Lighting technology can have a significant impact on your small business. From the aesthetic to the boost in work productivity, there are many benefits you can take advantage of when it comes to making an upgrade in the office.
If you’re looking for ways to save costs in your business, follow these tips on lighting technology today to create a better tomorrow.
Why Your Small Business Should Switch to LED Lighting
Many of the reasons why small businesses choose to upgrade their lighting relate to saving costs, improving work productivity, and the overall wellness of their employees. When you switch to LED lighting, you increase the quality of your business and save on electricity.
Although making the switch to LED lighting can increase your costs at the start of your investment, your small business will save money in the long run. Plus, it reduces the required energy in ways other types of lighting cannot accomplish.
Your current lighting might be costing you a major business expense. Think of it this way: lighting is continuously working throughout the day while your business operates. With this idea in mind, your business is constantly increasing energy. Those bills can add up quickly if you don’t invest in LED lighting technology.
While there are many benefits to upgrading your lights, saving on costs should be one of the main reasons you invest. For instance, LEDs can last 25,000 hours, whereas if you have incandescent bulbs, those last up to 750 hours. In the meantime, you’re constantly switching out incandescent light bulbs, costing your business hundreds of dollars each year.
The Best Types of Lighting for Product Images
If you are a product-based business, you know that lighting is everything when it comes to taking great photos for your products’ images. Continuous lighting is often one of the most popular choices for product photography.
Some of the best types of lighting are tungsten bulbs, fluorescents, and LED video lights. But one quick tip you can use to create better product images is investing in lighting with a dimmer switch. Dimmers give you more control over the lighting. And when it comes time to shoot, you create an overall efficiency in the timing of your session.
One type of continuous lighting you can use for your product photography is called a key light. This type of light aims directly at the product. For the best lighting, you can use a key light to set it up on either side of your camera.
A fill light is another type of lighting you can set up on the opposite side of the key light. The intention of this light is to fill in wherever the area is lacking some lighting. You can also lower the intensity of the lighting by choosing to set it farther away from the product you are photographing.
A backlight is another option you can use for products with refined edges. Backlighting is very common, and you can use this lighting type to place more focus on the product details.
Lighting Can Impact Work Productivity
As you and your employees increase the time spent at the office, you’re working hard to stay awake at your desk and produce quality work. Lighting is an essential factor here because it can impact the productivity and overall well-being of your workers. The temperature of your lighting and how the colors disperse throughout the office can affect how well you feel overall.
Make the switch to lighting that contains cooler colors. Experts say lightbulbs that produce lighting with colors on the cooler side can make workers more productive. This type of lighting has many benefits for workers, including energy, alertness, and even decreased depression.
How to Tailor Your Lighting for the Office
To increase the overall efficiency of your workspace, you can use dimmer lights to control the brightness of the room. Bright lighting tends to be harsh on the eyes. And with a dimmer switch, you can choose to lower the brightness so that it can make everything in the room look better, including your products and even the people who show up daily.
Controls and sensors can also have a significant impact when saving on energy consumption. These types of lights can help you save on costs with automatic on and off switches.
You can also modify the light settings to be consistent with the daylight you have available throughout the office. You could consider these types of LED lights, especially since you won’t have to remember to turn them off when you’re ready to leave the office.
You can also get a sense of comfort when switching between warmer and cooler tones of lighting. Since blue lighting can increase alertness, you can switch to warmer tones to bring in a more welcoming and calmer environment.
You can use this method of illumination to have different effects throughout the day. For example, cooler lighting should be used in the mornings while you introduce warmer lighting as the day progresses.
Will Smart Lighting Technology Be Your Next Big Investment?
Smart lighting technology can make a big difference in your energy costs, and you can control it with one touch of the button from your smartphone. You can use this technology to create a better function for lighting whether you’re in the office or going out for a lunch break.
Smart lighting is an investment that you should definitely consider since it increases flexibility in controlling your lighting. Although this would be a more extensive investment, it may be worth it for your small business in the long run.
