A lot of property owners have often overlooked the importance of choosing good parking area lights for their premises. If you do not know where to start, here is a quick buying guide that will help you determine what parking area lights would work best for you.
Gather information on what you have
If there are parking lot lights already in the area, then you should gather some information to help you evaluate what kind of upgrade you need or if you need to add more lights. Answer the following questions:
· What type of light fixture do you have?
· How is the fixture mounted? (pole or in a wall)
· What is the fixture mounting type?
· What type of light bulb are you using?
· How many watts?
· What is the line voltage?
· How many hours do you run your parking lot lights?
· Do you want controls like timers or photocells?
· How is your existing lighting? (too bright, enough, or dim)
LED technology
Most parking lots are using light-emitting diode (LED) technology these days. In fact, they are not only used in parking areas but also for other types of outdoor lighting needs as well. They are brighter yet more energy-efficient so you can expect lower power consumption. This helps you save money as the years go by. Aside from being a cost-effective choice, it is also very easy to manage and durable. It will take at least 5 to 15 years before you have to replace them, depending on how much you use them.
If you already have parking lights in the area, doing an upgrade is easy. You can still reuse the existing poles and fixtures and there is no need to do some rewiring. But if you are starting from scratch, you will have to add poles, get wiring services for the poles, and of course permits for the process.
Light distribution
You should also check how the light distributes in your lot. You can always avail of optics as an additional feature to your parking lights so that you can change the light distribution. You can use a parking lot lighting plan to help you determine the best light distribution pattern for your premises. This will give you an exact amount of how much LED lights you should be purchasing too.
Color temperature
When it comes to color temperatures, common options are white light with yellowish tones or white light with bluish tones. As for the color rendering index (CRI), it is recommended that you choose 70+. This way, a white shirt stays white under the lights – not yellowish or bluish.
Warranty
As with every purchase, warranty matters. The length of a warranty shows how much a manufacturer is confident in their product. LED lights with a two-year warranty are not really that stable. Try to find ones that come with a 5-year warranty to ensure that you are getting high-quality materials and lighting.
Consider energy-saving controls
There are two popular energy-saving controls when it comes to parking lot lights. One is a dusk to dawn operation where light sensors are being used to determine how dark the environment is. The darker the surroundings, the brighter the LED light will shine. As natural light flows in, the LED light will go dimmer until it eventually turns off because it is no longer needed. The second one is motion sensors wherein lights are generally dim most of the time but brightens when motion is detected.
