Commercial electrical work across Leeds and the surrounding areas — planned around your trading hours, tested and certified.
Upgrading commercial lighting isn’t just about replacing old fittings with LED alternatives.
Done properly, an LED lighting upgrade can improve the quality of light throughout a building, reduce energy use, cut maintenance requirements and make the space more comfortable for the people using it.
At SmartOhm Electrical and Smart Home, we provide commercial LED lighting upgrades across Leeds and surrounding areas including Bradford, Wakefield, Huddersfield, Harrogate and Castleford.
We work across offices, retail units, education settings, hospitality venues, warehouses, industrial premises, car parks and other commercial environments.
With more than 21 years of electrical experience, we can assess the existing lighting, take lux readings where required, design a suitable LED lighting solution or install lighting that has already been specified by others.
The aim is always to install lighting that suits the space properly rather than simply changing fittings like for like.
Commercial properties use lighting in very different ways.
An office needs comfortable, even lighting for people working at desks.
A warehouse may need powerful high-bay lighting to provide good visibility over large floor areas.
A dental practice, school or retail space may need careful consideration of colour temperature and light levels.
External areas such as car parks, walkways and entrances have their own requirements again.
That is why we don’t approach commercial LED upgrades as a simple product swap.
We look at how the space is used, what lighting is currently installed and what the customer wants to achieve.
Depending on the project, we can install:
We are not tied to one particular lighting manufacturer.
The fittings are selected based on factors such as the environment, required output, light quality, installation method, energy efficiency and suitability for the space.
Many commercial buildings are still operating with older fluorescent fittings, outdated bulkheads, inefficient lamps or a mixture of lighting that has been changed gradually over many years.
Even when the lights still work, there can be good reasons to consider an upgrade.
Older fittings may use more energy, require regular lamp replacement or provide inconsistent lighting.
Replacement lamps and components can also become more difficult to source as older lighting technologies disappear from the market.
A well-planned LED lighting upgrade can provide several benefits.
Modern LED lighting typically uses considerably less energy than older fluorescent and traditional lighting technologies.
For businesses with lighting running for long periods each day, this can make a noticeable difference to electricity consumption.
Adding suitable lighting controls can improve efficiency further.
Older fluorescent installations often require ongoing lamp and starter replacement.
In warehouses, workshops and high-ceiling areas, even changing a lamp can become time-consuming and expensive once access equipment is involved.
LED fittings generally require much less routine maintenance.
Energy savings are important, but light quality matters just as much.
Poor lighting can make a commercial space feel dull, uncomfortable or difficult to work in.
A properly designed LED system can provide more consistent illumination, appropriate colour temperature and better coverage throughout the building.
Lighting has a surprisingly large impact on how a room feels.
Replacing mismatched or dated fittings can completely change the appearance and atmosphere of an office, retail unit, practice or hospitality venue.
One of the mistakes we regularly see is lighting being replaced without considering whether the new fittings actually provide the right amount of light.
A fitting may look brighter when viewed directly, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the working area is receiving suitable illumination.
Where required, we take lux readings and assess the size and use of the space.
This helps us determine the lighting level needed and whether the proposed fittings are suitable.
Lux is simply a measurement of the amount of light reaching a surface.
Different environments can require different levels of illumination depending on what people are doing within the space.
For example, a storage area doesn’t necessarily need the same lighting conditions as a room where detailed work is being carried out.
Where we are designing the lighting ourselves, we can use the room dimensions, intended use and required light levels to plan the installation.
We are also happy to install lighting that has already been designed or specified by another consultant, contractor or lighting designer.
We recently carried out a complete lighting upgrade at a dental practice in Thornbury, Bradford.
The existing lighting had been installed over a long period and had become a mixture of different fittings.
There were older fluorescent fittings, track lighting, spotlights and bulkheads throughout the building.
Some of the fluorescent fittings were becoming difficult to maintain because replacement equipment was no longer readily available.
There was also a noticeable mismatch in lighting colour from one area to another.
More importantly, the existing installation wasn’t providing the right lighting conditions for the way the building was being used.
We started by visiting the practice and walking through each room.
We made notes on the existing fittings, room sizes and how each area was used.
From there, we worked out the required lux levels and considered the appropriate colour of light for the different spaces.
