Complete plant lighting retrofit ?

[Davebones]

Management is wanting to go ahead and replace all our lighting with LED's . This would include 8ft strips , 2x2 , 2x4 . We have roughly 220,000 sq ft total production and office space . Should we see about trying to get a company that just does lighting retrofits or hire a electrical contractor ? Buy our own fixtures and pay for the install . How to find out about any codes or rebates that are available ? Are lighting controls required for a project this size in Florida ? What type of LED's to get so we don't have issue ( have changed a few and they turned dark in the middle ) with them in a few years ? Any other issues to be concerned about ? Any information would be appreciated ...

 

[petersonra]

seems like a pretty good sized job that would ideally be completed fairly quickly.

I would be looking to deal with someone who does this kind of thing regularly, over doing it myself.

 

[hillbilly1]

If it’s a pretty straight forward changeout, then a company that just does lighting retrofits would be the most economical. But beware, most of those companies do not employ electricians, and things can get sideways real quick if things get complicated.

 

[retirede]

We had a similar situation with a high school. We contacted our utility and they were very helpful recommending the equipment to spec out. In some cases, they may even incentivize large retrofits. Then we got bids from local ECs for the job.

 

[cadpoint]

I think you should shop for a EE with a light meter. Questions like why did management come to this conclusion?
What is the end results for the conversion? Can you motion sensor isles to save even more? New Area / divisional cover?
New additional cover requirements?
State by State it's crazy what might need to be engineered verses a permit to build.

 

[sparkie1]

Where I would start with this is to get prints for the building on paper or on a tablet, and then hire a local EC that you have a relationship with you to consult. Have them mark up on the plans what is there, then provide you with the marked up plans. From there, you can do a take-off of each fixture type. Information is power.

Once you know what you need, you can price the relevant fixtures yourself and put the work out for bids. Required or not, I would consider lighting controls for the system.

One piece of advice I'm going to give you, is to not underestimate the cost savings of letting the installers provide the fixtures. If THEY provide the fixtures, THEY warranty them and THEY deal with issues from them. If YOU provide the fixtures, it's going to be extra time for the time and effort spent dealing with any mess-ups and warranty work.

Another piece of advice is to make sure that a few extras of each fixture are specified into the bid. This will reduce delays and make issues for non-working fixtures better.