Commercial Parking Lot Lighting

It is best to use American made commercial lighting fixtures for lighting parking garages and parking lots. The quality controls that are mandated by federal and state governments, plus the comprehensive written warranties provided by major US manufacturers, are unsurpassed in most parts of the world. Using American made parking lot lights offers your client the best engineering, maintenance, and replacement options available. It also helps ensure that parts can be maintained or replaced if something does go wrong, because we are dealing domestically with established companies with sound reputations and reliable performance records.

By following a few simple principles of commercial lighting projects recommended by RLLD Commercial Lighting, you can quickly find what you need from any number of US light fixture manufacturers and match fixture to task with precision and reasonable lead time. Here are a few things to keep in mind that will benefit both you and your clients tremendously when selecting decorative commercial lighting for parking lots.

Most cities mandate that parking lot lighting be evenly distributed at 3-4 foot candles throughout the lot.
Many businesses may not be aware that their parking lot lighting falls below minimum levels. This is due to the degradation of lamps over long periods of time. High pressure sodium lights, for example, do fade after several years. When this happens, lighting levels become uneven and pockets of shadow form. Adjacent areas of brightness distort perspective, and drivers have a difficult time judging distances. Plus, any pocket of shadow can harbor potential criminal mischief.

If you have found that your client’s automotive parking lot lighting falls below acceptable levels, or is unevenly distributed throughout the facility, the first step in correcting the problem is to have a photometric analysis conducted on the facility. This will plot out where foot candle levels need to be improved to overcome problem areas of shadow, and it greatly help in choosing fixtures that provide optimal directional placement of lighting into parking areas where obstructions are present or where the facility features and irregular design.

Parking lights may need to be replaced to prevent your client from violating dark sky laws.
The dark sky movement is now a global phenomenon and shows no signs of slowing down. Dark sky laws are present now in almost every major city and will no doubt be passed nationwide in just a few more years. These codes have precipitated changes in a number of luminaire types, and parking light fixtures and especially commercial security lighting fixtures are among those most significantly impacted by this legislation. New fixture design tends toward semi-cutoff or full cutoff to direct the light downward into a predictable foot candle plot. Lamps now feature advanced reflectors and optics that diffuse intense light into a more even spread of photons. This prevents light from spilling out of the parking area into adjacent streets and buildings, and it also works to reduce glare that was common in more primitive fixture designs that relied upon high levels of light as opposed to precision placement of light. This is quite useful information to know when laying out mall parking lot lighting projects.

Parking lot lighting needs to be as energy efficient as possible without sacrificing the quality of light.
While the cost of upgrading parking lot lights may intimidate many of your clients, please remind them that new technology already exists that can pay back their investment in a relatively short period of time. LED parking lights can operate on solar batteries or standard low voltage transformers and have already proven themselves to produce better lighting in some cases than other parking lot fixtures, as well as lowering costs of operation by 60-80%.

Parking lot lighting may require a highly aesthetic element in certain situations.
College campuses, public schools, government buildings and even car wash lighting projects should be lit with fixtures that offer a design element that is complimentary to the geometric proportions and architectural style of the adjacent buildings. Retail stores also need an aesthetic presentation regardless of the nature of the store or the products they sell. The only thing a person may see when they drive by is the parking lot, and decorative lighting fixtures that are professionally designed and finished with attractive colors will often be enough to catch a person’s eye.

RLLD Commercial Lighting carries a wide variety of industrial & commercial lighting fixtures.
If you can not locate what you are looking for call us toll free at 1-866-654-3961 and we will find it for you. Our commercial lighting design center is located in Houston, Texas with warehouses located throughout the United States that enable us to service all 50 states including New York NY, Los Angeles CA, Miami, FL. Chicago, IL. Denver CO., New Orleans, La., Cleveland, Ohio, Kansas City, Mo., Mesa, Arizona, Virginia Beach, Va., Omaha, Nebraska, Oakland, California, Miami, Florida, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Colorado Springs, Colorado, Arlington, Texas, Beaumont, Texas, Denton, TX, McKinney, Texas, Midland, TX, Killeen, Texas, Dallas TX, San Antonio, TX, Austin, TX, ALBQ, NYC, LA, MPLS.