Category: Security Lighting

As the most energy efficient lighting technology on the market, many home and business owners are interested in learning how LED lighting improves security and safety. It all starts with better system performance.

LED Lighting Improves Security with High Quality Illumination

No technology’s performance is optimized when it is first introduced, and this was also the case for LED lighting. The first LED lights couldn’t match the performance of established options like fluorescent, incandescent, metal halide and high-pressure sodium lights.

That’s no longer the case, to the point where modern LED bulbs provide superior lighting quality, compared to the alternatives. The difference is obvious when comparing LEDs side-by-side with legacy lighting options, and it comes down to a few factors, including:

• Lumen output – LED lights emit more lumens per watt than every other lighting option. In other words, they make more light per unit of energy. This means brighter, more even illumination. Since LED lamps output more light, you can select lower wattage fixtures and get the same output as a legacy fixture.
• Color rending accuracy – Lights are rated for their color rendering capabilities on the color rendering index (CRI). The CRI index scores lamps from 0 to 100, with higher scores for lights that render colors more accurately.High-CRI LED lighting is available for most applications, including parking lot, garage, commercial and security lighting applications. With high-CRI lamps in place, it is easier to identify colors at extended ranges, which has significant safety implications at night.
• Color temperature – LED lighting is also available in a full range of color temperatures, which isn’t the case with legacy technologies. This includes warm, cool, and neutral white color temperatures, which are ideal for visibility purposes.

Add it up and the result is a light that provides better long-range visibility and color visibility at night. That adds up to better safety for pedestrians and motorists. It also supports other security system elements, like surveillance cameras and security patrols. With high brightness security lights in the area, criminals will find it more difficult to avoid detection.

LED Lights Are Durable and Resist Impact Damage and Tampering

LED lamps and fixtures are the most durable on the market and do not include sensitive components like filaments or glass chambers. The bulb is a tiny diode shielded by an optic, and the optic is made from durable polycarbonate or acrylic. This sits on a piece of solid-state circuitry that’s housed by an impact-resistant fixture.

There are no obvious weak points with an LED fixture, so they are much tougher to vandalize.

LED Lights Are Reliable and Always Ready

LED lighting is also more reliable than legacy technologies in several ways. For example:

• LEDs last longer – On average, an LED light will provide 30,000 to 50,000 hours of reliable illumination before the lamp requires replacement. During its life, lumen loss is also minimal, compared to legacy options. With their extended lifespan and steady output, LED lamps offer better reliability than previous technologies.
• LED lights can be instantly switched on and off – LED lighting doesn’t require a warm-up period before it’s switched on, and rapid cycling does not damage the lamp. This makes it ideal for security applications, where lights are kept on permanent standby.
• LED lighting systems can be paired with advanced controls – LED technology is built on modern engineering, so it can be used with a variety of lighting controls. This includes photocells (which power the lights down during the day), timers, and most importantly, occupancy controls. Occupancy controls like motion sensors are particularly valuable for security applications, and because LEDs can be rapidly cycled without issue, you can install occupancy controls wherever you have LED lights in place.

This added reliability means that when your LED lights are needed during a critical moment, they’ll be available.

LED Fixtures are Designed for Minimal Lighting Pollution and Glare

At night, excess glare and light trespass can produce unsafe conditions for people nearby. Excess light pollution also has notable health effects on people and behavioral effects on animals. This includes attracting wildlife into populated areas.

Light pollution and trespass are safety concerns, but LED fixtures are designed to minimize their impact. There are a couple of features that LED fixtures come with to help them do this, including:

• Shielding – Modern LED fixtures are designed with shielding that blocks any light from being emitted into the sky. Shielded fixtures also emit minimal illumination toward the horizon, which reduces glare and light pollution further.
• Directional optics – Unlike other lighting technologies, LED lighting emits directionally. Lighting designers can leverage this advantage, ensuring the fixture only emits in desired directions, such as toward ground level. When used in street lighting applications, for example, LED lights can be aimed away from residential properties and at angles that produce less glare.

With these features, facilities can confine their security lighting to where they need it most, without creating unsafe conditions with excess light pollution.

LED Lamps Are Engineered to Emit Minimal Heat

LED’s safety also has to do with its engineering. LEDs operate using extremely efficient semiconductors that don’t waste energy emitting heat. In fact, many LEDs produce so little heat that they are safe to touch. On the other hand, all other forms of lighting emit enough heat to cause burn injuries.

LED bulbs also contain zero mercury, unlike fluorescent tubes. Mercury is toxic to touch or inhale, and if a fluorescent tube breaks, mercury is immediately released into the environment. That’s why fluorescent lights require a special waste stream for disposal purposes.

Because LEDs contain no toxic chemicals, they do not represent a potential health hazard if one does break.

LED Lighting is Unmatched in Security and Safety

To summarize, LED lighting represents an upgrade over legacy technologies in almost every conceivable way. That includes advantages in security and safety. With their superior lighting performance, reliability, controllability, design and engineering, LED lights provide excellent value when used in security applications. Please contact the experts at LED Spot with any questions.

Exterior LED wall packs are a simple, cost-effective way to enhance outdoor light quality. Outside, they’re everywhere. If the goal is to boost outdoor illumination around the building for pedestrians and vehicles, LED wall packs are the fixture of choice.

