NICEIC Approved Contractor · SafeContractor Approved
Commercial LED lighting upgrades for schools, offices and every business building
Swap old fluorescent tubes, high bays and floodlights for LED. You cut the lighting part of your electricity bill by around half to two thirds, you stop paying for lamp changes at height, and you stop living with dead tubes.
- Lower bills every month
- No more ladders, lifts or call-outs to change lamps
- Bright, even, flicker-free light
- NICEIC Approved ContractorCommercial and Domestic
- SafeContractor ApprovedHealth & safety accredited
- 4.9★ on Google200+ reviews
- Free surveyFree lighting survey and savings figures
Who we work for
LED lighting for commercial buildings, large and small
From a single office or classroom block to a whole warehouse, we survey, supply, fit and certify the lot. Every job is carried out by NICEIC-approved electricians.
Schools, academies and colleges
Classrooms, corridors, halls and sports halls. We work in school holidays, half terms, weekends or evenings, so teaching is never disturbed.
Offices
LED panels that drop straight into your 600 x 600 ceiling grid, with low-glare light that is easier on the eyes for screen work.
Warehouses, factories and workshops
LED high bays that come on at full brightness instantly, with no warm-up, and light the aisles evenly.
Shops, showrooms and salons
Clean, bright light that shows your products and your premises at their best.
Churches, halls and sports buildings
High ceilings where every lamp change means a tower or a lift. Fit LED once and forget it.
Landlords and property managers
Communal areas, stairwells, car parks and outside lighting that stay on long hours and cost tenants money.
The financial case
Old tubes cost you three ways. LED fixes all three.
Electricity
An LED fitting typically uses 50% to 70% less electricity than the fluorescent, SON or metal halide fitting it replaces. A twin 5ft tube fitting draws around 140 watts including its control gear. Its LED replacement draws around 45. Lights are on every working day, so the saving adds up every single month.
Replacement lamps
Fluorescent tubes and high bay lamps are typically rated for 10,000 to 20,000 hours, then they flicker, dim and fail. Starters and ballasts fail too. Good LED fittings are rated for 50,000 hours or more, so in most buildings that is well over a decade without changing a lamp.
Working at height
The lamp is the cheap part. Changing one at height means hiring a scissor lift or tower, two people to work safely, cordoning off the area and stopping work underneath. On high ceilings, that is where most of your maintenance money goes.
Fluorescent tubes are being phased out
Since 1 September 2023, most T5 and T8 fluorescent tubes can no longer be placed on the market in Great Britain under the lighting Ecodesign rules. Existing stock can still be sold, but as it runs out, replacement tubes are getting harder to find and dearer to buy. Every year you wait, keeping old fittings going costs more.
Worked examples
What switching to LED could save each year
Three typical buildings, worked out with the example figures listed underneath. Your own figures will be different, which is why we survey first.
| Example building | Old to LED | Hours lit a year | Electricity saved a year | Lamp changes avoided a year | Total saving a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OfficeAn office floor with 60 ceiling panels | 80W to 30Wper fitting | 2,750 | 8,250 kWh£2,063 | 44 lamps£880 | £2,943£29,425 over 10 years |
| SchoolA primary school with 150 twin 5ft tube fittings | 140W to 45Wper fitting | 1,900 | 27,075 kWh£6,769 | 38 lamps£760 | £7,529£75,288 over 10 years |
| WarehouseA warehouse with 30 high bays at 8 metres | 450W to 150Wper fitting | 4,000 | 36,000 kWh£9,000 | 8 lamps£1,200 | £10,200£102,000 over 10 years |
These are example figures, not a quote. Assumptions used:
- Electricity at 25p per kWh, an example business rate. Use the unit rate on your own bill.
- Fitting wattages are typical figures including control gear. Your survey uses your actual fittings.
- Old lamps last 15,000 hours. LED fittings are rated for 50,000 hours, so they need no lamp changes in the period shown.
- Each lamp change costs £20 from steps, or £150 at height (lamp, labour and a share of the lift hire, with several lamps changed on each visit).
- Hours lit: office 2,750, school 1,900, warehouse on two shifts 4,000 a year.
- The 10-year figure assumes today's electricity price. Ballast and starter failures, and savings from sensors, are left out.
Lights at height
What it really costs to change one lamp in a high ceiling
In a warehouse, sports hall, factory or atrium, one failed lamp is never just a lamp. Here is an example single call-out to replace one high bay lamp:
Example: one lamp, one visit
- Scissor lift hire and delivery
- £250
- Two electricians for half a day (one in the lift, one on the ground)
- £300
- Replacement lamp and control gear
- £60
- To replace one lamp
- £610
Example figures. Hire and labour prices vary, and that is before the cost of stopping work in the area below.
So most sites wait until several lamps have failed and change them together. That is cheaper, but it means living with dark patches for weeks or months. With LED high bays rated for 50,000 hours, you book the lift once, for the installation, and that is it.
Savings calculator
Work out your own saving
Choose your type of light and how many you have. We have filled in typical figures; change any of them to match your building and your electricity bill.
Estimated saving a year
£0
- Electricity
- Lamp changes
- Over 10 years
- Carbon saved a year
- LED rated life at these hours
- Payback
An estimate using example figures, not a quote. Your free survey gives you figures for your actual fittings.
Get my exact figuresFirst impressions
A dead tube says more about your building than you think
A flickering tube in reception, a dark corner in a classroom or a row of dead high bays in a warehouse is the first thing a visitor notices. Parents, inspectors, customers, tenants and new staff all read it the same way: nobody is looking after the place.
- No more dark patches. LED fittings fade slowly over many years instead of failing one by one.
- No flicker or buzzing. Quality LED drivers give steady light that is easier on the eyes and helps avoid headaches.
