How to Save Energy with Wall Pack Lights

With outdoor lighting using more energy every year, finding ways to reduce consumption is more important than ever. Lighting designers and manufacturers have multiple ways of saving energy, whether through bulb type, fixture design, or operational changes.

One of the best energy savers in outdoor lighting is a wall pack fixture. Wall packs are a type of outdoor wall light that mount flush to the exterior walls of buildings. They illuminate surrounding outdoor spaces like parking lots, sidewalks, entryways, and more.

Most often, facilities use wall packs as nighttime security lights. Even though most of their runtime happens at night, they still suffer from overconsumption of energy. This may be because of unnecessary overuse, improper automation, or inefficient lamps.

To counteract these common misuses, here are a few practices businesses can implement to optimize their wall packs.

Of all types of bulbs, LEDs offer the most opportunity for reducing energy, significantly more than metal halide bulbs. For wall pack lighting, LED selections have much more variety to choose from to fit specific building needs.

Metal halide bulbs were once the primary bulbs for wall packs, but LEDs are rapidly surpassing them in popularity. This is because LEDs use 90% less energy but last up to 25 times longer than traditional bulbs, working up to 50,000 hours.

Incandescent and fluorescent bulbs waste most of the energy they use creating heat, not light. The light they do create is merely a byproduct, and therefore not an efficient method of illumination.

In contrast, LEDs directly focus their energy into creating light, with heat being a much smaller byproduct. Overall, LEDs experience a much lower level of energy loss. They are the most cost-effective and energy efficient lighting on the current market.

LED lights also have better lighting performance than metal halide bulbs. Their multi-point design allows them to evenly distribute light from their source. This makes them ideal for larger, outdoor applications, especially security lighting which requires high visibility. Choosing LED wall packs to light your building or facility ensures safety and security for an optimal price.

You can also upgrade old fixtures to LED wall packs with retrofit kits, which fit LED bulbs directly into existing fixtures. This makes the switch smooth and simple, as well as lowering the cost and labor for installation.

The two main factors that determine the brightness and energy usage of your wall packs are wattage and lumen count.

Wattage indicates how much power the bulb uses to create light, while lumen count measures how much light the bulb produces. A lower wattage means less energy usage, while a higher lumen count means brighter light. Paying attention to these metrics will help you find the perfect wall packs for your needs.

LED wall packs typically use less watts than traditional wall packs and other types of outdoor lights. While traditional wall packs use anywhere from 70 to 400 watts, LED wall packs typically range between 80 to as low as 20 watts. Consult with the wall pack manufacturer to learn their wattage equivalent between metal halide and LED.

Switching your building's lighting to low wattage LED wall packs can result in a 40-60% reduction in energy consumption. From an expense perspective, this equates to hundreds of dollars saved every month, and thousands every year.

The largest problem with nighttime outdoor lighting is unnecessary overuse. Not only does overuse waste energy, but it also contributes to the saturation of light pollution in night skies.

The easiest way to counteract this is by taking advantage of automation methods. Technology like photocells, motion sensors, and timers can optimize your wall pack usage.

The most common LED wall packs operate using photocells. Photocells are a type of sensor that responds to ambient light levels. For outdoor wall packs, this enables them to turn on at dusk and off at dawn. The benefits of LED wall packs with photocells include:

1. Hands-free operation: Photocells are completely automatic, meaning they require no manual control. This is an attractive benefit for many commercial businesses.
2. Flexibility: Photocells allow your wall packs to adjust and adapt to surrounding lighting conditions. This means your space will always have reliable lighting and visibility.
3. Longer life: Because photocells only activate when needed, it prevents their lifespan from expiring prematurely. The reduction in usage allows them to last longer, lessening the frequency of maintenance and replacement.

For even more adaptive control, you can install motion sensors or timers on your wall packs. Motion sensors allow the lights to only turn on when they detect movement. Timers can provide even more energy conservative settings depending on the lighting application. If dusk-to-dawn lighting with photocells is too excessive for your needs, override them with these alternatives.

By following these practices, your wall packs will use minimal amounts of energy while providing exceeding lighting performance. To start your energy saving journey today, shop HomElectrical’s expansive catalog of LED wall packs here.