As a facility manager or building owner, it is nearly impossible to know everything about everything in your building. But it is vital to know something about everything, and that goes for your facilities lighting system too. Whether you manage a warehouse, factory, or other industrial sized building or space, the lighting is a huge factor of many things including safety, productivity, and consistency in the work in your facility.

So while you don’t need to know every facility managers and building owners should know about there lighting system and how lighting can make all the difference in various amounts of ways.

1. Not all lights are created equal. This is an obvious one, not all lighting technologies are created the same and all output at different levels. Firstly you have lighting technologies that are less efficient than others. Such as metal halide and HPS which are 2-3 times less efficient than LED technology is. Then you also have efficiency based on a “product to product” basis. For example; while LED is the clear winner in efficiency over metal halide (and really any other lighting technology), one LED product from one company isn’t going to be the same as the next company’s LED product. This is where you really need to dig deep and find the company that offers the most efficient lighting products over all other companies.

Key takeaway? First, understand that LED is the most efficient in a general sense, but also understand that each company and product varies on its own personal efficiency and you should always do your homework before going with one LED product over another!

2. New lighting system upgrade costs can be reduced with rebates. This is only a true statement when you are buying commercially qualified lighting products that are DesignLights Consortium qualified. return on investment overtime by decreased energy costs associated with running your lights. Obviously this ROI period will vary depending on how long you run your lights per day on average, but especially in big facilities they almost always are used often and thus, provide a good and even quick payback period.

4. Create safer environments with a proper lighting system. With low quality light output, you create an unsafe environment that can cause various issues. Lighting fixtures that aren’t outputting the proper amount of light after a few years into there life is all caused reasoning to retrofit over fully replace.

Twilight Designs in Las Vegas, flush mount (recessed) step lights are often the fixture of choice when used indoors. He credits this to how easy it is to cut into and run wiring through drywall, especially when installing step lights after construction is completed. “While planning ahead is helpful,” says Bilik, “there are many products available for running wires post-construction.” He recommends 110v wiring to fish through walls and attics or low voltage wiring when 110v is not an option.

For less penetrable surfaces like concrete and stone, surface mounted fixtures are ideal because they mount directly to a wall or flat surface. These step lights commonly have a profile of as little as 3/4-inch up to 3-inches and a trajectory that directs light at the wall or at the surface below.

Regardless of whether you are using a flush or surface mounted step light, you must consider the type of cover (or faceplate) the fixture has. Bilik says that in his experience, most covers will fall in one of three categories, each with its own series of benefits:

As your household increases its use of electronics, it seems that the clutter of cords associated with them tend to pile higher and higher. You are constantly stepping over cords or tangling them together behind entertainment centers. There are cords from your tablets, smartphones, TVs, video game consoles and laptops. It seems that you may drown in the clutter of cords before you can find a way to get them organized.

Declutter with Washi Tape