What is Commercial Outdoor LightingÂ
Energy efficiency, reliability, and performance are the key factors in commercial outdoor lighting. In most cases, these lights are required to deliver a smooth operation for 365 nights per year, especially if you install them for parking lots or building exteriors applications.
As you commit to developing your commercial property, you should never overlook the benefits of commercial outdoor lighting. Here are the top uses of commercial outdoor lighting:
Decoration for the Commercial BuildingÂ
Parking structures and other commercial buildings like office buildings, gas stations, and retail stores require constant illumination during evening hours. Having commercial outdoor lighting fixtures help businesses benefit from aesthetic beauty.
Once you pick the correct type of outdoor lighting for your commercial property, it will instantly improve its aesthetics. You can find outdoor lighting fixtures in countless styles, sizes, colors, and finishes available. You should choose a lighting type that flows cohesively with your entire commercial building to promote a more attractive and cohesive exterior.
Proper commercial outdoor lighting undoubtedly improves your property’s curb appeal. It also increases its perceived value. Installing bright lighting in all the key areas helps your property look more professional while having no trouble maintaining it.
Here are some examples from our projects
General Lighting for OrientationÂ
Commercial outdoor lighting will help you improve the perception of your property by adding lines and points, like on stairs and along pathways. These lights usually function as a signal while illuminating the surrounding.
Proper illumination will help meet your commercial property’s orientation purposes. It also sets your commercial building apart from its surroundings. Suppose someone is walking down the road at night to find a supermarket and reaches two options: one living in the shadows and another brightly lit, showing what is inside. Of course, that person will likely go into the one with bright lighting.
Commercial outdoor lighting used for orientation helps identify routes, entrances, exclusion zones and steps, architectural lines, and emergency exit routes. Having sufficient light will help you focus on your property’s finer details.
It is also advisable to opt for easy-to-install, long-lasting outdoor lighting specifically designed to brighten up a commercial building. In return, you will get the expected result – the right orientation in your property.
Safety (Emergency Lighting)
In some cases, commercial outdoor lighting acts as emergency lighting, especially if safety is one of your top concerns in installing these lights.
Remember that criminals usually target areas with poor to no lighting because it can easily conceal their illicit activities. So, if you want to enhance your property’s security and lower the crime rates in your area, investing in outdoor lighting would help.
A well-lit building will make intruders less confident attempting to break in, which protects your investment and insurance rates. It also gives your customers peace of mind knowing it is safe to enter and exit your building.
Types of LightingÂ
Do you plan to install lighting for the exterior of your commercial property? Please note that lighting comes in varying types. So, ensure to find the one that can suit commercial needs.
Flood LightsÂ
When looking for popular and versatile outdoor lighting fixtures, you cannot go wrong with floodlights. These lights project a broad beam of light over areas they point at. They are mounted on parking poles, exterior walls, rooftops, and other surfaces.
This lighting type is usually used to provide light to areas for building wall washing, vehicle or pedestrian use, and security. The fixtures are even used for large areas and sports activities that require general outdoor illumination.
Commercial outdoor floodlights can rely on LED, HPS, fluorescent, or metal halide technology. However, if you wish for the one that offers more environmentally friendly benefits, durability, and energy efficiency, you can opt for LEDs.
Here are the common applications of commercial outdoor flood lights:
WarehousesÂ
Since warehouses have large spaces requiring lights that can provide high-intensity illumination, floodlights are an excellent option. These lights can work alongside security cameras to optimize the overall security.
Apparel StoresÂ
Stores that offer fashion apparel and accessories can install floodlights in their exterior spaces. Since they operate until night, lighting up the areas at such hours becomes needful.
Customers will feel safe visiting these stores even during nighttime. Floodlights also improve the building’s aesthetics while bringing out the true colors of the products.
Stadium WalkwaysÂ
Floodlights are one of the most popular lights installed in stadiums because they can meet the lighting requirements of the facilities’ large spaces. They are often installed in different locations to deliver the best possible illumination for these spaces.
Stadiums can hold games such as car racing, track racing, cricket, or soccer even late at night with the help of floodlights. The large crowd is more attracted to watching such games in buildings that offer better illumination.
Railway StationsÂ
Having floodlights installed in railway stations help ensure that people visiting these places can navigate with ease. Aside from maneuvering through trains easily, they can also have a sense of security while being in a confined space with so many people.
Security perimetersÂ
Barriers and walls are critical parts of security perimeters to prevent intruders from entering particular areas. However, security perimeters are still subject to attacks without proper lights. So, floodlights are usually installed alongside security cameras for improved security.
LED Wall Pack FixturesÂ
LED wall packs are mounted on the commercial building walls. These fixtures provide lighting to garages, entrances, exits, and other critical exterior details. Wall packs are a great option for lighting all around the building circumference.
These lights not only light up the building walls but also the surrounding areas. This lighting type is suitable for liquor stores, restaurants, parking garages, schools, convenience stores, gas stations, and other commercial buildings.
Installing LED wall pack fixtures can prevent criminals from sneaking around a building or performing illegal hours during or after hours of operations. It is uncommon to see multiple wall packs mounted on a single wall. Instead, they are mounted based on a spacing design to deliver even illumination around the grounds.
