LIGHTING AS A SECURITY MEASURE
Darkness invites intruders…. When areas are poorly lit, vandalism and break-ins occur. It is easy for non invited guests to lurk around your property looking for easy access inside of vehicles or door ways. Residents of these properties can potentially fall victim to attacks or muggings because the area doesn’t have enough light.
Let’s take a look at a property we visited for a client on the north east side of downtown Edmonton. The rear parking lot has undergone some minor lighting upgrades, however the wall lights chosen be the contractor are not even close to being sufficient. Furthermore, almost all of the wall lights are not working. Whether this is because the bulb/ballast is burnt out, or the circuits photo sensor is defective, the problem still remains… The client mentioned that there has been countless break-ins into vehicles and numerous vandalism done to the building. I would suggest that after this many counts of crime at the property, that serious measures be taken. Don’t think that by installing a couple insufficient lights will scare the intruders away.
This is where #InnovaLED comes in. We thoroughly assessed the the situation with the client and considered various options to bring the level of security up for the residents. Here is a list of what we proposed to do:
Remove all existing wall lights/wall packs as they are ineffective. Plus they are installed in a position that shines directly into the residents eyes when attempting to park their vehicle. Each existing fixture is a 100W MH wall light. These have a poor life time (10,000-15000 hours) and also has a fast lumen degradation rate.
Install new LED 8 foot self contained fixtures above each 3 car stall section (ceiling surface mount). This is how it SHOULD have been done from the start. This will shine the light down toward the ground where its most needed. Each fixture shall be 75W at roughly 8900 lumens. Of course they are weather resistant, water proof, and have other unique functions. A metal cage guard will be installed over these fixtures to prevent vandalism.
4 x 80w wall lights will be mounted on the spaces on the rear walls to shine light onto the rest of the uncovered parking lot. The only light there now is 2 old city pole lights, that have not yet been changed to LED. So in simple terms, not enough light!
With the new lighting recommendations, lets hope the client understands the value it will bring. How important is resident safety and comfort? I say that it should be number one priority.
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