Five Things to Remember About Parking Lot Lighting

By following a few basic principles of parking lot lights recommended by RLLD Commercial Lighting, you can quickly determine what your client will need and choose fixtures from any number of US light fixture manufacturers. The following points are a few things to keep in mind that will make the process easier for both you and your clients.

#1-As a general rule, it is best to use American made parking lot lighting fixtures for garages and lots.

The quality controls mandated by multiple layers of government, and the warranties that major US manufacturers back their products up with, are unsurpassed in most of the world. Using American made parking lot lights also offers your client the best engineering, maintenance, and replacement options available on a domestic and local level. It helps ensure that parts can be maintained and expeditiously replaced if something does go wrong, because we are dealing with domestic entities who can deliver parts in a timely manner without the complications of overseas shipping.

#2-Most cities mandate that parking lot lighting be evenly distributed at 3-4 foot candles throughout the lot.

Many businesses might not be aware that their parking lot lighting levels have fallen below minimum levels. This happens when lamps deteriorate over an extended period of time. When this happens, lighting levels become uneven and pockets of shadow form. Adjacent areas of brightness distort perspective, and drivers find it difficult to accurately judge distances. Pockets of shadow form when foot candles drop below acceptable levels and become dangerous potential hiding places for vandals and assailants.

If you have found that your client's parking lights are not generating the required level of lighting, or determine that illumination is being unevenly distributed throughout the facility, the first step in correcting the problem is to have a photometric analysis conducted on the facility. This will chart 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.

#3- Parking lights may need to be replaced to prevent your client from violating dark sky laws.

The dark sky movement has gained global momentum and shows no signs of slowing down. Dark sky laws have been passed in most major cities. These regulations have precipitated changes in a number of luminaire types, and parking light fixtures are among those most significantly impacted by this legislation. New luminaires favor semi-cutoff or full cutoff designs that direct the light downward into a predictable foot candle plot. Fixtures also 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.

#4-Parking lot lighting needs to be as energy efficient as possible without sacrificing the quality of light.

The most obvious for this is reducing your clients' power bills as much as possible. While the cost of a parking light upgrade may intimate many organizations, technology already exists that can pay for such an investment. 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%. Solar lighting poles are an entirely new innovation that requires no electricity from the public energy grid.

#5-Parking lot lighting may require a highly aesthetic element in certain situations.

In some environments, this will matter much more than others. College campuses, public schools, and government buildings 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 require aesthetic architectural and parking lot lighting to attract customers. 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.

Corporate headquarters often look much better and more professional with aesthetic or decorative parking lights in the very front of the building where investors, clients, and visitors are most likely to park. Warehouses and factories require the least amount of decoration, but still require their parking lights to look professional and presentable.