Led lighting for parking lots and car parks

Lighting in parking lots must be functional in order se as to meet with standardssafety. Motorized vehicles walk alongside pedestrians and cyclists in places that are often cramped and difficult to access. The diversity and quality of Airfal’s luminaires make it possible to create lighting that combine safety and luminous efficiency. Due to their long service life and very low power consumption, Airfal’s Led solutions reduce maintenance and energy costs, which represent a significant part of operating expenses for operators.

Choice of luminaires

Motor vehicles emit highly charged dust that is often conductive, and that affects electrical appliances. On the other hand, many modern parks are open to the outside, which brings direct or indirect projections of water on the luminaires.
It is therefore recommended to use waterproof luminaires with IP65 rating.
For luminaires placed in the lower part at low height, the use of grilles with anti-vandal screws is strongly recommended to avoid breakage during shocks with vehicles, or vandalism-related damage.

LED technology

Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) generate and distribute light differently from HID luminaires. LEDs generate light via a semiconductor, unlike HID lamps, which produce light directly from electricity. In addition, they distribute light using multiple individual LEDs and optics, unlike a single bulb and reflectors inside the unit for HID lamps. Thanks to LED technology, the light is more evenly distributed over the planned surface, while consuming much less energy.

Energy costs

When it comes to energy savings, we need to look at the powers that are usually used for HID lighting compared to LED lighting. For a typical HID lamp, the average power is between 70 and 400 watts. If we look at the same range for a comparable LED light, the power is between 24 and 82 watts.
So, we can see that just by switching to LEDs, there will be a saving of 40% to 60% of energy consumption. From a cost point of view, switching to LEDs will save you about € 300 per device per year in electricity costs. Depending on the size of your facility, this can be a very important saving.
Reducing maintenance costs
In addition to the enormous cost savings associated with energy consumption, LEDs can also save you money by reducing maintenance costs. Due to the way in which LEDs generate light, their lifespan is maximum. Instead of stopping working properly after a while, the light output generated by the LEDs degrades very slowly over time.
As a result, the functional life (often greater than 100,000 hours) of a LED luminaire can be significantly longer than that of a HID lamp. For example, by replacing a conventional 250W HID luminaire with a LED fixture, a typical installation will generate significant savings in maintenance costs.

Lighting performance

Finally, although energy savings and savings in maintenance costs are important, it is imperative that lighting performance is not compromised. Here again, the performance of LEDs is far superior to other forms of lighting. Thanks to a multi-point design, LED lighting applications often provide a more evenly distributed light. This means that the light levels on a given surface will vary less between the mounting locations of the fixtures. HID luminaires, on the other hand, often produce a “point of light” directly below the luminaire, with light levels decreasing considerably as the distance between the luminaires increases.
In addition to a uniform distribution of light, LEDs are available in a range of CCT (Correlated Color Temperatures), and therefore offer a range of options to increase the visual perception of “light”.

For more information on Airfal’s LED parking lighting solutions, contact us today. We will be happy to inform you about the potential return on investment obtained during an LED renovation.

What is a lux? How to measure the luminous flux per unit area?

Lux measures illuminance. Its symbol is “lx”.

Practical applications of lux

A Lux number indicates the luminous flux received per unit area. As an example, the human eye operates in a large amplitude of luminous flux:

  • Our full moon night vision is possible from 1 lx
  • During a very sunny summer day, our eyes are subjected to luminous flux of 130,000 lx
  • Our movements require a minimum of 5 lx to be secured
  • We read, write or work easily when the luminous flux is about 150 lx …

To understand this process, it is necessary to consider three concepts: illumination, light (lm) and lux (lx). The first is considered as the luminous flux that affects a certain area; In other words, how much light is coming from a light source on a surface?

To know the answer, we can imagine a lighting process in which a light source emits a certain amount of light; According to the international measurement system, the emitted light flux can be measured from lumens (lm). The higher the number of lm, the higher the illumination intensity provided by the source.

A Lux number indicates the luminous flux received per unit area.

When the light emitted reaches a specific area, the term lux (lx) is used. It is a unit of measurement equivalent to one lumen / m² and with which it is possible to calculate how much lighting affects a given area. However, in order to evaluate the amount of light, it is necessary to take into account aspects such as the dimensions of the space, the height of the luminaire and its distance to the target surface, as well as the photometric data of the lamps and their amount.

It should be noted that if the light source is close to the target area, there will be more lux, but if it is far, there will be less. For example, a luminaire emits two thousand lumens on a surface of one square meter, in this way one will have two thousand lux emitted on this zone, which represents a lot of light. On the other hand, if the same amount of light is used on an area of ​​20 square meters, the illumination of this spot is only 200 lux, ie less light.

To reach a luminous equilibrium, one will be able to use means, techniques and software to calculate it. In addition, the aesthetic and functional aspects should be considered according to the use of each area to be illuminated. The use of luxmeters makes it possible to obtain an optimal level of illumination.