There’s nothing quite as unsettling as a dark stairwell.  The thought of having to use a dark stairway instantly brings fear and uncertainty and makes many people feel unsafe.  I think I might even want to walk down the middle of the ramp in a parking garage rather than venture into the unknown of its dark stairwell.  This doesn’t have to be the case! We’re going to discuss stairwell lighting, how to properly light a stairwell, and some features of modern stairwell lights that will even help lower your electric bill! Dangers of Dark Stairwells Every mul … Continue reading

We have performed many lighting audits for warehouses and industrial facilities across the country.  In doing this, we have developed a very simple form that captures all of the pertinent information for a lighting audit in a single sheet of paper.  We are happy to share this form with you in hopes that it makes assessing your building's potential for a lighting retrofit easier. The form itself is very simple.  The Customer Information section captures the contact details for the company that owns the building being audited along with the utility company and the rate … Continue reading

The vast majority of existing warehouse space in the US is lit with inefficient high intensity discharge or magnetically ballasted T12 fluorescent light fixtures.  Unfortunately, lighting is one of the few areas that is often overlooked when investigating cost reduction opportunities.  Owners and managers blindly budget tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars for utility bills without realizing that switching to more energy efficient warehouse lighting can provide a tremendous opportunity to reduce energy demand and therefore cut utility costs.  Many believe that the on … Continue reading

One of the most common questions that facility and operation managers ask is “How much light do I need to properly illuminate my facility?” Since 1958, the Illuminating Engineering Society has been publishing recommended illuminance levels for a multitude of tasks and facility types in table form.  The published tables provide guidance for both generic tasks and hundreds of very specific tasks.  In order to understand these tables, it’s best to start with an overview of how light is measured. This article gives a brief explanation of how light is measured and provides … Continue reading