Can LED Perform as Exterior Lighting?

Times have changed. Advances in LED technology and production have increased light output and efficiency, while decreasing costs for high-power lighting. When LED lighting first came on the market, it was expensive and inefficient, and not a contender for high-output exterior lighting applications. Now, LED lights are the perfect solution for illuminating your walkways, stadiums, and outdoor venues.

But is it worth converting from high-intensity discharge technologies like metal halide and high-pressure sodium?

Metal Halide and other HID Lights

The upfront costs for HID fixtures are often lower than LED, but that comes at the cost of efficiency. While high wattage means HID lamps provide high lumen output, they typically consume 60% more energy than their LED counterpart. With average lamp life being around 20,000 hours (and about half that if mounted horizontally), these energy-sapping fixtures will often need to be replaced.

Another drawback to HID lighting is that it takes up to fifteen minutes to warmup and reach full brightness. While running, these lights also experience drops in electric currents, which shut these lamps down. Then, the fixture must also cool down before it can be switched on again. The time it takes for them to turn back on is called the "restrike time."

LED Lighting

LED lamps have no warm-up or restrike time. If turned off, they can be turned right back on, and they're not as sensitive to current drops. Average lamp life is more than double that of metal halide, and their operating life isn't diminished by installing them horizontally.

LED lights put out more lumens per Watt, making them much more energy efficient and reducing waste by at least half. LED technology is still more of an investment, but you will burn through two or three metal halide lamps before you need to replace an LED lamp. Add in your savings from electricity costs and switching becomes much cheaper in the long run.

Plus, there are ways to reduce your upfront costs, reducing your payback time.

Ways to Make Your Lighting Upgrade More Affordable

Our rebate eligible LED lights and retrofits qualify for utility company rebates. Often, these rebates can make your retrofit project or new fixtures significantly cheaper. To find out about rebates offered by your utility company, we now have the fastest rebate finder tool available; enter your information once and see available instant incentive discounts as you browse the lighting on our site. Learn how to find lighting rebates on our site. If you'd rather have us do the legwork, submit a request on our Energy Efficiency Incentives & Rebates for Lighting page.

Need further convincing? See how quickly the money saved in electricity costs every month pays for your initial investment in new lighting. Every dollar saved after that is funding that can be put to more productive use than electricity bills. Use our Energy Savings Calculator

After You Decide to Take the Leap

When you're ready to upgrade your business’s exterior lighting, our team at ELEDLights can help you plan the project. We offer a free DIALux simulation service, so you can see how different lighting would work for your application. This program applies to all our exterior LED lighting solutions, including LED wall pack lights, LED parking lot and area lighting, outdoor LED flood lights, and landscape lighting.

If you have any questions, or to take advantage of our services, you can reach us at lights@eledlights.com, (215) 355-7200, or by text at (267) 266-8330.