency of employees, as well as their health and mood. What is relatively new is the understanding that office lighting is to a high degree responsible for this. Scientists are conducting research to determine how lighting affects staff performance. And the conclusion is quite simple – offices should be brightly lit to achieve the best results in employee productivity.

Of course the more lights are turned on, the more energy they consume. This is the reason that many offices were poorly lit until recently. Old incandescent bulbs consumed a huge amount of electricity. Fortunately, now we have LED bulbs that can significantly reduce energy costs. In fact, modern LED lights consume about 75 percent less energy than obsolete incandescent bulbs. Moreover, taking into account future overhead maintenance costs, lighting costs can be reduced by up to 90 percent!

Want to learn how to reduce your lighting costs and at the same time make your business more profitable? Here are some effective tips and strategies for creating the most energy-efficient office lighting scheme, making your office a pleasant and welcoming place for staff:

Energy Saving

Saving energy is a key to significantly reduce office maintenance costs. Of course, lots of offices have already been using fluorescent lamps for many years. Although these lamps are more economical than incandescent bulbs, they are still far behind LED lights in terms of energy efficiency. Simple replacement of fluorescent lamps with LEDs guarantees you significant long-term savings. The best part is that you don’t need to sacrifice brightness for the sake of economy. The latest models of LED lamps with smart controls are extremely energy-saving and provide more than enough light for office use. In addition, you can choose from a wide range of color temperature for LED bulbs, which is usually not possible fluorescent lamps and incandescent bulbs. In the office, it is better to use the neutral white light, which is similar to the outside natural light. The color temperature of such bulbs is usually about 4000-5000 K. Sometimes it is acceptable to use more cold light. It is not recommended to opt for the very warm yellowish light since it is more homely and may not create the proper working atmosphere.

Versatility

We are all used to old-fashioned offices where employees sat at the same table during the work day. But nowadays, offices are evolving rapidly. People are more and more working flexible hours, which means more hot-desking. And, of course, almost all office workers use computers, laptops and mobile devices for their work. This means that the light scheme must be arranged in such a way as to completely eliminate glare on the device screens. Glare makes it difficult to use electronic devices, reduces staff productivity and affects human health.

Also, employees often work remotely, which means that some parts of the office should not be brightly lit when there are no people in it. Installing motion detection light switches in places such as bathrooms or even in work areas can help you significantly reduce energy consumption, especially if your employees work flexible hours.

LED Ceiling Panel

One of the easiest ways to replace old fixtures with modern LEDs is to use LED ceiling panels. These are very thin LED lights in an aluminum case coated with frosted glass. Some of these panels typically require only one inch in depth to be mounted.

These extremely practical light fixtures will easily provide the entire office with a beautiful bright light, as their light efficiency is more than 90% - 95%. They come in a variety of sizes, so it is easy to find the right size to replace existing fixtures.

There are different styles of LED ceiling panels. If you are planning some designer refinements for your office, you might want to use the more beautiful lights. Fortunately, there are some luxury LED ceiling panels on the market which can perfectly suit for architectural offices. These fixtures often have a built-in driver so your electrician will simply have to connect them to the mains: this way you’ll have a possibility to save on installation. The latest models of such LED panels are dimmable, which is good if you need to change the brightness level depending on different situations. But remember that not all of the LED lights are dimmable so it is better to make sure that they have this feature before making a purchase.

PL LED Lamps

If you have an office with the old CFL lamps, you can easily replace them with PL LED lamps. These light fixtures are specially designed to look like ordinary CFL lamps and fit into their old fittings. PL LED lamps are coated with frosted glass and provide more bright light than old fluorescent lamps, while being 70% more energy-efficient. Although they are slightly more expensive than CFL lamps, they are much more durable and efficient, which guarantees you significant savings in the long run. They are equipped with a built-in driver, so you do not need to perform any electrical work – simply plug them in and turn on the new bright, economical light.

LED Light Discs

If you plan, or already have, a sleek office interior, opt for LED light discs. They can become your perfect lighting solution. These beautiful and practical light fixtures are less than an inch thick and look like the conventional downlights. They come in different sizes so you can either replace the old lamps with these light disks, or plan the new lighting scheme. Typically, the larger the diameter of the disk, the more light it provides. The LED panels normally give the brighter and more steady light than older fluorescent counterparts. Look for the lights with dimmable option if you need to change the level of lighting in the office.



