Services

Advanced Power Technologies ("APT") provides its customers with a complete solution to their lighting, electrical & signage needs. Our services include:

Parking Lot Lighting Design & Installation

Nightwatch - Exterior Lighting Maintenance

DayWatch - Interior Lighting Maintenance

Energy Efficient Lighting Upgrades and Retrofits

Neon, Fluorescent & LED Sign Design, Installation & Maintenance & Rappelling Service

Architectural Lighting Design & Installation

Environmental Recycling Of Lamps & PCB Ballasts

ATM Security Lighting Conformance & Upgrades

Hurricane Preparation & Recovery Services

Parking Lot Lighting Design & Installation

Parking lot lighting is one of APT's faster growing areas, with good reason. Proper lighting makes people feel safe and secure while shopping or working in the evening hours. With crime and litigation at record levels, the manager or owner relies on modern technology in order to raise outdoor light levels. Sophisticated retailers understand the benefits of proper lighting and many require a minimum of 5 foot candles in their parking lots. Several municipalities and counties throughout the United States and Canada have updated old lighting code requirements. Existing facilities are at risk of code violations, as well as increased incidence of crime, unless they upgrade their lighting to new code requirements.

An increase in retail sales in strip centers, shopping centers and malls has been attributed to upgraded parking lot lighting. Studies have proven that site lighting is one of the top three reasons why this has been achieved.

APT specializes in the design and installation of new and existing parking lot lighting.

DayWatch - Interior Lighting Maintenance

Why should you consider a lighting maintenance program? Group relamping, regularly scheduled inspections, cleaning, and recycling by a trained and competent lighting maintenance company can save you time and money, as well as allow you to budget a fixed amount of expense which also maximizes the efficiency of your lighting system

The most expensive portion of the cost related to a lighting system is the electric consumption. The second largest contributor is the labor to install the lamp while the smallest portion is the actual cost of the lamp. If your maintenance department is changing one lamp or fixture at a time, at the hourly or salary rate, it is far more economical to implement a cost saving group relamp, or regularly scheduled Daywatch Maintenance Program.

According to industry standards, a spot relamp takes approximately 20 minutes to change 4 foot lamp compared to 5 minutes for a group relamp per fixture. If you pay your maintenance person $14.00 an hour, that would translate into $4.66 per lamp for spot relamping. APT's Daywatch Programs are designed to reduce maintenance costs while maintaining the design lumens in the fixture. Each time we service a fixture or group relamp an entire facility, we make all necessary repairs to the fixture as well as clean the fixture lens, which can increase light output by up to 25%.

As lamps get older they loose light output, however, you are still paying for the full wattage of the lamp. There is also a lamp inventory that must be maintained as well as the expense of receiving, packing, and recycling failed lamps. Manufacturer's warranties must be monitored. All of the above costs erode your bottom line profits and increase lighting maintenance expenses.

Customized DayWatch Maintenance Programs are designed to meet your needs and your budgeted dollars. APT can control and reduce your lighting maintenance issues and in addition will enable your Maintenance Department to focus on other non-lighting issues.

Nightwatch Exterior Lighting Maintenance

APT's unique and complimentary NIghtWatch program provides added value and improved security to parking lots and other areas requiring safe and adequate lighting. Our NIghtWatch program surveys and repairs several thousand sites throughout the Southeast.

The NIghtWatch program provides our customers with:

Monthly on-site inspections performed during evening hours for all exterior lighting and signage;
Monthly inspection reports;
Prompt scheduled service and emergency repairs;
4 hour emergency service
APT marked poles for tracking accuracy and warranties; and
24 hour, 7 days a week service.

Our NightWatch program is one of your best defenses in case of a lawsuit claiming that you have been negligent in maintaining your lighting system. Our NIghtWatch program assures your customers and tenants a safer and more secure property during evening hours.

In addition to time and material rates, APT offers several cost-effective service contracts covering all exterior lighting and signage, including parking lot lights, canopy lights, LED, neon and fluorescent signs. These piece work and fixed cost alternatives provides our facility and building managers the opportunity to effectively and efficiently budget exterior lighting & sign maintenance costs. Custom programs are available. The choice is yours!

APT uses only the best quality materials available from top manufacturers. In the event a lamp or ballast should prematurely fail during the warranty period as a result of a manufacturing defect, APT will replace it at no cost to our customer.

