LED Outdoor Retrofit at Car Dealership

The existing lighting was inadequate at the Birmingham Infiniti Mercedes-Benz dealership. The lighting wasn't bright enough to showcase the vehicles. The path to the employee parking lot wasn’t bright enough for employees to feel safe walking to their own cars at night. And the inferior lighting did not deter vandals and thieves.

The existing lighting was metal halide – legacy technology that doesn’t compare to today’s LEDs. LED lighting is:

And unlike metal halide lights that have to warm up before they can produce full brightness, LEDs are fully operational at startup.

The owners also requested that the retrofit make use of the existing lighting poles in the dealership and employee lots.

Emily Breaseale of Alabama Power and Josh Durr from SouthCon travelled to Birmingham to create a lighting design. To make designing the lighting go faster and easier, they used the free Light ARchitect app from Cooper Lighting Solutions. Josh was actually sitting in his own car at the dealership lot when he used the mobile Light ARchitect app to create a new lighting design that replaced the existing floodlights with area lights.

Using the dealership’s existing poles and new USSL Maxx area lights from the Cooper Lighting Solutions Streetworks brand, Josh was able to achieve the lumen levels necessary using just 544W, whereas before, the dealership had been using 2800W. In other words, it took just one USSL Maxx fixture to provide the same number of lumens that used to require 3 fixtures. 

“Less wattage means more energy efficiency,” says Emily. “And more energy efficiency means lower lighting costs.”  

The superior optics, CRI value and uniformity of the USSL Maxx brought more nighttime visibility to the dealership so customers could view the luxury vehicles “in the best light” – literally and figuratively – and bad actors couldn’t hide in the shadows.

The choice of Cooper Lighting Solutions USSL Maxx area lights resulted in many other benefits, as well:

• Very high lumen output: One USSL Maxx produces the same light level as three of the dealership’s old metal halide lights.
• Visual comfort: Unparalleled uniformity and reduced glare don’t cut short the customer experience because of eye strain.
• True colors: Offers superior CRI value so the accuracy of vehicle colors compares to how the colors appear in natural light.
• Easy installation: Weighs under 50lbs. and includes a versatile quick-mount standard arm making installation a cost-efficient, one-contractor job.
• Low maintenance: A durable fixture like the USSL Maxx with long-lasting LEDs cuts down on costly maintenance hours.
• No uplight: the USSL Maxx supports DarkSky standards.

Once again, the dealership owners were thrilled with the results of their new outdoor lighting: 

Superior Optics
The Cooper Lighting Solutions USSL Maxx area lights made it possible for the dealerships to have the lumens they requested using less wattage and fewer fixtures.

Energy Efficiency
By using less wattage to light the Birmingham dealership is seeing a 71% reduction in energy usage.              

Cost Savings
In addition to lowering their carbon footprint, the dealerships are saving money on their energy and lighting bills.

Compatibility with Existing Infrastructure
If new light poles aren’t in the budget – as was the case here – the USSL Maxx can be used to retrofit and work with most existing poles.

Reliability
Cooper Lighting Solutions LEDs are engineered to last 15+ years before needing replacement.

Precise Lighting Design
Our free, easy-to-use Light ARchitect app freed the designer to effortlessly try – as well as visualize – “what if” designs to come up with the best design for each project.

Despite its bright illumination, the USSL Maxx supports DarkSky standards.

Superior optics show vehicles in their "best light."