Typically in lower level ceilings in places like offices, hallways, and lobby rooms we find tube lights installed in the ceiling. Two of the most popular technologies that are found in their fixtures include fluorescent and LED. But while fluorescents were the winner for the longest time; LED is quickly catching up in popularity and becoming the “go to” lighting technology for office buildings and the like. Why exactly? Well this post will probably shed some insight on that point as well.
But when you come up with the decision of choosing either LED or fluorescent tubes, which should you choose? And better yet, why should you choose one over the other?
To let you in on the “winner” of the obvious winner, it’s the commercial LED tubes and the fluorescent ones are on the losing end of the battle. For reasons from more efficient to higher quality, we are going share and explain why LED products simply win in almost every (if not every) aspect of commercial lighting and it’s requirements.
Defining Your Lighting Needs
Before we start talking about why LED is the clear winner in virtually every aspect, we need to discuss the topic of defining your lighting needs.
What type of building are you in (or just area you need light in)? Here are some common areas / applications you made encounter:
- Office Floor Area
- Private Office Rooms
- Hallways
- Lobby
- Meeting Rooms
- And so on…
Basically anywhere that the ceiling is low will typically involve a commercial tube to be the lighting source.
If no areas like such exist in your building (rare) then tubes probably aren’t for you. This is common in industrial sized warehouses and factories where ceiling are very high.
Why LED is the winner:
Now that we’ve identified who the winner is of LED vs fluorescent tubes, we can now discuss why exactly LED systems simply win over the competitions products.
As you can tell from each winning benefit, the reasons LED wins will only get more and more obvious, Let’s start off with the first major reason that wins 90% of people over to making the switch from fluorescent to LED tubes.
More efficiency with LED:
LED is known to reduce energy consumption by upwards of 50% or more when replacing fluorescent lighting. This can allow you to actually see a ROI for your investment of a LED lighting system.
Save more with qualifying rebates:
Utility company’s like to “reward” those who install qualified efficient lighting systems into their buildings. By installing commercial tubes that are qualified (typically by DesignLights Consortium), you open your business up to rebate opportunities that may of not been available previously with fluorescent technology installed in your building. Rebates will allow you to generate a larger and quicker ROI for your investment in new lights, which is huge for any business’s bottom line.
Less heat generated:
A common problem with lower ceiling lights (like tubes) is the heat that they generate. Especially with fluorescent fixtures which generate excess heat; it can cause for increased cooling costs by having to offset the heat generated by your lights. This is yet another way to lower your operating costs by allowing you to turn down the air control and use less of it. With LED compared to fluorescent; LED generates very little and virtually no heat compared to any other competing technologies.
Quality light:
Believe it or not; LED also offers higher quality of light and better options. Certain color temperatures allow for higher productivity in the workplace; which can again decrease costs and even increase revenue. Quality light has been proven to decrease stress while increasing productivity, and this is a major benefit of LED lighting; especially in a office like environment.
Another note is this: LED will never flicker nor buzz. If you’ve experienced this type of issue: LED will solve this issue. They never flicker nor buzz not even when they are nearing the end of their lifespan. Flickering / buzzing lights goes back to the higher productivity. From experience you probably know that just a few minutes under such lights can prove to become irritable and decrease your attention on your work and more on the low quality lighting.
Notes:
The benefits of LED tube lighting system are obvious over the competing fluorescent technology. Have any other benefits that LED or fluorescent may have that we missed? Let us know in the comments below!
source http://my-led-lighting-guide.tumblr.com/post/150973223743
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