Energy Efficient Lighting Upgrades and Retrofits

Advanced Power Technologies assists commercial, industrial, institutional, hospitality and retail clients in their efforts to save energy and reduce operating costs, while maintaining and improving the aesthetics of their environment. This is accomplished by designing and installing energy efficient alternatives to existing inefficient lighting equipment.

As an added value, APT can help provide financial programs where the energy savings realized will exceed monthly costs of financing.

Considering today's national energy crisis, it is imperative to reduce operating costs as well as conserve energy while protecting our environment.

Neon, Fluorescent & LED Sign Design, Installation, Maintenance & Rappelling Services

APT is one of the nations largest sign maintenance and service companies. With offices strategically located throughout the U.S. and Canada we are able to offer fast and reliable service. Our lighting and sign technicians are trained to diagnose and repair all signage including neon, fluorescent, cold cathode, fiber optic, electronic message centers and LED signs. There are no jobs to high for us to reach. Rappelling services are available to service signs at the top of large buildings and areas where our standard equipment cannot reach. By safely and securely attaching ropes and rappelling equipment to the roof of your facility, APT can minimize repair expenses by working from the top down.

APT is your ONE SOURCE for any type of sign. We offer fabrication services for channel letter signs and message centers, replacement of sign faces, regardless of material, as well as design services and management of high volume production runs. Our sign installation service includes code compliance, permitting, and assistance with local regulatory agencies. As a state certified electrical contractor, APT is able to offer turnkey sign installation & maintenance anywhere your facilities are located. Most important, our goal is to repair it properly the first time, every time.

Architectural Lighting Design & Installation

If you want your facility to stand out, APT will design, install, and maintain proper lighting to accentuate and attract attention to your facility.

APT has designed, engineered and installed fountain lighting, landscape lighting, roof top lighting and all architectural points of interest in between.

Proper lighting practices and efficient quality lighting products help to insure a long lasting, visually pleasing project.

Environmental Recycling Of Lamps & PCB Ballasts

Nationally, about 600 million lamps are disposed of annually, each containing 12 - 50 milligrams of mercury, with some high intensity discharge lamps containing as much as 250 milligrams of mercury. These lamps and PCB ballasts must be properly recycled. During the handling of these lamps many break, releasing mercury vapor to the handler and the environment. Solid waste incineration or landfill of mercury containing lamps releases the mercury back into the environment. Some lamps may also contain lead in the glass and lead solder.

ATM Lighting Conformance & Upgrades

ATM Security Lighting Conformance & Upgrades APT provides ATM and Night Depository Light Level readings for exterior lighting conformance. Based on State Mandated ATM Lighting Codes, it is important to perform annual readings to prove maintained luminance at banking locations. If unsatisfactory results are found, APT will review these results with the appropriate corporate security manager. We will design upgrades and discuss recommendations for necessary adjustments to the existing lighting system to achieve optimal performance. APT will re-read the location once the necessary work has been preformed to ensure that the location has exceeded the applicable ATM lighting statute. Following a passing grade, APT will then submit a Certificate of Conformance along with the light level report to retain in your records.

Hurricane Preparation & Recovery Services - RACERS

Advanced Power Technologies has learned many things from the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons. So many changes have taken place at APT in preparation for the 2007 hurricane season that there are too many to list.

The most dramatic change is the formation of a dedicated Hurricane Response Management Team. The RACERS (Recovery And Customer Emergency Response Services) Team will go to the affected area and set up APT’s mobile command center at the affected branch or location. With this additional focused team, we can manage and coordinate the increased volume and complications of a natural disaster without disturbing the normal flow of business.

Another effective recovery tool that we are initiating is our Advanced Evaluation and Survey Agreement. This proactive recovery plan is for clients who want APT to automatically survey all of their locations in the “strike zone”. There are no “up front” costs to the program; all you need to do is let us know and we will send you the forms to fill out.

This auto proceed assessment will include a full photo survey of your signage and all exterior lighting, as well as any damage to your property that affects signs or lighting. These photos and a written report will be sent to you for your immediate review. Once reviewed, you can either authorize repairs, or we can provide an estimate for making those repairs or any needed upgrades. A flat fee per surveyed location will only be issued if a named storm hits and we dispatch the RACERS Team to survey. If no storm hits, there will be no charge to you and we will keep the forms for the next potential disaster, its that simple.