Here are some reasons why you should invest in LED wall packs fixtures:
Improves AccessibilityÂ
Outdoor lighting fixtures like LED wall packs help make your commercial building more accessible to customers. As the sun goes down, most shoppers struggle to find businesses they want to buy something from. However, strategically mounted wall packs can improve accessibility by illuminating your property during the nighttime hours.
Added Layer of SecurityÂ
Aside from improved accessibility, LED wall pack fixtures also help enhance security in commercial properties. Remember that danger and crimes usually hide in the shadows. So, illuminating every corner of your building with wall packs helps strengthen its security in every way.
As you light the surroundings of your building, potential intruders become hesitant to illegally enter your property or break into cars in the parking lot. As a result, you can reduce the amount of crime taking place on your property while protecting your investments alongside insurance rates.
Draws Attention to wayfinding SignagesÂ
You can also use LED wall packs to draw attention to your commercial property’s wayfinding signages. If your building is located in an area with multiple businesses, wayfinding signage will help shoppers reach their intended destination.
However, wayfinding signages are only helpful if the shoppers see them. Installing these signages in discreet areas will only waste your time. Instead, draw attention to them by using LED wall packs directed towards them to increase their visibility to shoppers.Â
LED Shoebox/Area LightsÂ
LED shoebox or area lights to offer angular covering mechanisms that focus on specific locations, areas, and subjects. These fixtures help illuminate larger areas. Since they provide amazing brightness alongside a wide array of exciting designs, they have become more famous for outdoor lighting applications in many commercial properties.
This lighting type offers versatility with class and is easy to fix on any outdoor surface. These fixtures are energy efficient because they only carry 50-400 W with 62,000 lumens. Many shopping malls, airports, streets, sports arenas, and large parking lot owners prefer LED shoebox lights because of their aesthetics, security, and energy efficiency.
As the name suggests, shoebox lights are of the size of your shoebox, ranging 12-16 inches. Even if they are very small in size, they can save energy up to 80%. You can even easily adjust the light in any direction or mounting position to cover a large area.
Another fantastic feature of LED shoebox lights is their long life, promising up to 155,0000 hours of running them. Despite their long-running hours, they still use less energy.
Below are several reasons why you should switch to LED shoebox light fixtures:
Lighting Large AreasÂ
LED shoebox lights can well-lit large areas, such as stadiums, parking lots, streets, etc. This ability helps people navigate and roam around a commercial property with ease. Shoppers can easily find stores, while drivers can navigate their cards safely.
Making Areas Feel Safe and SoundÂ
Since areas have become well-lighted with LED shoebox light fixtures, employees and customers visiting your building feel safe and sound. The absence of outdoor lighting makes people feel unsafe at night. Remember that customers are usually hesitant to stop by in commercial buildings with poor lighting.
If you want to attract more customers, installing these lights is advantageous. These lights also enhance the aesthetics of the area and the building itself.
Preventing AccidentsÂ
Having LED shoebox lights installed on your commercial property helps minimize road accidents. These accidents involve vehicular accidents, where drivers find it difficult to see obstacles, which leads to crashing into unwanted objects.
These accidents involve victims of a fall, injury, or slip due to poor lighting. As a commercial building owner, upgrading your lighting system to prevent these accidents with LED shoebox lights is necessary.
LED Wall WashersÂ
LED-wall washers are an excellent option if you want a stunning look for your commercial property. These light fixtures illuminate the landscapes, facades, and other outdoor areas of malls, restaurants, plazas, patios, etc.
You can achieve a pool of lights that distribute evenly across the surface with LED wall washers. In return, the target walls are flooded uniformly with light. These lights offer two purposes: wall washing and wall grazing.
Wall washing helps enhance the wall’s smoothness and uniformly floods the light on the wall to create a smooth effect. In wall grazing, on the other hand, the lights are mounted close to the wall, which can highlight the patterns on it. This lighting technique also creates shadows and accentuates the stone, brick, and other carved patterns on the walls.
Here are a few commercial applications of LED wall washers:
For Area LightingÂ
LED-wall washers are suitable for lighting large outdoor areas and big buildings. These lights produce even and clean illumination on vertical surfaces. This lighting type is usually found in big cities like Las Vegas and New York City.
These lights are usually used to display art and create a design on the side of a building, gallery, or museum. They are also used to light up the commercial property’s main fountain.
For Security LightingÂ
LED-wall washers have a massive demand among commercial property owners because of their security. These lights help fulfill your building’s security needs. If criminals see that your property is well-lit, they become hesitant to perform illegal acts. They also offer confidence to the employees and customers.
For Sports LightingÂ
Sports stadiums and the arena can also use LED wall washers. This helps the commercial buildings illuminate the significant areas to highlight critical elements. They are perfect for welcoming the audiences of basketball, football, cricket, and more.
LED Landscape Spot LightsÂ
Do you want to bring life to the exterior of your commercial building? Then, LED landscape spotlights are an excellent option. These fixtures enable you to highlight critical elements in your landscape and provide protection and safety by illuminating the area.