We then designed the replacement lighting around those requirements.
LED alternatives to the existing twin fluorescent fittings were installed throughout the relevant rooms.
The difference was significant.
The new lighting provided much more consistent illumination, improved the overall feel of the practice and created a cleaner, more modern environment.
At the same time, replacing the older lighting with LED fittings reduced the electrical load and helped lower ongoing energy costs.
It’s a good example of why a commercial LED upgrade should be about more than simply installing whatever fitting happens to fit the existing hole.
Good office lighting should provide comfortable illumination without excessive glare, dark areas or inconsistent colour.
Many older offices still use fluorescent modular fittings or battens.
These can often be replaced with modern LED alternatives that provide improved efficiency and more consistent lighting.
Depending on the building, we can also install occupancy sensors and other controls so lighting is not left running unnecessarily in empty areas.
This can be particularly useful in meeting rooms, corridors, toilets, kitchens and storage areas.
Warehouses and industrial spaces can offer some of the biggest opportunities for improving energy efficiency through LED lighting.
Older warehouses often use high-energy fittings that operate for long hours.
They may also be mounted at significant height, making maintenance difficult.
We install LED high-bay and low-bay lighting for warehouses, workshops and industrial premises across Leeds and surrounding areas.
Where required, we can assess existing light levels and help determine an appropriate replacement arrangement.
Sensors can also be used in suitable areas so lighting only operates when required.
For warehouses with aisles or areas that are only occupied occasionally, this can reduce unnecessary energy use significantly.
Lighting plays an important role in retail environments.
It affects how products look, how customers move through the space and the overall impression of the premises.
A poor LED upgrade can leave a shop looking flat, overly bright or inconsistent.
We can upgrade existing retail lighting while considering factors such as colour temperature, fitting position, display areas and general illumination.
This can include replacement general lighting as well as track lighting, feature lighting and back-of-house areas.
Schools and other education environments often have large quantities of lighting operating for long periods.
Older classrooms, corridors and communal areas may still contain fluorescent fittings that require ongoing maintenance.
LED upgrades can improve light quality while reducing energy consumption and maintenance.
Where appropriate, sensors can also be used in areas such as toilets, corridors, stores and ancillary rooms.
We can plan work around access requirements and building use to minimise disruption.
Restaurants, bars, hotels and hospitality venues need lighting that works practically but also contributes to the atmosphere of the space.
This is an area where simply choosing the brightest LED fitting can easily produce the wrong result.
Colour temperature, dimming, feature lighting and positioning all need consideration.
We can upgrade existing hospitality lighting while working with the layout and intended feel of the premises.
Where a lighting designer or interior designer has already specified the fittings, we can carry out the electrical installation and testing.
Commercial LED upgrades are not limited to indoor lighting.
We can install and upgrade lighting for:
External LED lighting can improve visibility while reducing the energy consumption associated with older external fittings.
Controls such as photocells, timers and presence detection can also be incorporated where appropriate.
Emergency lighting is an important part of many commercial buildings.
During a wider LED upgrade, it often makes sense to assess the existing emergency lighting at the same time.
Older fittings may be failing, batteries may no longer hold charge or the existing arrangement may no longer suit changes that have been made to the building.
We can install and upgrade emergency lighting alongside general commercial lighting works.
Where required, emergency fittings can be tested as part of the overall project.
One of the easiest ways to waste energy is to leave lights running in areas that aren’t being used.
Modern controls can help reduce this.
Depending on the building, we can install:
The right solution depends on how the space is occupied.
There is little point installing complicated controls simply for the sake of it.
What we’d usually recommend is looking at how each part of the building is actually used and selecting controls that genuinely make sense.
Not every LED upgrade produces a good result.
We regularly see installations where the fittings were chosen primarily because they were cheap or easy to obtain.
Common problems include:
Replacing an existing fitting with an LED version without checking actual output can leave areas darker than before.
Using different colour temperatures throughout a building can make rooms look inconsistent and uncomfortable.
This was one of the issues we found at the dental practice in Thornbury.
Even a good-quality fitting can perform poorly if it is installed in the wrong position.
Cheap fittings can suffer from flicker, inconsistent output or premature failure.
The cheapest fitting is not always the most economical option over its full lifespan.