Create a Pleasant Workspace Atmosphere

Recent studies show that a person should receive a lot of sunshine every day in order to maintain an adequate level of well-being and productivity. If you cannot provide the office with enough natural light, try replacing it with bright and attractive LED lights with a color temperature close to the sun. If clients and buyers visit your office, the proper bright lighting will positively affect their well-being as well, making your business more profitable.

Reduce Heat Generation via Commercial Power Saving Lights

The old incandescent bulbs waste a lot of electric energy in vain generating heat, not light. Only about 10 percent of the energy consumed goes to the production of light; the rest is wasted. And not just for nothing – it goes to the generation of heat. Thus, the ventilation and air conditioning system also needs to consume more energy. As you can see, the use of incandescent bulbs leads to enormous energy overconsumption and, consequently, a significant waste of your money on electricity. Therefore, if you still have obsolete incandescent bulbs in the office, replace them immediately with modern energy-saving products. LED lights are the most power- and heat-saving option, having a lot of other advantages as well. Spending a little more now will bring you big savings in the long run.

Switch to LED Office Lighting to Extend the Life of your Bulbs

As we have learned earlier, LED lights use only from 10 to 20 percent of the electric energy comparing to old incandescent bulbs. But this is not their only advantage. The lifespan of commercial LED bulbs can be several years of continuous operation, which is up to 25 times longer than the incandescent bulbs. This means that LED lights will cost less in the long run only because they are much less likely to require replacement.

Organize a Safe and Secure Working Area for the Staff

We strongly recommend using smart commercial LED lighting with motion sensors and timers in the office and outside. This will reduce your energy consumption because the light will only be turned on when the room is in use. It will also exclude the use of any room with the lights off, making your workspace safe for employees. Illuminating the outside area with the LED lights equipped with motion sensors will make the area around the building more secure for obvious reasons.

Give Staff More Control over Lighting

LED lights have have developed rapidly in the last decade, approaching excellence. Now lighting control is also evolving, becoming more intelligent and complex. Now the light can be controlled directly from a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet. Providing your employees with this way of controlling lighting in the workplace will increase their level of satisfaction with their work and boost the efficiency of your business.

Smart control systems can also reduce your energy bills by dimming the light or turning it off where you don’t need it at the moment, for example, in well-lit areas by the window during the daytime or in toilets and corridors when not in use.

Well-Organized Accent Lighting

Change the old accent lighting to a modern LED analogue. There are LED lights in all possible shapes and sizes, so stop wasting energy and heat with obsolete incandescent accent lighting. You can replace the old bulbs with modern LEDs or buy completely new fixtures with built-in LED lights - the options are limitless and usually not too expensive, so you don’t need to spend a fortune to update your accent lighting.

Energy-Saving Signs

Each office must be equipped with emergency and exit signs (and possibly some other safety signs as well) which work 24/7. Although it may seem insignificant, but in the long run they will consume a lot of energy. Swap the old signs with the modern LED ones and forget about replacing them for many years. And you can also stop worrying about energy consumption.

However, there is an even more economical option for exit signs. You can use photoluminescent signs for this purpose. They don’t consume energy at all. Luminescent signs absorb photons being exposed to direct light and then emit light at night.



Exclude Glare and Flickering

Recent studies say that glare and flickering can trigger a headache because they increase the level of specific elements in the human brain. Modern LED lights do not flicker, but still may cause glare on the screens of PCs, laptops, tablets or smartphones. Therefore, pay attention to the LED products with a low glare index. Also try to install the fixtures so that they do not cause glare on the screens of electronic devices. You may have to hire a certified lighting designer to create a lighting scheme for your particular office, but it will be worth the cost, as your employees will be healthier and therefore more efficient.

If you have an existing office and don’t want to totally rebuild it, you may use the following steps to reduce the negative effects of glare and flickering. First, replace all the old incandescent or CFL lamps with the modern LED lights with a low glare index. And second, give the staff more control over lighting: let them dim or turn off the lights, or use table or desk lamps instead of ceiling lights. As an option, you can install caved LED lighting, which gives only reflected light and doesn’t cause glare on PC or phone screens.

Do Not Neglect Daylight

A person must receive a certain amount of sunlight daily in order to be healthy and have a good mood. Moreover, sunlight is free. Therefore, try to organize your office so that employees receive as much daylight as possible. In any case, you will need to use office lighting, but you will have the opportunity to reduce its use to a minimum. The result is healthy staff and significant savings in energy bills.





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