Commercial Lighting: A Comprehensive Guide
Proper lighting is crucial for any place, whether in an office, factory, or home, as it affects the overall atmosphere and aesthetics in addition to visibility. This is equally true for commercial spaces, like stores and businesses, where we also need to think about safety and cost.
This comprehensive guide will navigate you through the process of finding the perfect lighting solution for any commercial space. Let's get started!
What Is Commercial Lighting?
Based on functionality, lighting is classified into three types: commercial, industrial, and residential.
Commercial lighting means any type of light system designed for and used in offices, stores, warehouses, and other commercial spaces. Although its main objective is purely functional rather than aesthetic, many businesses also require efficiency to minimize operating costs.
Types of Commercial Lighting
Different variants are available for commercial lighting, each with different levels of efficiency and functionality. Among these types, three major classes of commercial lighting are UV-C Disinfectant Lighting, Hazardous Location Lighting, and Color Selectable Lights.
UV-C Disinfectant Lighting: Things You Need to Know
What is UV-C disinfectant lighting?
UV-C disinfectant lighting utilizes short-wavelength ultraviolet radiation to inactivate microorganisms like bacteria, viruses, and molds. It falls within the range of 200 to 280 nanometers on the electromagnetic spectrum, making it highly effective in breaking down the DNA or RNA of pathogens, rendering them unable to reproduce or cause infections.
How does UV-C disinfection work?
When exposed to UV-C light, microorganisms' genetic material absorbs the energy, leading to structural damage and impairing their ability to replicate. By disrupting the DNA or RNA, UV-C light effectively neutralizes the pathogens, ensuring a germ-free environment.
Is UV-C lighting safe for human exposure?
While UV-C light is highly effective against pathogens, direct exposure can harm human skin and eyes. As a result, it is crucial to utilize UV-C disinfectant lighting in unoccupied spaces or with proper safety measures in place to prevent any adverse health effects.
What are the applications of UV-C disinfectant lighting?
UV-C disinfectant lighting finds extensive use in various industries. It is commonly employed in healthcare facilities, laboratories, food processing units, and transportation sectors to sterilize surfaces and air, mitigating the risk of infections. Moreover, it is also utilized in residential settings to maintain a sanitized living environment.
How does UV-C lighting differ from traditional cleaning methods?
Unlike conventional cleaning methods that only remove visible dirt and grime, UV-C disinfectant lighting can eliminate up to 99.9% of harmful pathogens, including drug-resistant bacteria and viruses. Additionally, UV-C disinfection is a chemical-free process, eliminating the need for potentially harmful cleaning agents.
What are the advantages of UV-C disinfectant lighting?
UV-C disinfectant lighting offers several advantages, such as its rapid disinfection process, ability to target hard-to-reach areas, and non-toxic nature. Moreover, it contributes to a more sustainable approach to sanitization by reducing reliance on single-use cleaning products.
Hazardous Location Lighting: Illuminating Safety in Challenging Environments
Hazardous location lighting is critical in providing illumination where potentially explosive or flammable materials are present, ensuring the safety of personnel and facilities. Below, we explore the key aspects of hazardous location lighting and its significance in challenging environments.
Understanding Hazardous Locations
In hazardous locations, volatile gases, vapors, dust, or flammable liquids create a heightened risk of explosions or fires. Such environments exist in various industries, including petrochemical plants, oil refineries, chemical processing facilities, and grain mills. Traditional lighting fixtures in these spaces could act as ignition sources, making specialized hazardous location lighting imperative.
Compliance with Stringent Standards
Hazardous location lighting must adhere to rigorous safety standards set by organizations such as the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). These regulations classify hazardous areas into different zones based on the frequency and duration of hazardous material presence, with each zone requiring specific lighting fixtures designed to minimize the risk of ignition.
Types of Hazardous Location Lighting
There are several types of hazardous location lighting fixtures, each tailored to meet the unique requirements of different hazardous zones. These include explosion-proof fixtures designed to contain any sparks or heat generated within the unit to prevent the ignition of external hazardous substances. Similarly, intrinsically safe fixtures are engineered to limit electrical energy and heat, ensuring they cannot ignite surrounding explosive atmospheres.
Factors Affecting Lighting Selection
When selecting hazardous location lighting, various factors come into play, such as the type of hazardous material present, the zone classification, and the environmental conditions. Lighting solutions must be corrosion-resistant, weatherproof, and capable of withstanding extreme temperatures to maintain reliability in these demanding settings.
Understanding Color Selectable Lights
Color selectable fixtures are equipped with integrated LED light sources. The term "selectable" indicates the presence of multiple distinct white light settings within the LED. Through a simple switch flip, color selectable LEDs can seamlessly switch between pre-defined color temperatures of white light, ranging from warm to cool settings. It's crucial to differentiate color selectable from tunable white, as the latter smoothly blends white colors along a continuous scale. Additionally, color selectable is distinct from RGB or RGBw, which utilize red, green, blue, and/or white to produce colors other than white.
The Benefits of Color Selectable Lights
Color selectable LED fixtures provide design flexibility and the ability to control lighting in multi-functional spaces.
With design flexibility, color selectable fixtures empower lighting designers and customers to tailor lighting according to the room's intended decor. Installing the lights first and then selecting the ideal color temperature makes it effortless to adjust the room's ambiance based on the time of day or desired mood.
In multi-functional spaces, color selectable LED lighting proves advantageous. Users can easily adjust the light level to suit various activities occurring in the room at any moment, granting them complete control over their lighting choices.
Moreover, color matching becomes a breeze when adding lights to a room with color selectable fixtures. Matching the color temperature to the existing light fixtures creates a cohesive and harmonious look within the space.
The adaptability of color selectable fixtures is another notable advantage. Users can modify settings in the future to accommodate changes in preferences, and room redesigns, the addition of new light sources or furnishings, or even changes in the occupants' needs as they age.
The Bottom Line
List your requirements before choosing lighting for your commercial space. Not all commercial spaces require the same kinds of illumination. There are several alternatives for light fixtures for commercial areas, including UV-C Disinfectant Lighting, Hazardous Location Lighting, Color Selectable Lights, and more.
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