- Even colour everywhere. No more mismatched tubes, some warm and some cold, after years of piecemeal replacements.
- Clean, modern fittings. No more yellowed diffusers or blackened tube ends.
- Safer floors and aisles. Good, even light on stairs, walkways and around racking.
- Full brightness instantly. No waiting minutes for old high bay lamps to warm up.
Get more from the upgrade
Controls, emergency lighting and outside lights
Sensors and controls
Presence detectors turn lights off in empty toilets, store rooms, corridors and meeting rooms. Daylight sensors dim lights near windows on bright days. We only recommend them where they pay for themselves.
Emergency lighting
The lift or tower is already on site, so it is the cheapest time to upgrade emergency fittings to LED, including self-testing types. We can also carry out the emergency lighting tests and certificates.
Car parks and outside lighting
Replace old floodlights and wall packs with LED on dusk-to-dawn or timer control, for a safer, better-lit site that costs less to run.
How it works
From survey to switch-on
- Free lighting surveyWe count and measure your fittings, check how long they are on, look at ceiling heights and access, and check your emergency lighting.
- Your savings figures and fixed quoteYou get the energy saving, the maintenance saving and the payback for your building, with a fixed price, before you commit.
- Installed around youWe arrange the access equipment and fit the new lights in school holidays, half terms, weekends or evenings, area by area, so your building stays in use.
- Tested, certified and cleared awayEverything is tested and certified by our NICEIC-approved electricians, and the old tubes are taken away for recycling.
Why Able Electrician
Commercial electricians you can check up on
- NICEIC Approved Contractor, Commercial and Domestic, so our work is assessed every year
- SafeContractor approved, the health and safety accreditation many schools, landlords and facilities managers ask for
- One contractor for your LED upgrade, emergency lighting, EICR and electrical maintenance
- Honest advice: if a room is not worth upgrading yet, we will tell you
- Based in Tamworth, Staffordshire, working across the Midlands
Where we work
- Birmingham
- Tamworth
- Lichfield
- Sutton Coldfield
- Solihull
- Coventry
- Wolverhampton
- Walsall
- Nuneaton
- Burton upon Trent
- Atherstone
- Cannock
Outside these areas? Call us. We cover larger commercial jobs further afield.
What our customers say
Commercial LED lighting questions
Is it worth replacing fluorescent tubes that still work?
Usually, yes. A working fluorescent fitting still uses two to three times the electricity of an LED one, and every tube in it will need replacing again. The case is strongest where lights are on for long hours or are hard to reach, such as warehouses, sports halls, stairwells and high ceilings. Our survey gives you the energy saving, the maintenance saving and the payback for your building, so you can decide on the numbers.
How much will LED lighting save my business?
LED fittings typically use 50% to 70% less electricity than the fluorescent, SON or metal halide lights they replace, and you stop paying to change lamps. The exact saving depends on how many fittings you have, how long they are on and what you pay per unit. Try the calculator on this page, or book a free survey for figures based on your actual lights and your electricity bill.
How long do LED lights last?
Good quality commercial LED fittings are rated for 50,000 hours or more before they fall to 70% of their original brightness. In an office lit for 2,750 hours a year, that is around 18 years. Fluorescent tubes and high bay lamps are typically rated for 10,000 to 20,000 hours, and many fail before that.
Can you just put LED tubes in my old fittings?
LED replacement tubes do exist, and sometimes they make sense. But many older fittings have tired lamp holders, yellowed diffusers and control gear that is near the end of its life. Replacing the whole fitting usually gives better light, a longer life and a single warranty. We will tell you honestly which option suits each area.
Are fluorescent tubes being banned?
Yes. Since 1 September 2023, most T5 and T8 fluorescent tubes can no longer be placed on the market in Great Britain under the lighting Ecodesign regulations. Shops can sell existing stock, but as it runs out replacement tubes are getting harder to find and more expensive. Switching to LED now means you are not left with fittings you cannot get lamps for.
Can you work around our school or business hours?
Yes. We plan the work around you, for example in school holidays, half terms, weekends or evenings, so lessons, staff and customers are not disturbed. On larger sites we work area by area so the building stays in use.
Can sensors reduce our costs further?
Yes. Presence detectors switch lights off in rooms that are empty, such as toilets, store rooms, corridors and meeting rooms, and daylight sensors dim lights near windows on bright days. We recommend controls where they will pay for themselves and leave them out where they will not.
Is there funding or tax relief for LED lighting?
Many companies can claim capital allowances on new lighting, so check with your accountant. Schools, academies and public sector buildings should check what funding their local authority or trust currently offers. We can provide the survey figures, energy savings and carbon savings that applications usually ask for.
What happens to the old fluorescent tubes?
Fluorescent tubes contain a small amount of mercury, so they cannot go in a skip. We take the old tubes and fittings away and dispose of them through a licensed recycler.
Can you upgrade our emergency lighting at the same time?
Yes, and it is usually the cheapest time to do it, because the access equipment is already on site. We can fit LED emergency fittings, including self-testing ones, and carry out the emergency lighting tests and certificates your building needs.
Commercial LED lighting near you
We fit commercial LED lighting across the Midlands. Choose your area:
- LED lighting Birmingham
- LED lighting Wolverhampton
- LED lighting Dudley
- LED lighting Coventry
- LED lighting Derby
- LED lighting Leicester
- LED lighting Staffordshire
See also our commercial electrical services.
Book your free lighting survey
Tell us about your building and we will come and look at your lights, then send you the savings figures and a fixed quote. No obligation.
What we need to know
- The type of building and roughly how big it is
- The kind of lights you have now, and how many if you know
- Rough ceiling heights
- Your postcode