By changing the landscape spotlights’ position, you can instantly change the ambiance outside your commercial property. This lighting type offers a variety of lighting effects. Since they are above ground, you can freely move them anywhere you want.
For example, if you want to achieve another lighting effect, pointing it in a different direction helps. This is one of the reasons why these lights are commonly used in landscape designs. What’s more, they ate energy-efficient, durable, and economical.
Using LED landscape spotlights offer lots of benefits and commercial applications, including:
VisibilityÂ
A well-lit commercial building creates a safe and secure environment for everyone, where everything is visible. Since the outdoors is safe, your employees and customers can roam around the property with a sense of security even after dark.
Visual Appeal
If you install LED landscape spotlights, you can make your landscaping look beautiful even after the sun goes down. These lights will prevent you from wasting the beauty of the exterior of your commercial property at night.
Once you turn on the lights, your outdoors will appear even more breathtaking. It also increases the value and curbs the appeal of the property.
ProtectionÂ
The installed lights in your landscape can effectively spot trespassers more easily. It would be more challenging for intruders to hide even behind the foliage or the trees if you LED landscape spotlights on it. Even nearby business establishments can help look out for you with enough lighting.
MoodÂ
Commercial outdoor lights like LED landscape spotlights look very beautiful, which helps improve the mood around your property. Of course, anyone would love to visit a beautiful property. When you install spotlights, you can highlight critical parts of your landscape.
Flexible Linear LED LightingÂ
Flexible linear LED lighting illuminates long optics, distributing the light over narrower areas compared to traditional lighting. These lights are often long and mounted to or recessed into the wall.
Some areas where linear LED lighting makes illumination easier than before are the office, warehouse, and retail buildings. This lighting type offers flexibility allowing a variety of commercial applications. Ambient lighting is usually used in commercial spaces, like offices and retail stores.
Why should you install linear LED lighting?
FlexibilityÂ
You can mount it almost anywhere on the exterior of your commercial building. You can get surface recessed, mounted, suspended, or grid wall mounted. Some linear LED lights offer a variety of connecting shapes: L shapes, T shapes, and cross conjunctions.
PerformanceÂ
Since linear LED lights are direction, installing them in your commercial building can reduce the need for diffusers and reflectors. As a result, you can save a significant amount of money.
AestheticsÂ
Linear LED lights offer versatility when it comes to creating eye-catching and unique designs. You can choose custom designs that you think can complement your commercial building’s exterior design, including long linear runs, squares, corners, or direct/indirect lights.
Color TemperatureÂ
These lights come in varying color temperatures, ensuring that they will meet the lighting needs of your property. Different color temperatures mean that you can create a unique atmosphere and mood in a space, from white to colorful lights.
Bollard LightsÂ
Bollard lights are everywhere due to their versatility in suburban and urban areas. These lights are usually used to illuminate building entrances, pathways, boardwalks, parking lots, and walkways.
When bollard lights are used as walkway lights in commercial applications, they provide illumination for ambiance, enhanced security, and a safe way out. These lights are available in a wide variety of sizes, finishes, colors, and styles.
Optics is one of the critical factors you should consider when choosing bollard lights. Choice of optics will help you determine how light is distributed. These lights have three optics types:
Cone ReflectorÂ
If bollard lights have cone reflectors, they provide an abundance of light. They work by bouncing the light off the top of the reflectors and off the outside of the cones to direct light up and down. The light source is beneath and inside the cone.
Prismatic GlassÂ
Bollard lights with prismatic glass offer a view of the light, pleasant ambiance, and softly diffused effect. Type V comes with high efficiency and broad light distribution. The effect is the same with the post-light fixtures but refracted by the glass with less intense light.
LouversÂ
Louvers in bollard lights emit light down toward the grounds. These lights are usually mounted at the top, aiming down and out. It is also worth mentioning that louvers can block light sources from direct view to minimize glare while improving the property’s aesthetics.
Bollard lights do not limit the creativity and functionality you can do in your commercial property’s exterior. You will not only choose between black and bronze. Instead, you can choose from a variety of custom-finish in any RAL color. With RAL colors, you can seamlessly match the elements and color of the fixtures on your property.
These refined and luxurious fixtures often have around ½ x 36 inches dimensions. They are also available in varying shapes, the most common of which are square and round. Square bollard lights come with flat tops, while round bollard lights are available exclusively with flat or dome tops.
Flat or dome-top bollard lights are suitable for areas outside of restaurants or bars. Square bollard lights are famous for delivering an architectural air of elegance to a pathway, patio, lanai, or garden.
Do you need a Commercial Outdoor Lighting ideas?
If your commercial building still has a single light in the parking lot or above each doorway, you need a lighting upgrade. Most upscale establishments nowadays have light fixtures to light up the surroundings after the sun goes down while improving their overall aesthetic look. When achieving security, safety, and aesthetics, you have to choose a specific type of lighting for your commercial property to meet the needs of your employees, customers, and anyone who visits it.
Hopefully, this guide helped you decide which lighting type best suits your property. Commercial outdoor lighting is not all about illumination; they offer other applications, from aesthetics and curb appeal to security and safety.
