MAXIMIZE LIGHTING
Maximizing Your Parking Facility’s Lighting Efficiency
By Barret Gorman
As anyone in the parking garage business will attest, lighting is one of their greatest concerns for both cost
of operation and safety. This is especially prevalent in older parking facilities using traditional HID and T12 fluorescent technology. Inefficient, high-maintenance lighting has a detrimental impact on profitability with most parking garages, because lighting is required 24/7, 365 days a year. The cost of lighting is one of their greatest expenses, followed by the cost of fixture maintenance. Equally important is
There are also induction sources that offer extra-long life of 100,000 hours and good reliability. However, due to the emergence of LED (light-emitting diode), induction sources are becoming a dying breed.
Poor-quality
illumination and inoperable fixtures are generally the causes of preventable vehicular and pedestrian accidents and personal assaults
pedestrian safety. Poor-quality illumination and inoperable fixtures are generally the causes of preventable vehicular and pedestrian accidents and personal assaults. Studies have shown that poor lighting has a direct effect on revenue, and report that drivers will select a well-lighted, bright parking facility before they enter a dark one. Whether building a new facility or retrofitting an existing site, you now have many choices in efficient lighting. New pulse-start metal-halide delivers quality lighting and a
reduced cost of operation compared with their older probe-start partners, but they lack instant-on capabilities. New linear fluorescent luminaires using T5 HO and T8 lamps
offer a less expensive initial cost, with low cost of operation. Their life is reasonable, but there are issues with on/off cycling, because it shortens the lamp’s life and limits use of motion or day-lighting sensors.
12 LED luminaires such as
ValueLED Parking Garage Luminaire from Stonco are fast becoming the luminaire of choice, because they offer more operational flexibility than any of the other sources. They have a long operating life of up to 60,000 hours, have instant-on, are dimmable and require minimal maintenance. Although LED fixtures are typically more expensive than
other sources, their cost is steadily going down. Still, many parking facility owners remain hesitant to invest in LED in fear of being left behind as improved luminaires are introduced. The key is investing in LED lighting fixtures from quality manufacturers. But lights are not as efficient if they remain on when they are not needed. Manual sensors can be included in places such as the building perimeter, but they are not nearly as efficient as they could be to take advantage of off-hour operation and daylight harvesting.
A recent development in lighting management systems has changed all that – wireless controls.
As the name implies, they require no hard wiring, saving thousands of dollars on installation. They allow greater control flexibility of the lighting system, which can translate into additional
Continued on Page 14 Parking Today
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