What to Look for in a Lighting Advisor

What is the “right” lighting design for your retail space? How smart should your store be? While there is no singular solution, it’s important to have a knowledgeable lighting expert by your side. A professional assessment of your current system will identify lighting technologies that can work smartest for your space. Here’s what to look for in a lighting advisor:

Has broad lighting expertise

Different retailers and spaces have different lighting needs, and sometimes those differences will be stark. A clothing store, for instance, has far different needs than a grocery store. An ideal lighting advisor will have broad expertise that can help you make informed decisions for the best lighting.

The experts at Current, have that vast experience and a track record of helping clients make worthwhile capital investments in lighting—and securing a high return on investment that pays dividends well into the future.

Knows more than just lighting

In a lighting upgrade, it is crucial to remember you’re not simply replacing fixtures. Across many applications, your lighting upgrade may take more sophisticated and careful work. It requires a holistic approach—one that takes into account the broader impact this sort of work will have on your operations. That sort of comprehensive knowledge allows your lighting advisor to help you make the best decisions when installing a new system—and it’s the kind of expertise Current, professionals bring to the table through valuable relationships and extensive experience.

Considers aesthetics

Practicality isn’t everything—you also want your new lighting to look good. For this, you’ll need a keen eye for strategic design and a good sense of aesthetics to choose which types of light fixtures will work best in a given application. Current, offers a range of lighting solutions that will help accentuate the look of your space.

Offers the total package

A lighting upgrade can hold its own advantages, but as technology has advanced, efficiency and savings can be further improved through advanced control systems, which allow managers to control their lighting like never before. Additionally, LED lighting fixtures can be incorporated into an intelligent platform, allowing a retailer to leverage data and improve services for customers.

Is qualified and verified

If you’re looking at LED lighting solutions, you’ll want an advisor who knows the ropes of this burgeoning technology. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) established its Solid State Lighting Quality Advocates program to help ensure that LED lighting is accurately represented in the marketplace. Visit www.lightingfacts.com to verify that your lighting supplier has taken the Quality Pledge for Solid State Lighting Products and that your supplier is a registered DOE Quality Advocate. Additionally, registered LED lighting products can be found through the site’s searchable database. When it comes to controls and sensors that help create more connected and smarter lighting systems, seek a lighting advisor who understands management software interfaces to control and monitor lighting networks.

Provides a comprehensive lighting assessment

A major lighting upgrade has far-reaching implications across a retail space, from the look and the light to the costs and your return on investment. That’s what makes a lighting audit so valuable. It takes a comprehensive approach to your needs—and not just your lighting requests. A lighting advisor helps evaluate your longterm goals, your standards for energy efficiency, and the performance of your current lighting fixtures to provide a qualitative recommendation on how to move forward.

Through the lighting audit process, a good advisor can also help you investigate available rebate programs, which can accelerate your return on investment. A complete audit can identify national and local programs to maximize your savings and recommend customized financing packages to help you reach your goals.

Current, professional lighting assessments have helped retailers around the world save millions of dollars, and it’s the best place to start once you’re ready to take the first step.

Explore what’s possible with smart LED and other technologies for retail with Current.