Tuesday, 15 February 2011

Parking Garages Run More Efficiently When They Use LED Lights

By Byron Levey


When most people find themselves in an underground parking garage, they do not pay much attention to the lamps that light their way. If they took a look, they would notice that most use fluorescent tubes, which waste huge amounts of money and energy. When parking lots and undercover parking bays use LED lights, they are not only conserving energy but also a great deal of their own precious funds normally wasted on maintenance and replacement costs.

One of the places that parking lot and garage owners will need to spend the most money is on lighting their parking structure. In most cases, underground parking lots are lit on a 24-hour basis and, since fluorescent tubes require so much energy to run, the cost is very significant. They can reduce their monthly cost of power by as much as sixty percent, however, by switching to LED tubes.

The life span of a fluorescent tube is, at best, 6,000 hours, which is little more than eight months of use. What this means is that a parking lot which runs on a regular basis with hundreds of tubes burning all day and all night will have to replace tubes on a consistent basis. This is costly, not only because of the price of buying so many new fluorescents, but because they must also pay for the associated maintenance and replacement costs.

Aside from the money that can be saved, LED lights are extra beneficial because they make the garage more appealing to customers. One important feature is that they do not flicker and do not create bothersome noise. The most important thing, however, is that LEDs are free of mercury, which is in every fluorescent tube light. Mercury is known to cause cancer and can be harmful even in minute doses.

When a garage owner is ready to make the switch to LED tubes, they must be smart about the way that they shop for them. It is not a good idea to simply look for the least expensive option available. The safest method is to buy from a trusted local dealer who can provide the proper certifications as well as a warranty.

Parking lots and garages can save significant amounts of money and electricity if they replace their fluorescent tubes with LED tubes. It is an easy switch to make and will provide massive savings on electricity, maintenance and replacement costs for years to come.




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