Supermarket lighting has changed drastically. Gone are the days of traditional HID, fluorescent and incandescent lighting. LED lighting has revolutionized the lighting industry and is growing in popularity because of benefits beyond looks.
LEDs save energy, reduce maintenance costs, and perform a whole lot better than traditional fluorescents. Here are some of the reasons why supermarkets are upgrading their lighting.
LED LIGHTS MAKE FOOD LOOK FRESHER
Not all fruits and vegetables in the produce section are created equal. Even if all of your produce is freshly stocked, the apple
that looks rich in color will always get picked first. LED lights can help reduce waste by making all products look fresh. Here’s how:
Color rendering index (also known as CRI) is the measurement of how accurately a light source displays colors. The scale is 1-100 where 100 is
comparable to that of sunlight. The higher the CRI value, the better the artificial light is at showing accurate colors.
The standard CRI of LED bulbs is 90+, but can reach up to 95+ CRI. There are also specialty LED products that are specially designed for critical high-margin areas of a supermarket (produce & meat) to further enhance the salability of the product. That means that produce products will look as fresh on your shelves as it would on the farm, and meat will look so delicious shoppers will look forward to their next barbecue. This makes LED lighting the best supermarket lighting choice!
LED LIGHTS ARE BETTER FOR COLD FOOD STORAGE
Have you ever touched a light bulb after it’s turned off and it’s still hot? Now, imagine leaving that light on next to cold food for an extended period of time. It can raise the temperature of the food product and affect the freshness of it. Additionally, the heat from the light bulb can use more energy to balance out the heat from the lights.
LED lighting works differently than traditional light bulbs. Because they operate so efficiently, they produce a fraction of the heat of incandescent, HID and fluorescent sources. This means that your cold foods won’t be damaged by withstanding unnecessary heat, plus you get to save storage energy.
The glowing filaments in incandescent lights can reach temperatures of up to 4600 °F (2500 °C), and the glass bulb it’s surrounded by reaches temperatures of around 392-500 °F (200-260 °C) from the heat emitted by the filament. The operating temperatures of an LED are anywhere between 68-140 °F (20-80 °C). Now that is a huge difference in temperature.
SAVE MONEY ON SUPERMARKET LIGHTING
Supermarkets’ hours are longer than many other retail locations. They are open for more than an average of 14 hours a day. And, on top of that, most grocery stores employ overnight shift workers to stock inventory during off-hours. That’s a lot of grocery store lighting working around the clock.
Where traditional lighting has a lifespan of 5,000 hours, LED lights can exceed over 50,000 hours of life. That’s 10x longer lasting than outdated supermarket lighting. For supermarkets that use LED lighting, this means less maintenance and replacement costs just from the installation alone. Energy cost savings are 60-75% less than traditional lighting.
WHERE TO GET SUPERMARKET LIGHTING
Just like you stay up to date with current food trends, your grocery store should also stay up to date. LED lighting can help make a grocery store bright, efficient, crisp, and well-presented. When it comes to supermarket lighting, Lumenture’s discreet and functional light fixtures can provide elegant, yet powerful solutions to your lighting challenges. Lumenture’s supermarket lighting solutions include:
- Downlights
- Traditional Track Cylinders
- Track Wallwashers
- Track Systems
- Recessed Wallwashers
- Mini Recessed Multiples
Need help with supermarket lighting? Contact Lumenture or one of our nationwide rep partners today to see how we can help you brighten up your grocery store!
