Even if you can’t offer a definition on demand, you’re likely very familiar with fluorescent flighting. This type of lamp is often found in school classrooms and in many commercial, industrial, and retail settings. Sizes, colors and tube wattages vary, but the standard fluorescent lamp is mounted in a group within a fixture on the ceiling. Despite their ubiquity, there are common drawbacks to fluorescent lighting that can make a switch to LEDs well worth the initial investment.
High Energy Costs
Individual fluorescent lighting fixtures typically take between two and four lamps. With an average of around 192 watts for the typical eight-foot lamp fixture, annual energy costs can easily reach $200. And that’s for a single fixture. Consider how many fixtures your commercial, retail, or industrial space has, and the numbers become obscenely high very quickly.
Frequent Maintenance Needs & Lifespan
The design of a fluorescent fixture means its lifespan and maintenance needs are directly linked to how often it’s being used. In a facility open five days a week for eight hours or more per day, or in a cold climate, or somewhere where lights are regularly turned off and then back on again, that means rapid degradation. Every single time a fluorescent light is turned on, the cathodes inside are degraded. That means a shorter operational life, and a necessary replacement. With the average lifespan somewhere between 10,000 and 30,000 hours, you will spend thousands in a three to five-year span replacing spent fluorescent tubes.
Inferior Performance
As a fluorescent fixture degrades, so too does its performance. In a multi-lamp fixture, that means inferior output, since the performance of the fixture as a whole declines when individual lamps are no longer at their best.
Ready for More Information?
Learn more about upgrading existing fluorescent fixtures to LED. Have Lights Will Travel is Nevada’s premier mobile lighting contractor, and LED retrofits are one of our specialities. Contact us today for more information about the savings you can expect by swapping dated fluorescent lighting for energy-efficient LEDs.