Every patient has the same expectation at healthcare facilities: to receive quality care.

Proper lighting might not save lives, but it can certainly help in the process. Using the correct lighting can help ease concerns, from safety to comfort during some of the most intense moments of patients’ lives.

But the benefits impact more than just patients. Great lighting in healthcare facilities can attract and retain great workers, and aid in their ability to do great work in various settings from offices to operating rooms.

Chief engineers and facility managers are responsible for much more than caring for the healthcare facility – they’re responsible for creating an environment that’s meant to comfort, and quality lighting can make all the difference.

We’re answering some of the top questions we get related to hospital and healthcare lighting in this guide. But if you have other questions, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Focus on hard to maintain areas first. The last thing you want is someone constantly crowding a busy hallway or on a ladder in the lobby to change out light bulbs. Spending time on places in the hospital where it’s difficult to change out light bulbs is the first step in the maintenance process. You should also consider focusing on areas where safety is a top concern. Those might include: parking garage, elevator, stairwells, and those busy, high-traffic hallways.

Try group-relamping. This is a “work smarter, not harder” approach to maintenance. Change out the light bulbs in specific areas all at once. This is especially effective if you’re dealing with high, hard-to-reach fixtures or busy areas.

Schedule maintenance: Work with a provider or schedule out your maintenance on a calendar. The idea here is to maintain your lighting like you would your car – if you don’t maintain good air pressure in your tires or change your oil regularly, you will experience a blowout or break down at the worst possible time. And if you don’t schedule out your lighting maintenance, you may experience an outage on the busiest day of the week or during a critical healthcare event.

Keep product stocked: The best way to improve the chances of a quickly resolved maintenance request is to stock common products.

Another bonus for following these maintenance tips: color consistency. As you replace light bulbs, you might notice a distinct color difference.

This happens for a number of reasons. Light color could vary based on manufacturer. If you order the same product from different manufacturers, you might notice a distinct difference, even if the specifications are the same.

Burn time is another factor. Light bulb colors change as the burn time increases, or the longer they’re used. That’s why it helps to replace bulbs in groups, so they burn (and change color) at the same rate.

If you’ve tried these tips, and there are still maintenance challenges you’re trying to overcome, our team of lighting specialists is here to help.

Large hospitals can spend tens of millions of dollars in energy every year. Think about that cost and what it would mean if you could save even a fraction of that.

It makes sense why the costs are so high. Patients and workers are coming in and out of the doors 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There is no way to turn the lights off when you need to be ready for emergencies at any minute.

Any money you could save on operating your healthcare facility, could translate to more money invested in better patient care.

In most commercial buildings, lighting costs make up about 40% of total operating costs. That means a big chunk of the budget could be cut by switching to more energy-efficient lighting.

Waiting to switch could be a big missed opportunity – and a big hit to your bottom line.

While energy is a big cost in lighting, that isn’t the only factor. We can break that cost down even further for you:

There are two easy ways to save money on lighting and increase energy efficiency:

1. Retrofit to energy savings lighting (see below)

2. Invest in long-life products from reputable manufacturers

Let’s discuss #2 a little further. New companies continue to come onto the scene with LED lighting innovations and low prices. These might save energy upfront – but the wrong product could end up costing you in the long run.

Download our checklist of questions to ask a lighting manufacturer before you make a purchase.

You might also want to consider lighting controls when you’re trying to save energy and money.

Lighting controls could be extremely effective in healthcare facilities, especially in areas that are not used 24/7 or in some patient rooms.

It’s no secret that leaving lights on in empty rooms is a huge waste of energy (and money!). Using controls to automate when lights turn on and off is an easy way to save on energy costs.

Lighting control systems can be as simple or as complicated as you would like. Here are a few basic options:

• • Dimmers: Dimming lightbulbs reduces wattage and output, resulting in energy savings. This can also help set different tones throughout your building.
  • Sensors: No one wants to light an empty room – so installing occupancy sensors in a conference room that’s rarely used is an easy place to start. Or it could be tedious to turn on parking lot lights every night, so photosensor controls could be a huge advantage. Motion sensors are very useful for security lighting. They turn on when motion is detected, then turn off a short while later.
  • Timers:Is there an empty conference room in the hotel? Or do you only need accent lights on for certain hours of the day? Timers may be the best another option to consider.

More sophisticated lighting control systems can transform a patient’s experience and assist in their recovery. Imagine giving patients the option to comfortably control light levels from their beds. And we’re not talking about just turning lights on and off.  Dimming can easily transform a room.

Lighting control systems can get even more impactful. When a nurse walks in to get blood samples, controls can allow only essential room lights to turn on. The patient gets better sleep and the nurse can still complete his or her job with accuracy.

