Simply put, LED retrofitting means upgrading your existing light fittings from halogen, CFL, and other older bulb types to new LED alternatives, explains Radiant. In today’s energy-conscious environment, LED retrofitting has become an increasingly popular option for commercial and industrial businesses worldwide.
While the energy-saving benefits of LEDs are obvious, there are several other benefits that business owners and building managers should consider when making the decision to retrofit their facilities to LED lighting. These include dramatically improved lighting quality and significantly reduced maintenance costs.
When to (and when not to) retrofit
LED retrofitting has many advantages, considering LEDs save energy and maintenance costs while providing better light quality. However, with the latter in mind, LEDs don’t have the same light distribution as conventional fluorescents, halogens, or High-Intensity Discharge (HID) lamps, so issues can arise from just converting an unsuitable fitting to LED tubes or lamps.
To explain: open channels, vapour proofs, prismatic and decorative fittings that do not have any reflectors are ideal for retrofit options and are easily converted to the LED option.
However, fittings with reflectors that have been specifically designed for Fluorescent, HID, CFL, or Halogen lamps do not perform well when retrofitted with LED lamps.
Due to the new lamp legislation, however, halogen and CFLs fall short of the minimum performance requirement of 90 lumens per watt and will no longer be on sale after 23 May 2025.
The above-mentioned fittings should be completely replaced with new LED fittings that are designed to fit the ceiling grid. The most common sizes are 600 x 600 mm, 1,200 x 600 mm, and 1,200 x 300 mm.
If retrofitting is not an option, look for a complete solution that will provide quality light, energy savings, and a long service life.
3 Colour-Changing (3CCT) panels, for example, allow you to choose between cool white, daylight, or warm white colour temperatures through an in-line switch. They are ideal for multiple applications, from hospital waiting areas, where a friendly, warm white might be suitable, to an office or factory environment, where daylight or cool white applications will boost concentration levels and productivity.