Commercial LED lighting for offices, warehouses and factories

Commercial LED lighting: key facts

The fluorescent tube ban: T8 and T5 dates in Great Britain

Two separate sets of rules have taken fluorescent tubes off the GB market. Both apply to England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland has its own rules.

What it means for your building

• You don't have to rip anything out. The rules control what can be placed on the market, not what's already on your ceiling.
• But maintenance gets harder. Every replacement tube now comes from stock that was already in the supply chain. When it runs out, a failed tube means a failed fitting.
• Old control gear ages too. Fluorescent fittings rely on ballasts. An LED project replaces those along with the tubes.
• Plan it, don't react to it. A planned relight lets you phase work around operations, add controls and claim the tax allowances in the right year. Replacing fittings one by one as they fail does none of that.

LED lighting for offices

Offices are where most fluorescent lighting still sits, typically in recessed ceiling grids. An office LED project usually means:

• LED panels in the ceiling grid, replacing fluorescent modular fittings like for like, often without touching the ceiling.
• Presence detection in meeting rooms, toilets, stores and corridors, so lights switch off when nobody's there.
• Daylight dimming in zones by the windows, so fittings turn down on bright days.
• Dimmable, addressable control (for example DALI) where you want to change layouts or scenes without rewiring.
• Glare and comfort: screen-heavy workspaces need fittings chosen for glare control and the right light level, not just the cheapest panel.

For a let office, better lighting can also help the EPC. Since 1 April 2023 you can't keep letting a commercial property in England or Wales rated below EPC E unless you register an exemption. In June 2026 the government dropped the planned EPC C by 2027 step. It now proposes EPC B from 2031 for buildings over 1,000 square metres, where cost-effective. Ask an EPC assessor to model it: see MEES and commercial EPCs. With lower lighting load, a solar roof covers more of the daytime demand: see office solar panels.

Warehouse and factory LED lighting

Warehouses and factories have the longest lighting hours and the highest ceilings, which is why they're where LED projects usually make the most difference. What changes:

Factory-specific points

• Flicker and rotating machinery: ask the installer how the fittings avoid stroboscopic effects near lathes, saws and other rotating plant.
• Harsh environments: dust, moisture, heat and food production all need fittings with the right ingress protection and materials.
• Working at height: lifts, access equipment and out-of-hours working are a big part of the cost on a high-bay job, so plan the relight in as few visits as possible.

Big warehouse and factory roofs also suit solar: see warehouse solar panels and factory solar panels.

LED retrofit tubes or new LED fittings?

A good installer will mix the two: new luminaires with controls in the long-hours areas, retrofit where a fitting is in good order and rarely used.

Lighting controls and sensors: what the building regulations expect

In England, Approved Document L Volume 2 is the building regulations guidance for fixed lighting in non-domestic buildings. The current edition (2021, with 2023 amendments) says:

• Efficiency: general lighting should average 95 luminaire lumens per circuit-watt (or meet the LENI calculation method). Display lighting should reach 80 light source lumens per circuit-watt, or stay within 0.3W per square metre.
• Presence controls: unoccupied spaces should have automatic controls that turn general lighting off when the space isn't in use, and occupied spaces should have them where suitable.
• Daylight controls: general lighting in parts of occupied spaces likely to get high levels of natural light should have photo-switching or dimming.
• Metering: general and display lighting should be metered, by dedicated circuits with kWh meters or through a lighting management system.
• Design: lighting should suit the activity in the space and spaces shouldn't be over-lit.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own building standards. Your installer should design to the rules where the building is.

How much can LED save? Work it out from your own numbers

We won't quote a savings percentage, because it depends entirely on what you have now, how long the lights are on and what you pay for power. You can estimate it yourself with one sum:

This is an illustration, not a prediction. The inputs are made up to show the method. Your installer's quote should give the old and new circuit watts for every area and the hours assumed, so you can check the sum yourself. Add presence and daylight controls and the hours fall, which is often where the bigger saving is.

Tax relief on LED lighting: AIA, 50% FYA and full expensing

• Why lighting is special rate: HMRC's manual lists "an electrical system (including a lighting system)" as an integral feature (CA22320), and integral features are special-rate expenditure.
• Repair or capital? If you spend the whole, or more than 50%, of the cost of replacing an integral feature, at once or within any 12 months, HMRC treats it as capital spending on a replacement (CA22340). So a full relight is usually claimed through capital allowances, not written off as a repair.
• Landlords: GOV.UK's guidance says plant bought to lease out is excluded from the first-year allowances, unless it's background plant in a leased building, and it gives lighting as an example.

Your accountant should confirm the split for your project, especially where lighting is done alongside rewiring or a wider refit. For solar alongside, see solar capital allowances.

LED lighting grants for business, loans and ESOS

There is no single national grant that pays for business solar, batteries or efficiency upgrades in England. The money comes from tax allowances, the business rates exemption, export payments, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, the Workplace Charging Scheme and local or sector funds. For lighting specifically:

Large businesses: if your organisation is in ESOS, lighting is often one of the measures an energy audit flags. An installer quote gives you the firm cost for your action plan: see ESOS Phase 4. For the wider funding picture, see business energy grants.

How to get commercial LED lighting quoted

1. Tell us about the building: type, floor area, what lighting you have now and your operating hours.
2. Lighting survey: fittings counted and measured area by area, with light levels and how each space is used.
3. Design and quote: new fittings or retrofit per area, controls, emergency lighting, and old and new circuit watts so you can check the savings.
4. Phasing: work planned around shifts, deliveries and occupied floors.
5. Install, commission the controls and dispose of the old tubes properly: fluorescent tubes contain mercury.

What to ask lighting installers

• What light levels have you designed to, and to which guide?
• What are the old and new circuit watts per area, and what hours have you assumed?
• Which areas get presence and daylight controls, and how are they commissioned?
• What warranty covers the fittings and the drivers, and for how long?
• How will you dispose of the old fluorescent tubes?

We pass your enquiry to one suitable installer that does commercial lighting work.