In a world where most consumers and businesses have dozens of choices, making the right choice absolutely matters. If you’ve decided to make the switch to LED, you’re about to do something great for your business, and our environment. You’ll consume less energy, lower your energy bills, and enjoy better quality of light for far longer than the incumbent lighting you’ll be replacing – and reduce your carbon footprint in the process. But how can you choose the right LED solutions provider?
Here are some key considerations when choosing an LED retrofit partner.
Know how long a company has been in business. Longevity is a good indicator of experience, expertise and generally a better level of service. For a company to last, many buyers must trust that company over time. LEDs have become less expensive, lowering the barriers to the market entry for those wanting to make some money on the conversion to LED lighting. So, new companies are popping up all over; even Asian companies are taking on American-sounding names and opening warehouses in the US. And many legitimate US companies are merely buying Chinese products and relabeling them. Choosing a company that has been an LED lighting provider for 10-15 years gives you a better chance of making a good decision. Longevity Matters!
Choose a vendor that can deliver the entire solution. Working with a company that produces the products they sell and has in-house designers, engineers and project managers almost assures you that you will have a better experience. There is one company to call for information, solutions and warranties. You need never worry about which provider is responsible for what. You deserve a coherent, comprehensive, committed approach – an LED lighting partner.
Make sure the vendor has satisfactorily completed lighting projects of similar type, size and scope as yours. You don’t want your LED lighting provider learning on your job. Question their experience thoroughly. Ask for references and specifics regarding their qualifications to do your work. Ask questions that will reveal the size of their business and the type and scale of work they have done, and for whom and when. Listen carefully for hesitations and obfuscations.
Do the products proposed have a long life and proper warranty? Most products in the market have a 50,000-hour L-70 lifetime which means they will lose 28% of their light in ten years and need replacing. Whereas, a product with a 200,000-hour L-70 will only lose 8% and have decades of life left. Though a five-year warranty is good, a longer one is better provided the company behind it has assets in the US, has been in the LED lighting business for ten years or more and has a history of standing behind their warranties.
Get a lighting layout and consider the proposal carefully. Do the light levels meet your illumination needs, and/or meet IES standards? Does the proposal show your “simple pay-back” and ROI? Does it produce a positive cash flow over a reasonable time period? Does it reduce your energy consumption by at least 60% or more and address your specific lighting needs? Is the right product being used for each application, or are they trying to make their limited number of products work? The proposal should be responsive to your needs, not a one-size-fits-all approach.
The US LED Difference:
-
Founded in 2001 as LED-only lighting manufacturer.
-
About 20,000 LED retrofit locations completed.
-
Have Ten-Year Warranties.
-
Ultra-Long-Life L-70 lifetimes, most > 200,000 hours.
-
Direct-To-Buyer Pricing strategy eliminates mark-ups when purchasing through the distribution channel.
-
US LED does not simply buy and relabel Chinese products.
US LED provides quality, customized LED lighting solutions for businesses. With years of experience completing thousands of locations and exceptional customer service, US LED really is “Always The Right Choice!".
