What is a Wall Pack Light Fixture?

Proven 36% Reduction in Index Crimes

From March through August 2016, four researchers (Aaron Chalfin, Benjamin Hansen, Jason Lerner, and Lucie Parker) in partnership with New York City found a 36 percent reduction in nighttime outdoor index crimes. Along with this finding, they also found that outdoor lighting led to a ~4 percent decrease in overall index crimes.

This studying leverages behavioral economics and psychology principles that small changes to the environment, such as lighting, can affect human behavior. Most notably, using the research done by Stanley Milgram’s obedience studies involving “nudges” as the foundation for their human behavior study in urban environments. The research did note that apart from lighting, other environmental factors can have an influence on human behavior.

Overall, during the course of their research, they found that unwanted behavior can be influenced by relatively small changes to the environment that over the long-run can mitigate costs of implementing such behavioral changes. In this case, we can see the benefits of adding quality outdoor lighting to prevent index crimes. Now, I’m guessing your project doesn’t compare to that of NYC but we can borrow the ideas here to improve your environment. So we know that installing outdoor lights can help in preventing index crimes but what about their costs and performance? 

• Brighter Good Bulb LEDs keep the Bad Bulbs away!!!!!

Cost and Performance

The cost savings you’ll experience switching to an LED wall pack from a traditional HID wall pack is significant. Traditional wall packs consume more watts to produce the same amount of light (lumens). An example of this would be a 100 watt HID wall pack that produces 2930 lumens, compare this to the LED wall packs of today that only need to consume 25 watts to produce the same amount of light. Perhaps the most striking difference is that most people who switch from HID to LED experience 75% energy savings and reduced maintenance costs!

Apart from the cost savings, you’ll notice a significant performance improvement. LEDs last longer, which means less cost in changing bulbs and the associated costs (hiring someone to change the bulbs out and any equipment needed to complete the job). LEDs offer superior light distribution. Common complaints of HID wall packs are bright spots where you would notice a bright center engulfed by a lesser light surrounding it.

This brighter spot problem goes away with LED fixtures because they distribute light in a more controllable and evenly fashion. This issue is not so large if you’re installing one wall pack light per wall but once you start installing two and more lights along the same facing wall, you’ll want to maintain an even light distribution for performance and visual standards. On Top of offering consistent light distribution, LEDs offer consistent Lumens Per Watt (LM/W) and a variety of Kelvin temperatures to personalize the look and feel of your outdoor lighting. 

The Kelvin temperature, sometimes referred to as the Correlated Color Temperature (CCT) ranges on a scale from Soft white – 2700K to Full Spectrum – 6500K but you’ll usually see wall packs between 4000K and 5000K. Apart from the color of the light, we have brightness or lumens of the light. One may think that the brighter the outdoor light the better but this is not necessarily true, instead, think about your environment and its usage then decide on the right lumen output for you. 

Correct Mounting Placement

One last consideration is the exact placement of your LED wall pack light. You’ll want to consider the location and the purpose the light will serve. In a loading dock area, it may be to provide illumination for overnight delivers, in a walk-way area it could be a two-fold purpose of illuminating the walk-way and deterring crime, and in the front-facing wall of your business it could be to provide a “welcoming feel” for your business, even after business hours. 

Along with the location and purpose the light will serve, you’ll want to consider its optimal mounting height. Most wall packs are built to be mounted at a height between 10ft and 20ft, however, this can differ based upon the lumens of the light as well as its intended purpose. The idea here to achieve the optimal light distribution. On one-end, we want to make sure that our lights take into account any potential dead-space and on the other hand, we want to account for any potential light-spillovers. Dead-space is the dark area surrounding the light, and light-spillover is the un-intended lighting of an area, think shining a light into a nearby apartment complex. 

The Only Down Side

• LED wall packs are integrated fixtures.  They will last a really long time, but they will burn out one day. That means we need to dispose and replace an entire fixture, rather than replacing a bulb.  This is another form of planned obsolescence in lighting.
• There are LED Acorn Bulbs available for retrofitting existing fixtures that will last almost as long, punch a ton of light, and reduce energy costs... they just don't punch as much light as an integrated LED wall pack. The integrated fixtures are extra bright.

We’re Here to Help

The world of lighting can be a difficult world to navigate, that’s why GoodBulb provides educational resources on our blog. If you’re having trouble deciding on what options best suit your needs then feel free to learn more on our blog at goodbulb.com or call us at 701.205.4953 to get your questions answered by a qualified Lumen Master.