LED wall packs have been around for a while, so they’ve been powered by different lighting technologies over the decades. High intensity discharge (HID) lamps and mercury vapor lights were the standard for a long time, but they’re quickly being replaced by LEDs.

Where Is Wall Pack Lighting Usually Installed?

There are many applications for wall pack lights, though you’ll usually see them in outdoor areas. Here’s where they fit best:

• Building facades and exteriors – You’ll most often see wall pack lights hanging from a building. From this position, LED wall packs are in a perfect position to illuminate pedestrian walkways below. Wall pack lighting can also be used to illuminate features of interest, like a sign or a store window.
• Parking lots and garages – Security is a major need for parking lot and garage owners. To meet this need, many opt for wall pack lighting. Wall pack LED fixtures can be mounted to garage overhangs or nearby buildings to provide a large amount of high-quality illumination.
• Warehouses – Wall packs can be installed inside or outside a warehouse. Outside, LED wall packs can be used to illuminate entrances and loading dock areas, where they provide additional visibility for workers and help with security.
• Industrial and commercial campuses – If you have a large area to account for, like a sprawling work campus, wall pack lighting can provide a bright layer of general illumination on walkways.

LED wall packs are an extremely versatile lighting solution, as they can be adapted for nearly any location and remain effective.

Five Reasons Why LED Lighting Is The Best Option For An Outdoor Wall Pack

LED lighting is quickly becoming the industry’s frontrunner and replacing older forms of lighting in a multitude of applications. Wall pack lighting is one example, as LED technology is a good fit. Here are five reasons why:

1. Superior energy efficiency – LED light bulbs are the most efficient on the market, outclassing all other fixtures. Lighting efficiency is measured using a lumen-to-watt ratio. The more lumens per watt created, the more output you’re getting per unit of energy.
   LEDs have a lumen-per-watt ratio between 75 and 110. Metal halides emit 75 to 100 lumens per watt, and mercury vapor fixtures between 35 and 65 lumens per watt. LED’s efficiency advantage is even greater when considering system efficiency, and not just source efficiency. Because LED fixtures emit directionally instead of radiating in all directions, most of their illumination can be aimed where it’s needed – at the ground. This gives LED a major system efficiency advantage over metal halide fixtures.
   With excellent energy efficiency, LED lighting can be powered around the clock at a reduced operating cost. Eventually, lower operating costs more than make up for the slightly higher price of LED fixtures.
2. High quality output – In the past, LED lighting was unable to compete with the quality of HID illumination, but that’s no longer the case. Now LEDs generate extremely high-quality lighting that is brilliant and evenly cast.
   Enhanced visibility also enhances feelings of safety. That’s important if your business relies on foot traffic. Potential customers aren’t going to shop at a business that’s poorly lit – and that’s just not a problem with LEDs.
   Also, some LED lights are designed to render color with excellent accuracy. These high-CRI fixtures improve visibility further by displaying colors in their true hues.
3. Unmatched lifespan and reliability – LED wall lights last much longer than other wall lighting fixtures. On average, an LED wall pack will provide 50,000 or more hours of excellent quality illumination. Compare this to metal halides, which provide about 10,000 hours before failure.
   With fewer replacements needed, you’ll get more value from your LED lighting investment.
4. Better durability and safety – LED fixtures are built on solid state circuitry instead of glass bulbs, metal filaments, or pressurized gas chambers. As a product of modern engineering, LEDs are built with durability in mind, and can take the occasional bump without issue.
   They’re also shatter resistant and contain no toxic chemicals, like mercury. This means if they do break, they won’t become a health or environmental hazard.
5. Extensive controllability – With solid state circuitry underpinning their functions, LEDs are compatible with a wide range of lighting controls and accessories. For example, installing a photocell on your LED lighting will automate on/off switching based on the level of ambient light. Timers use pre-programmed times to automate on/off switching while occupancy controls trigger when someone walks by.

A Couple Features To Look For In Your Outdoor LED Wall Pack

Outdoor LED wall packs are built for rugged outdoor use, and to ensure that they can handle the elements, look for the following:

• IP rating – Electronics, including light fixtures, are given an IP rating based on their resistance to water and dust intrusion. This rating is expressed as a pair of numbers, from zero to seven. The higher the number, the better the protection, and ideally, the wall pack lighting you pick will have an IP rating that’s strong enough to protect from rain and wind-blown dust. Anything with an IP rating of 65 or above is sufficient for outdoor use.
• Aluminum housing – Aluminum is corrosion-resistant and handles exposure to rain and heat well. As such, it’s a popular option for exterior wall pack lighting, especially in areas with high airborne salt content. That’s why you’ll find aluminum fixtures along the coast and in locations of high humidity.
• Polycarbonate refractor lens – A polycarbonate lens will not shatter even if the entire fixture falls from its mount to the ground below. They are also resistant to impact, so polycarbonate is the right choice for wall pack fixtures that are close enough for people to reach.

LED outdoor wall packs come in a huge variety of designs and specifications. As such, you’ve got a lot of options, and it can be a challenge matching the right design to your application. With so many types of LED wall packs to choose from, consider working with a knowledgeable lighting expert.