October 2016: Anyone still holding out and using 'standard' 60W incandescent bulbs?

[mathjak107]

i was talking to one of our led fixture reps today when i was in the office . he said that he has been getting crushed as a commissioned salesman because fixture price's plummeted . the recessed panel fixtures were 160 each for a 2x4 just 2 years ago . today we can buy them for 45 bucks .

his income has taken a total hit big time . he is not sure how much longer he will stay in the lighting business . he said he likely will be forced out . there is just not enough profit in it to stay in it . a shame because it is guys like him that add so much value to the industry . when we need design work and fixture layouts he is the best .

all our commercial installations done with him are letter perfect . no gaps ,shadows or imperfections between fixtures unlike what we have seen done by other lighting reps and sales people .

i think we will see a lot of good people leaving the industry as led lighting becomes just another commodity item like bx cable and lock nuts . .

so when folks complain that the sales people in stores know little and can't guide them the reason is it is getting to hard for knowledgeable experienced people to earn a decent living in this field so they have been going in to more lucrative area's leaving the newbee's and beginners to fend for themselves .

[mathjak107]

we did an amazing commercial layout with him that worked out great. in a body shop we replaced 5 - 1000 watt metal halide high bays with new 15,000 lumen 143 watt led high bays . we used 8 fixtures to replace the 5 and the lighting at 25 ft did a fabulous job .

with led's the skill is in getting the light to blend between fixtures as led's have sharp side drop off's . calculating fixture type , height and quantity needed with the correct spread can be a real headache just trying to use the software .

a lot of the layout comes from experience as the software is only a rough guide and can make for some awful installations . in fact this one veered from the software layout ..

those 15,000 lumen high bays cost us 138 bucks each as a distributor . just an insane price for so much light and energy savings . the 5k color looked awesome.
another project we did is the famous riverside church in nyc . what a beautiful look the led's gave it .

[mathjak107]

Originally Posted by fumbling

What degree Kelvin are the soft white LED compared to the natural light LED? I see 2700K and 3000K types of LEDs, I avoid the higher number LEDs like 5000K because the light is just too white and ghostly.

5k is the most popular and most specified color by the specifiers who do the lighting layouts . i like it . i think the 5k color can be quite nice .

[robr2]

Originally Posted by mathjak107

i was talking to one of our led fixture reps today when i was in the office . he said that he has been getting crushed as a commissioned salesman because fixture price's plummeted . the recessed panel fixtures were 160 each for a 2x4 just 2 years ago . today we can buy them for 45 bucks .

his income has taken a total hit big time . he is not sure how much longer he will stay in the lighting business . he said he likely will be forced out . there is just not enough profit in it to stay in it . a shame because it is guys like him that add so much value to the industry . when we need design work and fixture layouts he is the best .

all our commercial installations done with him are letter perfect . no gaps ,shadows or imperfections between fixtures unlike what we have seen done by other lighting reps and sales people .

i think we will see a lot of good people leaving the industry as led lighting becomes just another commodity item like bx cable and lock nuts . .

so when folks complain that the sales people in stores know little and can't guide them the reason is it is getting to hard for knowledgeable experienced people to earn a decent living in this field so they have been going in to more lucrative area's leaving the newbee's and beginners to fend for themselves .

Since your costs have dropped so dramatically and since he provides such great service to you and others, would you be willing to pay him for those skills?

[mathjak107]

as costs drop so do the resale prices and the profits on the sale .. making 30%gp on 160 bucks is a lot more than 30 gp on 45 bucks .

but in any case he does not work for our company . he is an independent rep and they get paid by commission via the manufacturer . .

most manufacturers in our industry moved away from their own factory sales people and went to utilizing rep agency's .

but even in our company our outside sales people are mostly commission . you eat what you kill .

which is one of the reasons i never went in to the lighting end . i always stayed in our motor control and custom panel division because that is where the juicy profits were .

every electrical distributor sells lighting and lamps . very few are control experts . lighting has always been an overly competitive lower profit business .

sizable lighting jobs are bid at low profit and you hope by getting the project you make money on the change orders and extras .

most outside sales people in the electrical industry are on a commission structure and do not want to be on salary . being salaried will never pay you anywhere near what you can earn being commissioned .

with the drop of almost 100 bucks a fixture lighting sales in dollars are a fraction of what they were for most in the industry .

like i said above , today a 138 buck hi-bay throws off 15,000 lumens .

[Threerun]

Originally Posted by Tiffer E38

I'm using more of these LEDs:





Give off a nice warm light, quite bright, dimmable, and use just 5 watts. Love the way they look, and hopefully will last a long time.

We bought a new foyer entryway fixture with these LED bulbs- we really like them a lot.

In my new shop I just installed LED shop lights, and they are awesome. Instant on- tons of light and cheap, cheap, cheap to operate. Love them..


I'm going to run 3 rows in the building, 4 LED fixtures per row, 2 tubes per fixture (8 lights per row). There will another set of fuxtures along the back wall where my work bench will be located.

This photo was taken with 2 rows 'on'. Lights are 12' high.

42W p/fixture with 3,700 lumen output (88lum p/watt) If I have all three rows 'on' that's 504 watts for 44,400 lumens

A 100W incandescant gives off about 1,600 lumens. No contest.

A standard T5 is 54W for 5,000 lumens or 93lum p/watt. However the cost was about twice per fixture compared to the LED units I bought, and the LED bulbs should last longer.

LED's are a smart way to go!