What the job involves
An LED upgrade replaces old lighting with LED (light-emitting diode) fittings, which use a fraction of the electricity, last far longer and give better light. For most commercial buildings on the Fylde that means replacing fluorescent tubes in offices and shops, halogen spotlights in retail displays and the big metal halide or sodium high-bay lamps that hang in warehouses and workshops.
The work ranges from a straight swap, where new fittings go in the same positions, to a redesign with new positions, sensors and controls. Controls are the part most people skip and the part that often saves the most: occupancy sensors that turn lights off in empty corridors, stores and toilets, daylight sensors that dim the fittings near windows, and time clocks for external and car-park lights. A good upgrade pays for itself, which is why we always do the sums before you decide.
We have done this work since 2004, from single shops in Lytham to whole units at Fleetwood docks, and everything is installed under our NICEIC Approved Contractor registration.
What we do on the day
It starts with a survey. We count and photograph every fitting, record its type and wattage, measure the mounting heights and note how many hours each area is lit. We ask for a recent electricity bill so we can use your real unit rate. From that we design a replacement scheme to the recommended light levels for each type of space, and produce a written quote with the payback calculation alongside it: current annual lighting cost, projected cost after the upgrade, the saving, and the number of years before the saving has covered the price.
Installation is planned around your trading hours. Shops in St Annes and on the Promenade are usually done overnight, offices on the business parks at Poulton and Thornton in the evening, warehouses aisle by aisle so the forklifts keep moving. High-level work uses our own access equipment. Old fittings are taken away and disposed of properly; fluorescent tubes contain mercury and have to go to a licensed recycler, and we give you the waste transfer note for your records.
Where the existing emergency lighting is built into the old fittings, it is replaced at the same time so the escape routes are still covered. At the end we test every circuit, commission the sensors so they do not switch off on someone sitting still at a desk, and for warehouses measure the light levels on the floor and give you the results.
What it costs
Every upgrade is quoted after a survey, because the price depends on the number of fittings, their height, whether they are replaced or retrofitted, and what controls are worth adding. The quote comes with the payback figure so the price can be judged against the saving rather than on its own. Many customers fund the work from the saving in the first year or two, and where a landlord owns the building we can split the quote to show which parts are the tenant’s and which the landlord’s.
Who it’s for
Warehouses and workshops at Fleetwood docks and the industrial estates around Thornton, where high-bay lighting runs ten hours a day and the saving is biggest. Shops in Lytham, St Annes and Cleveleys, where good light sells and display halogens run hot. Offices on the business parks at Poulton and Thornton, where fluorescent panels can be swapped for LED panels in an evening. Hotels in Blackpool, with corridors and stairwells lit around the clock. Farm buildings around Garstang, where cold, dust and damp wear out old fittings and LED copes far better. Schools and care homes, where the hours are long and the budgets tight.
Lighting on the Fylde coast
The coast is hard on lighting. Salt air gets into old fluorescent fittings on the seafront and corrodes the lamp holders and control gear, so failures are more frequent than inland and the new fittings need to be properly sealed. Hotels on the Promenade often have dozens of different lamp types collected over decades, and standardising on a few LED types makes maintenance simpler as well as cheaper. Dock units and farm buildings need fittings rated for dust and water, and we specify them accordingly. The Fylde also has long dark winters and bright, low light off the sea in summer, which is where daylight sensors earn their keep: lights near windows dim themselves on a sunny afternoon in Cleveleys and come back up when the cloud rolls in.