# What a commercial EPC upgrade costs

> How a commercial lighting and EPC upgrade quote is built up, which variables move the number most, and why a price per square foot tells you almost nothing.

Source: https://commercialepcupgrades.co.uk/cost

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# What an upgrade costs, and what actually moves the number

The honest version: nobody can price this off a floor area, and a quote given over the phone is a guess wearing a number. What you can know in advance is how a quote is built up, which is what you need in order to read one properly.

The two figures worth holding on to

Installed high bay fittings at **a few hundred pounds each**, and a 200,000 sq ft warehouse at roughly **tens of thousands of pounds** for fixtures and installation. Everything else follows from the fitting count.

## In the order they move a quote

If you are comparing two quotes, work down this list and check both have priced the same thing. Most large differences live in the top four rows.

| Driver | What it is | Moves the price |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Fitting count | Comes from the lighting layout, not from the floor area. Two buildings of the same size can need very different numbers of fittings. | Most |
| Mounting height | Sets the output each fitting needs and therefore the specification, and sets the access equipment. The dominant variable in any industrial building. | Most |
| Access and working hours | Scissor lift, tower or MEWP, whether it can run during operations, and whether the work has to be out of hours. | A lot |
| Controls | Sensing, daylight dimming and zoning. Adds materially to the capital cost and usually improves the value of the whole job. | A lot |
| Occupied or empty | An empty building is the cheapest version of the same work. Working around occupiers adds cost for reasons unrelated to lighting. | Some |
| Existing wiring and gear | Whether the circuits and containment can be reused, or whether a tube swap turns into a rewire because of the ballasts. | Some |
| Disposal | Fluorescent tubes contain mercury and are hazardous waste. Small line, frequently missing from a cheap quote. | A little |

Ordered by how much each one typically moves a commercial lighting quote. A judgement about which variables matter most, not a measured ranking.

## A large shed, as an anchor

A 200,000 sq ft warehouse relamp sits at roughly **tens of thousands of pounds** for fixtures and installation, and around **meaningfully more once controls are included** once lighting controls go in alongside. The gap between those two numbers is the decision worth the most thought, because a warehouse is unusually well suited to controls — large areas genuinely empty for long periods, aisles already zoned by the racking, and rooflights to dim against.

Scale that down carefully rather than proportionally. Smaller buildings do not get the same rate per fitting, and a low workshop is a completely different job from a high bay shed even at the same floor area. **The floor of the market, not the average job** is where the cheapest jobs sit, and they are not distribution buildings.

Payback is **around a year under continuous operation, and longer on shorter hours**. A quote with a payback figure on it should say what hours it assumed; if it does not, ask.

Sources

- Payback on a commercial LED retrofit depends primarily on operating hours: around a year where lighting runs continuously, and longer in a building lit for normal office hours. [LED revolution puts lighting top of the energy efficiency agenda, Carbon Trust, 2014](https://www.carbontrust.com/news-and-insights/insights/led-revolution-puts-lighting-top-of-the-energy-efficiency-agenda)

Where this page describes costs or savings it gives a general range rather than a quoted figure, because the numbers depend on your building, your operating hours and the equipment being replaced. A contractor gives you a figure after a survey.

## Cost questions

### How much does a commercial LED upgrade cost?

### Why is one quote half the price of another?

### What is the payback?

### Can you do it for under a thousand pounds?

### Are there grants or funding available?

Next step

## Get a figure for your building

A survey is the only honest way to price this. One commercial contractor comes out, looks at the fittings and the access, and quotes you directly.

Or call [07367 293494](tel:+447367293494). Monday to Friday, 9am to 5.30pm.