LED is lighting the way for improved efficiencies in warehouses and factories

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Use of LED lighting is on the rise in factories and warehouses with companies reaping the benefits of huge energy savings and significantly reduced maintenance costs.  Lighting levels can also be greatly increased to provide even illumination across a warehouse or factory floor giving better visibility and eliminating shadows or dark areas.

In warehouse and factory environments, the colour temperature of the LED lamps can make a difference to the look and feel of a space and often affects staff well-being throughout the workplace. Goodlight LED lamps and luminaires come in three colour temperatures: daylight, natural and warm.  Cleaner, whiter light can aid concentration, reduce eye strain and increase productivity in the warehouse or production floor, whilst warm light improves the ambience in staff communal areas.

LED Eco Lights, the UK LED manufacturer, has designed the award-winning Goodlight range of retrofit LED lamps and luminaires especially for industrial and commercial applications. Goodlight LED luminaires are widely renowned for their unique designs, quality of build and engineering, with innovative solutions to increase efficiency and reliability. All products provide immediate energy savings, reach full brightness instantly and are virtually maintenance free.  They are also fully controllable and can be dimmed to exactly the level required at any particular time.  This is beneficial in warehouse and factory environments that typically have long operating hours and don’t always require 100% illumination.

The Goodlight LED range has proved popular with design, engineering and sustainability professionals, delivering energy efficient, low maintenance lighting in high profile installations including Quorn Foods, Hi-Speed and Middlesex Aerospace.

Turning energy efficiency into RoI

The most obvious benefit of upgrading to LED lighting is the improvement in energy efficiency.  This has an immediate impact on the monthly electricity spend, with demonstrated energy savings of up to 85%.  Typical return on investment calculations show full payback from as little as three months. The installation of Goodlight’s high-performance, energy efficient T8 LED Tubes at Quorn Foods’ manufacturing plant in North Yorkshire illustrates the financial benefits upgrading to LED lighting can bring.  Quorn Foods achieved a payback in just eight months, significantly reducing its carbon footprint.  Commenting, Derek Passmore, Electrical Engineer at Quorn said, “Goodlight gave us a four-fold advantage. We’ve reduced our costs, reduced our carbon footprint, reduced the maintenance workload and improved the working environment for our staff. It’s rare to make everyone happy, but replacing fluorescent tubes with Goodlight LED light fittings has pleased management, staff and made our lives easier. It was also quick, easy and economic.”

Improved light distribution

Goodlight LED technology provides very directional light that can be focused where needed and is flicker free.  High performance LED lighting is very consistent, providing an even spread of light, without colour shifting or contrast imbalances.  This is especially beneficial in warehouses and production facilities where directional crisp bright light helps eliminate shadows and dark corners where accidents may occur.  Good visibility can also improve assembly accuracy and manufacturing productivity.

The large, open spaces of a warehouse building or distribution centre require adequate illumination so items can be identified and workers can navigate through aisles easily, reducing the risk of accidents and damage to stored items.

Hi-Speed Services, a transport and logistics company, were delighted with the improved working conditions in their warehouse after upgrading to LED lighting.  In selecting Goodlight IP65 G5 LED Battens, they were able to downsize the number of light fixtures needed due to the increased light output, achieving brighter illumination with fewer lights.  Commenting, Ian Dawkins, Managing Director at Hi-Speed said, “We are delighted with the results and the savings we’ve already started to see. The most obvious impact, however, is in the light quality and the vast improvement in colour temperature.  Our employees are enjoying the cleaner, brighter, whiter light with no visible flickering. Also, the LED lights generate much less heat which is hugely beneficial to us as we hold some heat sensitive stock.”

Eliminating maintenance costs

Warehouses and industrial buildings characteristically have high ceilings and therefore the lifetime of the light fittings is important.  The costs of changing a lamp often involves the use of specialist equipment and is costly.  The long lifespan of industrial LED lamps means that fixtures need to be replaced far less frequently.  One manufacturer that has eliminated maintenance costs is Middlesex Aerospace who replaced its outdated fluorescent lighting in its 50,000 sq ft production factory and inspection area with Goodlight GX1 Plus LED High Bays and T8 LED Tubes. Goodlight LED lamps and luminaires are rated at 50,000 hours, over triple the typical fluorescent tube, giving site operators further savings in maintenance budgets.

Commenting, John Masey, Senior Buyer at Middlesex Aerospace said, “Not only are we making substantial energy savings but have eliminated maintenance costs too.”

Businesses are able to fund lighting replacement programmes from their operating budgets by taking advantage of Goodlight’s BrightPlan LED leasing scheme. This allows the replacement lights to be paid for directly by the energy savings and the customer will own the lights outright at the end of the lease. Goodlight offers businesses a free site survey which will provide a detailed breakdown of suitable replacement light fittings, the installed cost and the return on investment from savings on energy and maintenance costs. They also guarantee all Goodlight fittings for five years, making installation risk-free.

Conclusion

As shown in the examples above, upgrading to LED lighting can bring many benefits to businesses, including substantial energy savings and a significant reduction in maintenance costs.  It can also enhance employee working conditions and improve workforce efficiencies through better, brighter white illumination without glare or flicker.  With products such as the award-winning Goodlight range plus lamps that are specifically designed for retrofit, installation couldn’t be easier.  Many businesses that change to LED lighting usually recoup the initial outlay from as little as three months.