This program eliminates the days usually lost from first strike until the time communication is restored, as well as the time it takes for your manager to report lighting and sign damage. As a result of this proactive program, we estimate a time savings of 3-15 days on this evaluation process. Additionally, if we are authorized in advance to proceed with repairs, 2-6 weeks can be saved in the completion time, and will result in having your facility 100% lit in a more timely and efficient manner.

If you would like to pre-authorize this evaluation and photo survey to be performed, APT will create work orders and survey forms prior to any named storm. These work orders will be put in our Mobile Command Centers file, so that our RACERS team will already have it and be ready to go to work. By doing it this way, you will be the first priority in our system.

Although it is always our hope that major storms do not adversely affect your facilities, the inevitability of another natural disaster is a reality. By improving and stream-lining our processes, as a result of our past experiences, we believe that being proactive rather than reactive will make all the difference in helping you get back in operation.

For up to date storm information visit the National Hurricane Center

Why

ATM Lighting

How many people have not ever visited an ATM? Not very many. Some do so a lot. ATM's have become a staple of modern life.

So most everyone has first hand experienced the various effects of "security lighting" in the vicinity of an ATM. It varies widely.

In ATM lighting, there is the "Good," the "Bad," and the "Ugly."

We discuss here some of these differences, and we will refer in some detail to the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America's Design Guide DG-9-97, which has the title: "Lighting for Automatic Teller Machines."

The "Good" ones are those that are designed and installed following the IESNA's recommendations in their Design Guide. We quote in entirety the Introduction to the Design Guide: "The ATM environment requires adequate illuminance so users can perform reading and writing tasks, as well as enjoy safe passage to and from the ATM location. The customers' unrestricted access to ATMs means that proper lighting is a primary requirement during all hours of daylight and darkness. This guide will provide recommended illuminance levels, explain the need for glare control, and suggest methods to solve many ATM related lighting problems. Both the ATM lighting requirements for transaction processing and for safety are treated as major concerns."
IDA thinks everyone would agree.

Sections of the Design Guide are as follows:

1.0 Introduction.
2.0 Task, Equipment, Location.
3.0 Lighting Objectives.
4.0 Lighting Design Variables.
5.0 Illuminance Criteria.
     5.1 ATMs and the Immediate Surround.
     5.2 Exterior ATM Approach Areas.
     5.3 Minimizing Glare.
     5.4 Avoiding Veiling Reflections.
     5.5 Light Source Color Rendering.
6.0 Lighting System Choices.
7.0 Current Governmental Regulations.
8.0 Other Design Considerations.
9.0 Example Solutions
10.0 Conclusions

Let us note especially Section 5.3, on glare, an important criteria often neglected. A quote from this section: "Direct visibility glare prevents the ATM customer from observing objects or an approaching perpetrator. Luminaires should be carefully selected and carefully located in order to minimize glare. Not all tasks at the ATM require the same level of illuminance, but uniformity is important if glare is to be kept to a minimum. Exterior lighting should blend from one area to the next, and the uniformity ratios should follow IESNA recommendations."

So it is clear that ATMs that are "Good" have lighting levels that meet (but do not much exceed) the IESNA recommended lighting levels (if overlit, they will have too much contrast with adjacent areas, and likely will be glary), and they will have minimum glare. They will feel comfortable and safe to the customers.

We quote also from Section 9.1, on Outdoor Solutions: "Large Approach Areas. If the approach to the ATM is across a large area (2.5 times the mounting height of the light fixtures or more), fixtures should be installed at the building (lighting outward) and at the approach perimeter (lighting inward). If the wall of the building where the ATM is installed allows fixtures to be at least 3.7 m (12 ft) above the ground, the light can adequately cover a length of 2.8 m (30 ft), with the exact dimensions depending on the light fixture and distribution pattern selected. Horizontal cut off type fixtures should be considered here because they can project the light without producing glare. For areas beyond 2.5 items the mounting height, use a pole mounted luminaire strategically located to illuminate the total area without interfering with the function of the space and normal movements. Important limitations [bolding as in the DG]: Avoid using luminaires which illuminate areas greater than 2.5 time their mounting height. These types of fixtures can produce excess vertical illuminance, which can result in direct disability glare. And where fixtures are installed at the building lighting outward, they typically create glare problems and contribute to light trespass."

We note also that the new edition of the IESNA Lighting Handbook (9th edition) in the chapter on Security Lighting (Chapter 29) says: "Stray light from security lighting installations can be considered a light trespass by neighbors," and also "Disability glare is caused by light scattered in the eye. Care in the selection of luminaires and pole heights is essential."

