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There are a lot of common problems when it comes to parking lot lights. Parking lot lights are outdoor lights mounted on poles to light parking lots for cars and pedestrians. This kind of light fixture has been used for decades, all over the country, in parking lots for malls, shopping centers, office complexes, schools, and warehouses. There are different kinds of lamps used for these kinds of lights.

The three oldest and most common lamps are (1) High-Intensity Discharge, or HID lamps, (2) High-Pressure Sodium Lamps, and (3) Mercury Vapor Lamps. Only recently have LED parking lot lights been used. Despite being used for several years, there are actually very common problems with this kind of lighting. Let us take a look at the three most common issues.

Conventional Street Lights vs. LED Parking Lot Lights

LED Parking Lights Saves Energy

Energy costs can be substantial for certain kinds of light fixtures. Most parking lot areas use high-intensity light wattage. These open space light fixtures can range anywhere from 100 Watts to 1000 Watts. When it comes to lighting, the higher the wattage, the more light these lamps produce. But that could drive up the costs.


Conventional street lights

There are a lot of factors that determine the wattage of these ids of lights. Things like the size of the area that needs to be illuminated and the height of each of the poles on the parking lots. Just one 1000-watt light fixture could cost more than $500 in electricity costs per year. So an entire parking lot of high wattage lights can add up to an enormous cost.

Maintenance Savings of LED Lights

Another major cost driver for parking lot lights is maintenance costs. In one year, there could be several light fixture problems that need to be addressed. There are several lamps mounted on poles that are at least 15 feet above the pavement. When the light fixtures need to be mixed or maintained, a service operator would need a bucket truck to check for the lamp or its ballasts.

parking lot lights

There are only a limited amount of service companies that have bucket trucks, and sometimes, there is a need for an outside contractor for maintenance. Hiring these third-party contractors could be expensive. The routine maintenance of just one parking fixture could cost more than $1,000 in just a couple of years.

Lifetime Performance

Light fixture performance is most often measured by the kind of light that it gives. The type of light that your lamp produces would depend on the type of HID you use for your parking area. For example, if your lamps have Metal Halide lamps, the light it produces will have a whiter quality. These types of lamps have high lighting quality, but they have faster lumen degradation, meaning the light produced by these maps decreases over the entire lifespan of the lamp.

Parking lot lights

If your light fixtures are using High-Pressure Sodium lamps, this could provide more functional lighting over a longer period of time because the lamps have less lumen degradation. But the color of the lamps produces orange light with a color rendering index that is low, so while the light performance is not that high, the fixtures actually last longer. There is a precise ratio of quality of light and longer lifetime performance to consider when using these kinds of lamps.

The Alternative – LED Parking Lot Lights

Parking lot lights

With these common problems, the most common alternative is to use LED Parking Lot Lights. The issues of lifetime performance, maintenance costs, and energy costs are all addressed by this kind of lighting. LED lighting technology can help with your financial costs while still providing excellent overall lighting performance for your parking lot areas. There are also several beneficial environmental and health benefits of using LED lights.