Most commercial properties are busy spaces, so investing in the right lighting products is important. An excellent exterior lighting design can elevate your commercial building in a number of ways. 

You can improve safety, make your building more attractive and provide security. Planning and building a custom lighting design can do wonders for your building. With a wide variety of options to choose from, it can be difficult to know which light works best for you. 

Nowadays, many consumers are switching to LED exterior lights for better energy efficiency. If you want to start building your lighting design, read on to learn more about exterior lighting for commercial buildings. 

What Is Exterior Lighting For Commercial Buildings?

Before we look at all the different ways you can create a lighting design, it is important to understand what these luminaries are and how they differ from standard household lights. 

As the name implies, exterior lighting refers to luminaries that are specially designed for the outside of a building or exterior space. 

Since these lamps are exposed to outside elements both day and night, hazard-protected lighting is essential. These lamps are often weather-resistant or dustproof. After all, you don’t want to spend time creating a lighting design that leads to broken lamps. 

Some exterior lighting, especially those designed with a motion sensor feature, can also help maintain security on your commercial property. However, there is so much more you can do with these luminaries. 

When designing your exterior lighting plan, you must look for luminaries that reflect the inside of the commercial building. You want to create a cohesive theme around your lighting to make it visually appealing for customers and employees. 

For many people, creating an exterior lighting design can seem complicated. While it is okay to install standard fixtures outside your building, it is crucial that you carefully plan and install exterior light fixtures, as this will do wonders for your commercial building. 

Another detail to keep in mind is that your exterior area feels like an extension of your commercial property. To achieve this, you must consider the design and aesthetic of the luminaries. Another critical factor to consider is brightness. 

Exterior lighting should bring your exterior space to life. Whether you are using these lamps for security, landscape, or even just a dramatic effect, you must choose exterior lighting that can transform the outlook or appearance of your building. 

Additionally, you can use exterior lighting to create a path for people visiting your commercial property. This type of lighting at night will draw bigger crowds to your building. 

So how do you start building your lighting design? 

Starting Your Lighting Plan

When designing the outdoor lighting space, it is important to understand how these luminaries will interact with your building and the surrounding area. Since exterior lights affect the visual of your building, you need to create something that is aesthetically pleasing. 

People are more likely to enter buildings that feel warm and inviting, so this is important to consider. However, it is essential to remember that the goal of exterior lighting is not to provide high levels of illumination. 

Instead, this type of lighting only illuminates enough to enhance the appearance of your building. Playing around with illumination levels will help you decide what works best. 

Understand the relationship between light and dark shades and even help create shadows in some areas of the property to elevate the appearance. 

The primary starting point when considering exterior lighting is establishing the main design goal.  You must identify if you are using outdoor lamps to highlight key features, elevate areas that don’t usually stand out, or simply create a clear pathway and entryway. 

During this point, you can also factor in any security goals you want to accomplish. The best part about exterior lighting is that it can do multiple things at once. 

You can use exterior luminaries to highlight a building’s architecture while creating a safe and secure environment. You can also layer different types of lighting for ambience. 

Consider adding an ambient, task, and directional lighting to achieve various illumination goals outside your commercial property. Once you have identified all the areas you wish to illuminate, think about the type of light product you want to use. 

Not all exterior lighting is created the same, which is why you must consider carefully when selecting the right fixture. Once you take all these factors into consideration, you will be able to create the perfect exterior lighting design for your commercial property. 

What Are The Different Types Of Exterior Lighting?

The choices for exterior lighting are endless, but it is difficult to know which fixture works best for your commercial property. Every exterior light fixture provides a unique illumination that will elevate your outdoor space. 

Here are a few common types of exterior lighting you can use for a commercial building. 

Bollard Light Fixtures

When most people think of exterior lighting, bollard fixtures are an obvious choice. This type of lighting is common because it provides a high level of functionality and illumination. Bollards are often used to indicate pathways and entryways to buildings. 

With bollard light fixtures, you can create a scenic pathway for pedestrian use while also ensuring their safety. These exterior light fixtures often come in a round or square configuration. 

If you want to customise your lights, you can choose between various styles and designs as well. By customising these lights, you can match them to your brand’s preferred aesthetic. This will extend your interior aesthetic outside the building. 

If you are running a business, creating a lasting impression in your customer’s minds is crucial. Lighting is a subtle way of ensuring you make a lasting impact. Bollard lighting is easy to use, but it can also have some limitations. 

These lights do not provide large beam angles as they are only two to four feet high. Most standard bollard lighting uses high-intensity discharge bulbs such as metal halide; however, these are outdated and highly inefficient. 

To make the most of your outdoor lighting, look for a bollard with LED bulbs. LED bollards are an excellent choice as they are highly energy efficient. 

Floodlight Fixtures

If you have a large commercial property, consider investing in floodlight fixtures. Safety is often a major concern for commercial buildings which is why floodlighting is a perfect addition to your space. 

Most floodlights offer a wide range of coverage areas and brightness levels, so you can carefully choose the best fixture for your building. These lights have an adjustable beam angle that can be rotated to focus on specific areas. 