Now on to the "Bad." These installations arise from two major reasons. First, the owner of the ATM does not understand good lighting installations from bad, nor more generally what good lighting is. They often have only one goal: The More the Better. Second, the lighting "designer" has the same gap in their knowledge of good lighting, or if they do understand it, can not sell the advantages of good lighting to the owner. It is a sad fact that many lighting installations are built according to these perceived needs. No one questions the owners desire for an efficient, useful, and safe ATM installation. They just don't know how lighting relates to that goal.

An even worse example of lighting specifications comes from state or local legislators, who have the same overall goals as the owners and also share the same sad lack of knowledge of lighting. For example, California Assembly Bill No. 244 includes a section on lighting of ATMs. This specifies a requirement of two candlefoot power within 50 feet of all unobstructed directions from the face of the ATM. There is no such unit as candlefoot power, but they define it in the bill as "the light intensity of candles on a horizontal plane at 36 inches above ground level and five feet in front of the area to be measured." Lighting with candles? Horizontal rather than vertical illuminance? Why 36 inches? Why five feet? And what is this non-existent lighting level unit?

This sort of requirement has been copied or emulated by other states. For example. a 1995 State of New York bill says: "a minimum illuminance of two candlefoot power is maintained on a horizontal plane at a point fifty feet in all unobstructed directions from the ATM, measured at a point five feet above the ground surface." Candlefoot again. And who in the world will be looking on a horizontal plane five feet above the ground to benefit from this strange wording?

How can state legislators or their lawyers or advisors come to such strange and counterproductive language? It boggles the mind, but these are existing lighting ordinances. There are no words about the quality of lighting, discomfort or disability glare. No understanding about the difference between horizontal or vertical illuminance. And where did candlefoot power come from?

Now to the Ugly: These installations come from "designers" or installers trying to comply with either the owner's or the state's requirements. The lighting is normally mounted on the building wall, at what seems to be random mounting heights, often glaring right into the customer's eyes as they approach or use the ATM. Floodlights are projected horizontally to provide the required "candlefoot power" levels. This is the cheap and dirty and counterproductive way to do it. It should be avoided at all costs by any owners and any legislators seriously interested in protecting their customers and their facilities.

We note also the recent Department of Justice report on crime and lighting, where it asks relative to ATM lighting: Who is being protected, the customer or the criminal?

Sound bites:

Floodlight equals Glare Light.
It costs no more in initial costs to do it right.
Good lighting means real security and safety, bad lighting compromises both.

Reference: IESNA Design Guide DG-9-97, Lighting for Automated Teller Machines, prepared by the IESNA Financial Facilities Committee, copyrighted by the IESNA, 1997. IESNA, 120 Wall Street, New York NY 10005.

Clients We are having an upgrade at College. The system we are getting consists of 72 dimmers (+24 we already have), 8 Moving heads (+2 we already have), 4 ultra bright Par 64 LED and we also have 2 scroller already in stock.

We have a Fat Frog board at the moment (I know this board won't handle as this comftably), would it be worth while up-grading the board for a Frog 2 been as we have got the money to do it?

Anybody have any suggestions? Or any opinions on the Frog 2 or this upgrade?

CheersChoose

You have a choice of:

Light level readi

Assessment of your current lighting conditions is the cornerstone to document compliance with state and local [ATM] lighting laws.

Our experience in the implementation of lighting programs started in 1992 when the first ATM lighting and safety law was passed (California Assembly Bill 244). The breadth of our knowledge of ATM lighting laws state-by-state gives you the tools to:

Improve customer safety.

Enhance site visibility and appearance.

Document compliance with state laws.

ngs to assess your current light levels, in accordance with company standards or lighting laws such as AB-244.

Complete site evaluations to use to redesign and upgrade lighting.

You are guaranteed an unbiased assessment of the light levels.

Your costs for ’s light level readings are one price nationwide.

Use either your existing forms or customize forms for your needs to record light levels. We include site sketches and notes to depict:

Hurricane Preparation & Recovery Services - RACERS Advanced Power Technologies has learned many things from the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons. So many changes have taken place at APT in preparation for the 2007 hurricane season that there are too many to list.

Hurricane Preparation & Recovery Services - RACERS

Advanced Power Technologies has learned many things from the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons. So many changes have taken place at APT in preparation for the 2007 hurricane season that there are too many to list.