LED retrofits, parking lot and exterior lighting, controls and emergency lighting for Denver businesses, scheduled around your hours and permitted and inspected properly.
Lighting is one of the few building systems your customers, tenants and staff notice every single day. A dim storefront reads as closed. A warehouse aisle with dead fixtures slows picking and invites accidents. A parking lot with dark patches makes people uneasy walking to their cars and hands a property manager a liability nobody wants to carry. Lighting is also one of the larger electrical loads in many commercial buildings, which is why an LED upgrade tends to show up quickly in lower energy use and far less time spent replacing lamps and ballasts. Northgate Electric installs and upgrades lighting for offices, retail spaces, restaurants, warehouses, medical suites and multifamily common areas across the Denver metro. We work with owners, property managers, general contractors and tenants building out a space, and we understand that the work has to fit around your business rather than the other way around. That means night and weekend scheduling when a space cannot close, clear communication with whoever manages the building, and a crew that keeps work areas tidy and safe while the doors stay open. You get a written scope and price before the job starts, and documentation of what was installed when it is done.
Most commercial lighting projects start with one of a handful of problems that show up on the floor or on the utility bill:
Each of those points to a slightly different project. Where the existing fixtures and ceiling grid are in good shape, a retrofit is usually the most economical path. We replace fluorescent tubes and ballasts with LED tubes, or install LED retrofit kits inside the existing troffers, which avoids reworking the ceiling. Where fixtures are damaged, yellowed or badly laid out, new LED flat panels give better light and a longer service life. High ceilings in warehouses, gyms and shops usually call for LED high bays sized to the mounting height and the work being done below them. Outside, LED wall packs, pole heads and canopy fixtures replace older high-wattage lamps and can be paired with photocells or timers so they run only when needed. Before recommending anything, we walk the space, count fixtures, note ceiling types and mounting heights, and look at how each area is used, because a break room, a sales floor and a loading dock need very different light. Ask about utility rebates as well. Many utilities offer incentives for qualifying LED upgrades, and the requirements are easier to meet when the project is planned around them from the start.
Commercial lighting carries requirements most homeowners never deal with. Energy codes adopted by Colorado jurisdictions generally require automatic lighting controls when commercial lighting is newly installed or substantially altered, such as occupancy sensors in offices and restrooms, daylight controls near windows and automatic shutoff after hours. The exact requirements depend on the code edition your jurisdiction has adopted and the scope of the work, and the building department reviews them at permit. Emergency lighting and illuminated exit signs are required along exit paths so occupants can find their way out when the power fails, and those fixtures need battery backup or a connection to an emergency power source, plus periodic testing that a fire inspector may ask to see records of. We install and replace emergency fixtures and exit signs, and we can test existing units during a lighting upgrade so you know which ones are due. Commercial electrical work requires a permit and inspection, and many projects also involve the building owner’s approval process for tenant improvements. We pull the permit, coordinate inspections and provide the documentation your records and your insurer expect.
A lighting upgrade should not cost you a day of sales or a week of tenant complaints. We plan the sequence before we start, so only the area we are working in loses light, and a large building can be phased floor by floor or suite by suite. For retail and restaurants, the work often happens before opening or after close. For offices and medical suites, we coordinate with the property manager on access, elevator use, after-hours entry and tenant notices. Lifts, ladders and drop cloths are set up and cleared each shift, and old fluorescent lamps, which contain mercury, are handled as universal waste rather than tossed in a dumpster. When the job is done, you get a walkthrough, a list of what was installed and warranty information for the fixtures. If you manage several properties, we can work through them on a schedule that fits your budget cycle, whether that means one suite this quarter or an entire center over the year. We serve businesses from downtown Denver to the Denver Tech Center and the surrounding suburbs.
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Older commercial buildings often have more going on above the ceiling than a lighting retrofit reveals. Overloaded lighting panels, loose terminations, undocumented circuits and leftovers from past tenant improvements all turn up during a proper inspection. A professional electrical inspection, which can include a thermal scan of panels and switchgear under load, finds hot spots before they become an outage, a failed insurance review or a fire, and gives you a clear, prioritized list to budget around…
The best commercial lighting projects are planned around something that is already happening. A tenant turnover leaves a suite empty, which makes it the easiest time to replace fixtures and add controls. A parking lot resurfacing is the right moment to deal with pole bases and underground wiring. Rebate programs, budget cycles and lease renewals all reward planning a few months ahead instead of reacting when the last row of fixtures goes dark. Planning early also gives tenants and staff fair notice of the work, and it leaves time to order fixtures that a supplier may not have in stock.
Start with a lighting assessment. We walk the property, record fixture types, counts, wattages and mounting heights, check emergency and exit lighting, and note any areas where light levels fall short for the work being done. From there you get a written proposal that separates what should be done now from what can wait, with options such as a straight retrofit versus new fixtures, so you can compare cost and service life side by side. If you manage several buildings, the same assessment format makes it easy to compare properties and plan the work across your portfolio. Call today to schedule an assessment.
Whether you run a single storefront or manage a portfolio of buildings, Northgate Electric can plan and install lighting that looks better, costs less to run and meets code. We work around your hours, keep your tenants and customers informed, and put the scope in writing before work starts. Learn more about our commercial electrical services, call (720) 555-0142 to schedule a site walk, or request a proposal online.
Straight answers to the questions business owners and property managers ask us most about commercial lighting.
Yes. Most retail, restaurant and office projects are scheduled around your operating hours, and larger buildings can be phased so only one area is affected at a time. We agree on the schedule with you before the work begins.
If the housings and ceiling are in good condition, a retrofit usually costs less and causes less disruption. If fixtures are damaged or poorly placed, or you want better light quality and controls, new fixtures are often the better long-term value. We price both so you can compare.
Many do. Rebate programs are run by utilities and change over time, so we check what is currently offered for your account and help gather the fixture details the application needs. Some programs require approval before work starts, so ask early.
It depends on the scope and the jurisdiction. Replacing lamps usually does not, but new fixtures, new circuits, lighting controls and most tenant improvement work do. We confirm with the local building department and pull the permit when it is required.
Fire codes generally call for a short functional test every month and a full-duration battery test once a year, with written records kept. We can test your units, replace failed batteries and fixtures, and give you documentation for your files.
Yes. The cause is usually a failed photocell, timer or contactor, or a fault in the underground wiring to the poles. We troubleshoot the controls first, then the fixtures and wiring, and can convert older pole heads to LED while we are there.
It varies with fixture count, ceiling height and access. As a rough guide, retrofitting a standard troffer often runs $100 to $250 per fixture installed, while high bays and pole lights cost more. We confirm your price in a written proposal after walking the property.
