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Showcase lighting strips provide brilliant, seemingly sourceless illumination. These strip lights customize to virtually any showcase lighting scenario and offer a wide range of trim options that deliver total control over lighting levels and keep the fixture itself out of sight. Those made by custom linear strip lighting manufacturers such as Phantom Lighting ships are custom cut in the factory display case dimensions and pre-configured with xenon, incandescent, fluorescent, or LED bulbs. Each bulb type delivers a different intensity and style of light that optimally meets specific display lighting requirements. Xenon is slightly whiter and has a better lamp life. Incandescent has a more golden glow that is preferable in some settings. LED is the most expensive on the front end, but consumes only 20% of the power of other bulb types. LED's also burn cool and feature life spans of up to 50,000 hours. All three lamping options available in showcase lighting strips feature glare shields that make them ideal for horizontal applications and multiple trim shapes that provide customization and conceal light above eye level.
One of the many retail niche markets that benefit tremendously from showcase fixtures is that of the small, family jewelry store. Normally these establishments operate on tight budgets and require most of their overhead for wholesale purchasing. Paying large power bills for showcase lighting simply doesn't add up to good math. Fluorescent lights often provide the small jewelry storeowner with the best option for bright illumination. Although fluorescents have earned a bad reputation in some circles for ultraviolet emissions, in jewelry showcase lighting this proves a mute point. Gold, silver, and precious stones suffer no adverse effects from UV rays and sparkle brightly under cheaper, cool-burning fluorescents that consume less electricity and can stay on longer without overheating and burning out. Stores on a budget can tighten their belts even further with low-voltage showcase lighting strips and add a touch of special effects with selective use of incandescent bulbs. Although they burn hotter and cost a bit more, incandescent bulbs emit a slight, golden aura that provides exceptional, selective accent lighting of gold overlaid necklaces, bracelets, brooches, pins, and some ornamental rings.
This is ideal for clear color rendering when the retailer chooses to merchandise a variety of item types in a single case. Xenon bulbs do, however, produce infrared light that can damage certain delicate fabrics, such as those found in handkerchiefs and scarves. For showcase lighting of extremely delicate merchandise, Showcase recommends that retail corporations go the extra mile in front-end investment by installing LED bulbs in all showcase lighting strips. LED's feature the world's latest, most state of the art evolution in lighting technology, and may very well one day replace all other forms of lighting. Although 25% more expensive than xenon bulbs, LEDs' cool operating temperature produces luminosity level equivalent to other bulb types while simultaneously keeping power consumption at a minimum. Their exceptionally long lifespan delivers further return on investment by minimizing replacement costs, and the versatility of color options they provide can add special effects for selective showcase highlighting.
Industrial lighting fixtures for commercial clients, non-profits, municipalities, and public housing should always feature a superior level of domestic material build, engineering, and performance than retail equivalents. It is therefore necessary that you primarily use specification grade materials when building a proposal for a client. No matter how tempting it may be to shave front end costs by substituting standard or retail grade industrial lighting fixtures, any short term savings you create for your client will be lost just as quickly if equipment failure requires additional procurement, extra labor costs, and downtime in process flow. In business it is always best to follow the cliché but true and certain adage, “Do it right the first time.” Working with a Lighting Design Services and Equipment Vendor like RLLD Commercial Lighting is one major step you can take toward establishing and maintaining a reputation for impeccable lighting design services in this increasingly regulated, complex, and competitive marketplace. Following a few additional principles of equipment selection will further ensure that the industrial lighting fixtures you line item not only meet the highest standards of manufacture, but also meet or exceed the expectations of regulatory codes, expected performance levels, and cost effective lamp life.
Industrial lighting fixtures must proactively anticipate rising concerns regarding energy efficiency.
Major cities all over the country are passing new energy efficiency codes that require higher LPW (lumens per watts) efficiency than ever before. In Houston, TX, for example, outdoor commercial lights will have to meet a new standard of .05 watts per lumen. Other cities are sure to pass similar laws over the next few years. The primary motivation for this change is mounting global concern over the root source of energy production in the first place. We still produce a tremendous amount of electricity in this country by means of fossil fuels. Reducing electrical consumption by improving LPW efficiency of industrial lighting fixtures is one method of conserving not only power, the fuels we use to produce that power.
Industrial lighting fixtures must be environmentally friendly to comply with new green energy codes and increasing global demand for green technology across the board.
Everything from public relations to LEED certification can be impacted in a positive manner if you will make a conscious decision to propose the most environmentally friendly industrial lighting fixtures to your clients. Many older light sources such as mercury vapor have been outlawed in places like Arizona due to toxic contents within the lamps. Incandescent light sources are to be phased out by 2010. In light of this impending push both governmentally and societal toward a “greener” world by 2012, it serves you to differentiate yourself from your competitors by proposing newer technologies such as specification grade commercial fluorescent lights, LED light sources, and induction light fixtures to clients who may not yet be thinking ahead, but will certainly be grateful after the fact when they realize how much money and time you saved them being proactive on their behalf and keeping their organization in step with change.
The industrial lighting fixtures you propose must feature superior optics and photometric performance over those proposed by your competitors.
The reason for this is simple. Your clients have to answer to the communities in which they operate, and those communities regulate not only the environmental friendliness and energy efficiency of their lighting sources, but the effect those same light sources have on the surrounding community. Dark sky laws have toughened up from coast to coast, demanding that industrial lighting fixtures reduce glare and light spillage now more than ever before. You cannot achieve this level of directional control or glare minimization without superior optical engineering and fixture design. Working with a Lighting Design Services and Equipment Dealer like RLLD Commercial Lighting gives you a major competitive advantage by providing you with only the very best optics and lens designs produced by the world's best manufacturers.
Last but not least, you must select industrial lighting fixtures that compliment and enhance facility aesthetics.
Regardless of whether you are proposing a design for a school, a civic center, a sports arena, and office park, hotel, restaurant, or high-end resort, aesthetics matter to your clients. An unattractive facility will not produce a positive work environment, nor will it look attractive to clients, partners, and potential investors. Conversely, an aesthetically pleasing system will only add value to your proposal by making it possible for an improved public image to generate business that constitutes a return on investment in and of itself.
Because we have many years of experience not only in selling the best equipment, but also developing superior lighting systems from a design perspective, RLLD Commercial has now invested in some of the world's most sophisticated and expensive software oriented toward planning and development of commercial lighting systems. We have made this investment so you do not have to. With a simple phone call, we can take the raw data you provide us about your client's business, location, and lighting requirements and recommend a complete system design that speaks to all codes, scientific principles of superior lighting, and fixture type and specification, and client expectations all at once.
This service is free to all clients, and it is also available for a reasonable fee for casual inquirers or those seeking adjunct lighting design assistance.