Category: Business Lighting


Outdoor LED Display – See it in Action!

UPDATED!! New fixtures added!

One of the fastest growing LED markets is in the Outdoor area.  We’ve discussed in earlier posts how the indoor LED products are starting to come around, but for the most part, numbers don’t add up.  Well in outdoor situations the numbers are a no-brainer!  The hardest part about understanding LED is actually seeing it live and in person.  We can tell you how a 20w LED fixture will replace a 100 watt High pressure Sodium fixture, but wouldn’t it be nice to actually see it person???  We thought so.  So we built a board of LED fixtures to do just that.

Listed from Top Left being #1, to bottom right being #12.  Here’s what we have:

1) RAB Lighting’s – 91 Watt Area Light.  This fixture is perfect for parking lot lighting and walkway lighting throughout a facility’s property.

2)  RAB Lighting’s – 13 Watt Flood/Spot Light.  This fixture is perfect for lighting up a flag pole or any outdoor sign.

3) Lithonia Lighting’s – 35 Watt Wall Pack.  This general purpose wall pack has an excellent beam pattern and is able to replace up to 175w Metal Halide Wall Pack fixtures.

4) Juno Lighting’s – 50 Watt Decorative Wall Pack – Polaris wall pack designed for higher end architectural look.  Ultra efficient LED Fixture with a nice look to match.
5) RAB Lighting’s – 52 Watt Wall Pack – Designed to replace up to a 250w HPS / Metal Halide Wall Pack
6) RAB Lighting’s –  78 Watt Flood Light – Designed to Replace 250w to 320w Metal Halide Flood Lights.  Perfect for lighting up the side of building.
7) Lithonia Lighting’s – OLW14 – 26w LED Wall Pack – Ideal above man doors on your building!
8) Lithonia Lighting’s – OLAW – 35w LED Wall/Area Light.  Perfect Dusk to Dawn Fixture Replacement
9) Lithonia Lightins’s – OLW – 35w LED Wall Pack – For larger HID Replacement applications
10) RAB Lighting’s – 13w Wall Pack – Designed to replace 50w-70w HID Wall pack, above man doors.
11) RAB Lighting’s – 20w Wall Pack – Designed to replace 70w-100w HID Wall Pack
12) RAB Lighting’s – 26w Wall Pack – Designed to replace 150w HID Wall Pack

Adventure Lighting LED Display Board - Lights On!

One of great features of our display is the nLight Touchpad Control.  Thanks to our friends from SensorSwitch, we are able to individually control each light on the board to easily compare like fixtures.  The wiring is all done over Cat5 cable, making it easy and cheap to install.  This switch will individually control 16 different channels.  And it looks cool to boot!

nLight Touch Control Pad - Programmed Channels - Adventure Lighting LED Display Board
Here’s what the inner workings look like from the back. 
Adventure Lighting - LED Display - Back of Display

We’re excited to show our display to anyone who would like to see the latest and greatest in LED Fixtures on display.  Stop by if you’re in town.

Adventure Lighting - LED Display - Full Shot

Questions? Comments?

Brian Huff
Adventure Lighting
515.288.0444


Car Lot Lighting: Lots Of Wasted Light

 

I heard last week that a local car dealer (I won’t say who) spends $20,000 a month to light their car lots – or in other words, about the price of a new car, every 30 days.

I am in the wrong business – whew. And I thought we had some big electric bills this winter.

 

Auto dealerships have a real conundrum. They want to be good stewards and be energy-efficient, but they also want their cars for sale to be visible and look good to potential buyers.

Yet this dealer I’m quoting, can’t be atypical. Drive past any car lot in Des Moines after dusk and you’ll see dozens of dealerships using hundreds and hundreds of lights to illuminate all those pretty cars, trucks and vans.

So what are the alternatives?

The easiest, AND CHEAPEST, fix is to switch from the basic 400w Metal Halide that nearly every lot uses, to an econ-o-watt 360w Metal Halide.  This bulb is designed to be a direct replacement for the 400w version.  No ballast changes, just un-screw old, screw-in new. 

 

This bulb puts out just as much light as its higher wattage brother, but instantly saves 40 watts of energy.  Assuming you’re running the lights on your lot 11 hours a night, 365 days a year, at an average of $0.10 per kWh, you could save $16 per year, per bulb.  OH, and by the way, Mid-American Energy gives you a rebate of $3.00 per bulb. 

How many 400 watt lights do you have on your lot?   

Another alternative is to completely change out the fixtures to an LED replacement fixture.  This isn’t a cheap solution, but the energy savings and maintenance savings can be an excellent way to justify this option.

Another alternative is to only turn on every other light, rotating them each hour. Many car dealers look at me like I’ve lost my mind when I suggest this, but there’s plenty of research to show that car lots can be well-illuminated using this method. There are special sensors that can accomplish this – and we’re talking about a 50% reduction in lighting costs. If you’re writing a check for 20 grand a month to Mid-American Energy, it seems like it might at least be worth considering.

 

In fact, if all car dealers across the country reduced their energy consumption by just 10%, they would see a total of $193 million in energy savings. For some dealers, those savings could be the difference between staying in business or turning out the lights, for good.

The other option is something “going green” proponents have been suggesting for years – shut all the lights off after 2am. Yes there are people who browse car lots at that time. But I know that no car dealer is actually selling cars at those hours. In fact the vast majority of cars are purchased in daylight. Perhaps all the car dealers in town could enter into some kind of joint agreement.

Sure. And maybe the KCCI Weather Beacon will go dark.

 

But if I was a smart car dealer who really wanted to make a PR splash, I’d tell the public that I was going to start shutting off my lights after 2am, to save energy, and the environment – and that I was going to pass those energy savings onto my customers.

Turn off the lights, sell a few more cars. Hey, maybe I am in the wrong business.

Jack Huff, along with his son Brian and wife Sue, owns and manages Adventure Lighting in Des Moines, Iowa. For more information, go to www.adventurelighting.com


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