Glossary Commercial Lighting & Photometric Terms

RLLD Commercial Lighting operates as an online equipment and adjunct lighting services vendor to contractors, developers, and suppliers in the commercial lighting design industry. We sell only commercial lighting fixtures, lamps, and accessories that are made in the United States, and we operate from Coast to Coast working in partnership with builders, architects, and electrical services professionals to assist in creating the very best indoor and outdoor commercial lighting systems in the country. With a staff whose experience totals over 30 years in expertise and excellence, we strive to be a bright spot in the commercial lighting industry…an oasis, if you will, of products and services aimed at helping lighting design professionals pass on solutions to their clients that will generate tangible, measurable returns on investment that will work toward recession proofing both contractor and client alike. RLLD Commercial Lighting also leads the way in energy saving solutions; lighting regulations compliance, emerging technology, and community management for professional organizations who can stand to gain much more than equipment and basic support when they opt to participate.

If you are in the market for commercial lighting and need a little help with some lighting terms or lighting photometric layouts, we have created a helpful glossary full of techincal information.

Here are a few examples of commercial lighting terms:

FOOTCANDLE (FC) - The English unit of measurement of the illuminance (or light level) on a surface. One footcandle is equal to one lumen per square foot.

EFFICACY - A metric used to compare light output to energy consumption. Efficacy is measured in lumens per watt. Efficacy is similar to efficiency, but is expressed in dissimilar units. For example, if a 100-watt source produces 9000 lumens, then the efficacy is 90 lumens per watt.

HOT RESTART or HOT RESTRIKE - The phenomenon of re-striking the arc in an HID light source after a momentary power loss. Hot restart occurs when the arc tube has cooled a sufficient amount.

LIFE-CYCLE COST - The total costs associated with purchasing, operating, and maintaining a system over the life of that system.

Here are a few examples of photometric lighting terms:

PHOTOMETRIC REPORT - A photometric report is a set of printed data describing the light distribution, efficiency, and zonal lumen output of a luminaire. This report is generated from laboratory testing.

MAINTAINED ILLUMINANCE - Refers to light levels of a space at other than initial or rated conditions. This terms considers light loss factors such as lamp lumen depreciation, luminaire dirt depreciation, and room surface dirt depreciation.

LUMEN - A unit of light flow, or luminous flux. The lumen rating of a lamp is a measure of the total light output of the lamp.

REFLECTANCE - The ratio of light reflected from a surface to the light incident on the surface. Reflectance's are often used for lighting calculations. The reflectance of a dark carpet is around 20%, and a clean white wall is roughly 50% to 60%.

RLLD equips you with everything necessary to build a competitive proposal at the line item level. Our commercial lighting fixtures, mounts, and accessories represent a broad spectrum of top-grade manufacturers and material builds, allowing the do-it-yourself installer as well as the professional complete freedom of choice when it comes to selecting fixtures and accessories. With the help of our lighting design consultant team, you can find a fixture that will precisely match the technical and aesthetic requirements of corporate, government, municipal, educational, and residential lighting design clients. While visiting our website today, you will find informative articles and all major categories of commercial lighting supplies that feature cutting edge technology, aesthetic sophistication, longer lamp and fixture life, and greater flexibility in application and customization.

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