With such a huge range of products on the market and a lack of understanding when it comes to lumens and watts, buying any LED lighting can be a challenge. For warehouse managers who need application-specific lighting, it is essential that the solution meets all their criteria. This is why it pays to find the right supplier. Russell Parr, CEO at PowerLed, explains what to look for in a warehouse lighting solutions provider.
Unique challenges
Warehouses are specialised buildings, often with high ceilings, aisles of tall racking and large loading bays. These require uniform internal lighting and well-lit exteriors so that HGVs and other vehicles can be loaded safely around the clock. The lighting also needs to be durable, efficient, easily installed and maintained, and cope with the environment in which it is located.
To ensure the right solution is found, it is important to find the right lighting supplier. But what does such a supplier look like? One of the first criteria to consider is the provider’s expertise in designing and manufacturing best-in-class LED lighting products. For busy warehouse managers, these should be fit-and-forget products and come with power supplies of the same high quality. The supplier’s loading bay lighting should offer dual-driver technology while its internal fittings should intelligently adapt to daylight and give control over aisle lighting. Its emergency LED solutions, meanwhile, should provide backup power for 3 hours so hazardous spaces remain lit.
The supplier should be able to offer a wide range of industrial LED lighting options, built with superior components and featuring the latest technologies – this includes driver technology and chipsets. In terms of durability, the products should have 50,000-hour lifecycles and come with warranties of up to five years. Additionally, they need to be CE-approved and comply with UK, EU and international safety regulations. Sustainability and energy efficiency are key priorities for warehousing managers, and this means choosing a supplier who develops solutions that conform with the Energy-related Products (ErP) directive. This provides reassurance that warehouses obtain solutions that are cost-effective to operate and have minimal CO2 emissions.
Beyond the products
A reliable supplier does more than offer out-of-the-box lighting products. It should also provide tailored LED lighting solutions for warehouse applications and deliver excellent customer service. Today, this means services such as solution-finding assistance, courtesy lighting design and technical support.
With regard to solution-finding, a good provider will focus on lumens, not watts, as the metric for measuring brightness. As LEDs produce increasingly more light per watt consumed, wattage is no longer a reliable guide. Instead, lumens offer the most accurate way to judge light quality and energy efficiency and thus make the best choice.
A trusted leader in LED lighting for over 20 years, PowerLed is an expert at manufacturing safe, reliable and cost-effective solutions that combine the very best components in one place. Internal and external warehouse solutions are available across its national network, and it backs this up with expert advice, bespoke technical design support and solutions customised to meet clients’ individual requirements.
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