Lighting should suit what people are actually doing within the space.
Where light levels matter, taking measurements and planning the installation properly produces a much better result.
Sensors can save energy, but only if they are positioned and configured correctly.
Badly chosen controls can leave lights switching off when people are still working or coming on unnecessarily.
The process normally starts with a site visit.
We’ll look at the existing lighting and talk through what you want to achieve.
That might be reducing energy use, improving light levels, modernising the building, reducing maintenance or a mixture of all of these.
We’ll also consider how the space is used.
Where required, we take lux readings and assess room sizes and existing fittings.
If we are designing the lighting, we can then recommend suitable fittings and controls.
If you already have a lighting specification or design, we are equally happy to work from that.
Once the scope is agreed, we provide a quotation and plan the work around the operation of the premises.
The new lighting is installed, tested and certified where required.
Commercial lighting upgrades often need to be completed while the premises remains operational.
We understand that closing a business simply to change lighting isn’t always practical.
We’ll discuss access and operating hours before work begins and plan the installation to reduce disruption where possible.
For some projects, this may involve completing the work in stages or arranging work outside normal operating hours.
The exact approach depends on the property and the customer.
Not necessarily.
An LED upgrade doesn’t automatically mean stripping out every fitting in the building.
There may be areas where existing lighting is still suitable and other areas where an upgrade would provide a clear benefit.
The best way to approach it is to assess the installation and decide where the investment makes sense.
This can also allow a larger project to be completed in stages where required.
SmartOhm Electrical and Smart Home provides commercial LED lighting installation and upgrades throughout Leeds and surrounding areas including Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Huddersfield, Harrogate and Castleford.
We work with business owners, facilities managers, landlords, contractors and other commercial clients.
Projects can range from replacing outdated fluorescent lighting in a small office through to larger warehouse, education, retail and industrial lighting upgrades.
A commercial LED upgrade needs to work electrically, but it also needs to work for the people using the building.
With more than 21 years of electrical experience, we understand how to assess existing installations and select practical solutions.
SmartOhm Electrical and Smart Home is:
Where required, we can take the project from the initial assessment and lighting design through to installation, testing and certification.
If somebody else has already produced the lighting design, we are equally happy to handle the installation side of the project.
Yes. Replacing older fluorescent fittings with modern LED alternatives is one of the most common commercial lighting upgrades we carry out.
We can assess the existing lighting and recommend suitable replacements rather than automatically swapping fittings like for like.
Yes, where required. We can assess the room, take lux readings and design an appropriate lighting arrangement based on how the space is used.
We can also install lighting designed or specified by another contractor or consultant.
Yes. We install LED high-bay and low-bay lighting for warehouses, workshops and other commercial and industrial premises.
Yes. We can install suitable occupancy, presence and PIR sensors along with other controls to help reduce unnecessary lighting use.
Yes. We install LED lighting for car parks, walkways, entrances, loading areas and other external commercial spaces.
Yes. Emergency lighting can be installed or upgraded as part of a commercial LED lighting project.
We also provide a separate commercial emergency lighting service where more extensive work is required.
In many cases, replacing older inefficient lighting with modern LED fittings can reduce lighting energy consumption.
The actual saving depends on the existing installation, operating hours, new fittings and any controls being used.
We prefer to assess the existing lighting rather than promise a generic percentage saving.
In many cases, yes. We’ll discuss access and operating requirements with you and plan the work to minimise disruption.
Where necessary, we can also discuss carrying out work outside normal operating hours.
We provide commercial LED lighting upgrades across Leeds and surrounding areas including Bradford, Wakefield, Huddersfield, Harrogate and Castleford.
If your premises still has older fluorescent lighting, mismatched fittings, poor light levels or lighting that is costing more to run and maintain than it should, it may be worth having the installation assessed.
We can visit the property, look at how the existing lighting is performing and advise on the most practical way to upgrade it.
Where required, we can take lux readings, design the lighting, install suitable LED fittings and controls, and complete the necessary testing and certification.
If you already have a lighting design, we’re happy to work from that too.
If you’re considering a commercial LED lighting upgrade in Leeds or the surrounding areas, get in touch. Happy to take a look and advise.
Tell me about the site and what needs doing, and I'll come back with a written quote.