You can install floodlights in the ground or mount them on a separate structure, wall, or pole. Highlight key areas around the property where it tends to be the darkest. 

If you want highly-efficient outdoor lighting, consider LED floodlights, which last longer and use significantly less energy than fluorescent or halogen light fixtures. 

Exterior floodlights are typically used to shine a light on fixed items around the building. You can use these lamps to illuminate any entryways to the commercial building. 

Additionally, you can use floodlights to create an illuminated perimeter around the property for better security. You can also use floodlights to improve your employee’s safety. These lamps provide high-intensity brightness that removes any dark areas with a potential for hazards such as trips, slips, and falls. 

Floodlights can also discourage criminal hazards from damaging your property. You can protect your building against crime, property damage, and vandalism. Additionally, LED floodlights produce very little heat energy and can withstand most temperature changes and humidity. 

Traditionally, many earlier commercial buildings used wall packs to illuminate the exterior of the building; however, floodlights are a much more convenient and efficient way to light up your property. 

Before you consider investing in this outdoor lighting, you must decide which type of floodlight is right for your building. There is a wide variety of floodlights offering various benefits. 

Make sure to consider the brightness level you need and the colour temperature most suitable to light up your commercial property. Think about how this light fixture will be used to help you make the best choice. 

Lanterns And Wall Light Fixtures

If you want understated exterior lighting, consider adding lanterns and wall light fixtures. Generally, these lights are used in household properties to illuminate verandas and entryways. However, you can also similarly use them to illuminate commercial buildings. 

These lamps are mounted vertically on almost any surface. Wall lights are extremely popular because they are durable and aesthetically pleasing. These lights come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and finishes to suit any decor design. 

Since these lights don’t provide high-intensity illumination, they are often used as accent or ambient lighting instead of general lighting. You can use wall light fixtures and lanterns to highlight any entry points, such as doors, to your commercial property. 

If you want a cost-effective way of amping up your kerb appeal, go with wall lighting. These luminaries add a layer of depth to your building at night and provide safety and security. 

When it comes to lantern and wall light selection, the choices are endless. You can mix and match various wall lights to create uplighting, directional lighting etc. 

Additionally, consider wattage or lumen out when selecting these lamps because if your outdoor lights are too bright or clash with other fixtures, they may create a glare. 

Ground Lights

Another popular exterior luminaire is ground lighting. These luminaries are much smaller than other fixtures and work best as a discreet light source. 

Ground lights are typically used to illuminate pathways and are placed flush into the ground. This gives them a recessed minimalist appearance that is efficient and visually pleasing. 

The subtle illumination is a great do wonders for your building’s aesthetic. You can install ground lights into several floor materials, including concrete, for a minimalist and clean finish. 

If you have steps leading to your commercial building, you can repurpose this lighting as step luminaries. This will provide additional illumination to anyone accessing your building and reduce stair-related accidents. 

Dusk To Dawn Light Fixtures

If you want outdoor commercial lighting but you are worried about high energy consumption and utility bills, consider investing in dusk to dawn light fixtures. These lights are incredibly efficient and only begin operating when the area around your building gets too dark. 

With LED dusk to dawn light fixtures, you don’t have to worry about high energy bills as these fixtures are highly-efficient. 

Dusk to dawn luminaries is equipped with special photo sensors which automatically trigger based on the sun rising and setting. This is a convenient way to ensure your lights only operate when needed. 

Motion Sensor Light Fixtures

For even more control over your outdoor lighting, consider installing motion sensor light fixtures. Most outdoor lighting features some kind of motion sensor, but you can also find specific lighting in this area. 

These lights are ideal for security purposes as well as illumination of high-traffic parts of your building, such as walkways and entry areas. With a motion sensor, you can ensure that the light turns on only when it is needed. 

The angle and range of motion sensors vary by fixture design. In these luminaries, the motion sensor components illuminate fixtures when an object or person passes by the infrared beam. This movement allows the light to turn on for a specific period of time. 

You can use this quality for security purposes as well. For example, motion sensor lights will automatically turn on if an intruder tries to burglarise your property when it is unoccupied. 

The photocontrol or photocell in the motion sensor lights acts as a timer that can be set to your preferences. The built-in timer on most motion sensor fixtures is adjustable, so you can have better control over your illumination. 

Sometimes these lights also work just like dusk to dawn fixtures to adjust your lighting levels according to the time of the day. 

While browsing through motion sensor lighting, you might find some fixtures with the microwave sensor and some with the PIR sensor. On the surface, these two work the same way but one of much more efficient than the other.

Microwave Sensor 

Exterior lights with a microwave sensor provide better functionality than ordinary lamps. This feature makes your light more efficient with added controls, so you never have to operate them manually. Any tough-to-reach areas on your property can benefit from these lights. 

Microwave sensors are also versatile because they can work in any environment. For warehouses with high temperatures, this is the perfect solution for your lighting problems. 

One great quality of microwave sensors is that they can detect through walls and other such areas. If you have a particularly large property, these lights will be a perfect addition there as well. 

Most microwave sensors allow you to program away any false alarms. Some sensors get triggered through false detection, which can significantly lower your light efficiency. 