Hospitals have also started to look into the best options to integrate lighting into other systems, like temperature control.

When you think of safety, you have to think outside of just your patients or employees.

Does your healthcare facility have an emergency department? Can ambulance drivers properly see where they are going at night?

What about visitors? Lighting can not only help visitors navigate the hallways, but it could also help them in the parking garage or parking lot at night.

If your parking garage is poorly lit, it could send the wrong signal about your level of safety concerns.

Plus, using the wrong lighting can take up a huge chunk of your operating budget.

You can solve both problems by upgrading your parking garage to LEDs. Look at the night and day difference at a parking garage in San Mateo, California.

Bottom line: Well-lit areas should be a top safety priority to help everyone as they enter, navigate, and leave your hospital.

As a basic safety practice, make sure sidewalks, floors, and ramps all around the property are properly lit. It should also be easy to see signs both inside and outside of the hospital at night.

Healthcare lighting and Title 24

There is also a push for more sophisticated lighting systems in many areas of the country, and that could have you dealing with building code.

If you’re in California – new construction and building renovations must meet Title 24 standards. Healthcare facilities are included starting in 2020. The energy code significantly impacts lighting and lighting controls. It’s triggered any time you pull a building permit.

Other states are quickly catching onto these standards, too. If you’re in New York City – your healthcare facility may have to meet lighting upgrade requirements.

If you’re subject to strict building codes, contact us. We dove headfirst into Title 24 in California years ago, and we are staying on top of 2025 requirements in New York City, so we deal with this day in and day out.

Helpful resources

Every time you order new light bulbs, you’re probably pushed to purchase LEDs.

There might be several reasons why you haven’t already upgraded your healthcare facility’s lighting. Maybe you still have boxes of those linear fluorescents you want to burn through before you buy more light bulbs.

But if you haven’t already retrofitted to LED, you could be losing money in the amount of time you’re taking to make the jump.

We aren’t just talking about patient rooms. Savings could stack up faster in places you might not think about.

When you start thinking about LED retrofits, think about maintenance. You want to target the hardest to maintain areas first. This includes the parking garage, stairwells, high-ceiling areas in the lobby, and any exterior lighting.

1. Parking garage
   • Safety and quality lighting should go hand-in-hand for your parking garage (see above). Because they must always be lit, you run into a high burn time. And because replacing a bulb in a parking garage can be tedious, unsafe, and obstructive, it’s a great place to consider switching to LEDs.
2. Stairwells
   • If your stairs aren’t well-lit, you could be facing building code issues and hazards to patients, employees, and visitors. The lights need to be on 24/7 – so you’re looking at using significant energy and dealing with frequent replacement. Retrofitting to LED equals instant labor and energy savings.
3. Lobby
   • You want your lobby to be aesthetically pleasing, and it’s another area where the lights are probably on 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you have high ceilings, it’s a labor-intensive job for the maintenance crew to replace lights. And if you have specialty fixtures in your lobby, you likely have halogen light bulbs. Those are the most energy consuming, so replacing them with LED will you give you a good bang for your buck.
4. Exterior
   • From parking lots to signage – there are a variety of lights that require a lot of energy and burn time outside of your hospital.Think about your signs that need to be visible at all hours. Some of them might be tall – requiring a bucket truck to make repairs. Using LED there would also cut out maintenance hours.Switching to LEDs in your parking lot can cover spaces more easily. That means you also get a safety upgrade along with your LED upgrade. Plus, it’s another place to think about using that bucket truck a little less often.
5. High-traffic areas
   • There is no down time in a hospital. Patients, employees, and visitors flood hallways at all times of the day. The last thing you want is a ladder blocking the high-traffic areas because you have to constantly change out light bulbs. Switching to LEDs means less time on a ladder.

Just upgrading these areas could save you thousands every year.

Another decision to consider before you dive into the land of LEDs: should you retrofit with LED bulbs, or do all fixtures need to be replaced? Here’s a look at pros and cons.

LED fixture replacement retrofit pros:

• Maximum control over light output and placement (great for situations where lighting design is paramount)
• Longer life rating and efficacy than LED replacement lamps
• Lower maximum fixture wattage than traditional fixtures, which is advantageous for meeting strict building codes or Title 24 standards
• Excellent performance for controls and dimming

LED fixture replacement retrofit cons:

• Longer, more expensive installation
• Higher up-front cost than LED replacement lamps
• Potential for difficulty in upgrading to future emerging technologies

Bottom line: there is never a one-size-fits-all approach to healthcare lighting. We hope you found the answers you needed for your building.

But if you have more questions – we’re happy to help you walk through the process. Click here to talk to a lighting consultant.

We also have thousands of products, ready to buy right now (that includes more than light bulbs). Register for a business account to get discounted pricing.