With a microwave sensor, you can easily reduce false alarms without reducing the number of correct positives. This feature allows you to improve your sensor’s accuracy and ease of functionality. 

Overall, microwave sensors are one of the most reliable systems on the market, and they are very easy to use. These sensors are more straightforward than any other motion sensor on the market, making them the ideal choice for first-time users. 

PIR Sensor

If you don’t want to go for microwave lights, PIR fixtures are also a great option. PIR sensor lights are designed to detect heat signals, and they do this by calculating the area’s ambient temperature.

This temperature is measured through the sensor’s detection beams. When the PIR detects a temperature difference, the sensor becomes activated and switches the lighting on. When the detection beams sense the threshold temperature again, the lights switch off. 

Out of these two sensors, the microwave is the best option as it provides consistent quality throughout its operation. 

PIR sensors are highly sensitive to temperature levels, so they are not versatile for many applications. 

These sensors also tend to give more false alarms making them less efficient than microwave sensors. The best way to figure out which one works best for you is by considering your needs. 

Is Energy Efficiency Important For Exterior Lighting?

Whenever you choose a light fixture, always remember to go for energy efficient options. Exterior lighting is a great way to add more energy saving lights bulb to your property. 

These luminaries are specially designed to reduce your energy consumption without affecting the brightness level. Energy efficient lights are also durable and last a lot longer than inefficient options. 

Commercial LED Exterior Lighting

When it comes to energy efficient lighting, many people prefer using LEDs instead of other options. Energy saving LED light bulbs are used for both domestic and commercial applications. 

These bulbs come in a linear fluorescent lamp or strip light format, which is commonly used in the workplace, industrial and commercial settings. 

As we mentioned before, the structural component plays a key role in a light’s efficiency, and an LED bulb is no different. Because of their physical makeup, LED lights are far more efficient than other light bulbs, especially incandescent lights. 

LED bulbs use 90% less energy than an incandescent or halogen light bulb of similar brightness. 

The structural component of LEDs makes a key difference in this conversion because, In other light models, most of the energy would get wasted as a heat emission. 

Since LED lights do not produce heat, they make much better use of the energy consumed. Another great benefit of using LED light bulbs is the longer lifespan. A well-built LED light bulb can last 25 times longer than any other light bulb.

Why Choose LED Lighting?

Since lights are always on, you never notice just how much energy they are consuming. These often unnoticed appliances can take up a lot of your energy costs, so you must invest in efficient lights. 

Lighting is important for our daily activities, which is why you must choose LED lights. When it comes to environmental impact, commercial buildings represent 8% of the UK’s total greenhouse emissions. 

With the rise of climate change awareness, consumers are also seeking environmentally friendly and sustainable lighting products. Energy efficient lighting such as LEDs is highly efficient and also sustainable. 

These lights do not contain any harmful chemicals that would make it difficult to dispose of them. 

Standard light bulbs contain trace amounts of mercury which is highly toxic when released. Even broken shards of incandescent light bulbs can lead to mercury build-up in groundwater. 

Energy efficient LEDs can also be recycled easily, unlike other traditional bulbs. Traditional lamps are a major contributor to greenhouse gases due to their chemical makeup, which is why it is best to replace them with more sustainable options. 

With these figures, we can see that lighting is an important area where energy must be conserved. Therefore it is crucial to invest in products that will provide high-quality illumination and help you cut back on energy costs. 

If you are looking for high-quality LED lighting, visit Meteor Electrical. With our industry expertise and customer-oriented service, we only carry the best for consumers. 

At Meteor, you can browse through the Kosnic range of LED lighting for better efficiency and illumination. 

What Are The Benefits Of Exterior Commercial Lights?

If you are still unsure about investing in specialised exterior lighting, here are some reasons why you should use commercial exterior light fixtures. 

Improve Safety And Security

Whether you are a homeowner or a business owner, it is essential that you protect every part of your property. Commercial outdoor lighting is one of the best ways to ensure the safety and security of your building. 

Without any dark shadows or zones, intruders will feel less confident to attempt to burglarise your building and vandalise any section of it. With outdoor lights, you can reduce the amount of crime that occurs on your property and protect your property investments. 

Commercial outdoor lighting also reduces accidents and other hazardous situations for your customers and employees. Bright lighting in all the right locations will ensure that the pathways remain illuminated without any space for dark zones.   

Improve Your Building’s Visual Appeal

A great way to make your commercial property look more inviting is by improving its light design. A good light design will make your building look more accessible to customers. 

As you know, exterior lighting is not just for safety purposes; instead, it is a great way to make your building more attractive to customers. 

Outdoor light fixtures also improve accessibility for individuals at night. If you have improper lighting, any customer will be reluctant to step inside your property; therefore, it is important to create an efficient lighting design through exterior light fixtures.  

Illuminate Your Property With Meteor

Check out Meteor Electrical to explore some of the best exterior lighting options. At Meteor, we have various types of outdoor lighting to fit every building’s needs. All our luminaries use innovative LED technology to deliver excellent illumination and energy savings.