A store that lights up at half level for restocking, raises the accents on fresh food at opening, follows daylight at the entrances and flags a failing driver before an aisle goes dark. 3F Filippi LED luminaires with DALI-2, wireless and Tunable White, managed from a single platform.
Request an assessmentA supermarket is lit 14–16 hours a day, but it does not do the same thing for all those hours: at six in the morning the shelves are restocked, at eight it opens, mid-afternoon the promotions change, at ten in the evening it is cleaned. A traditional installation switches everything to full for the whole day, including the hours when only staff are in the store. Smart lighting for supermarkets gives each phase its own light — and each department, each aisle, each entrance — with a 30–35% saving on an installation that is already LED, without taking a single lux from where the customer buys.
3F Filippi solutions combine high-efficiency LED technology and intelligent control systems to enhance products, reduce consumption and improve the operational management of the whole sales floor: luminaires with DALI-2 and D4i drivers, wireless versions for retrofits, integrated presence and light sensors, Tunable White to change the colour temperature of departments, platforms that monitor consumption and installation status remotely — for one store or for the whole chain.
This page explains the strategies that work in food retail and how they integrate with the store's building management. The lighting design department by department is on the lighting for supermarkets page; if the installation is still fluorescent or metal halide, the starting point is supermarket relamping, which with the right luminaires brings controls in together with LED.
The strategies are the same as in offices and industry, but in a supermarket the weights change: time scheduling is worth more than presence, because the sales floor is always occupied when open; presence pays in back of house, stockrooms, cold rooms and toilets; daylight matters at entrances and in malls; scenes are a sales tool, not just a saving. Values are orders of magnitude on an already efficient LED installation.
| Strategy | Typical saving | Where it pays most in the store | What it requires |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scenes by phase of the day (restocking, opening, evening, cleaning) | 15–25% | The whole sales floor: restocking and cleaning at 50%, opening at 100%, evening with reduced accents | Control system with clock, zones by department, stored scenes, manual override |
| Presence in back of house, stockrooms, cold rooms, toilets and offices | 30–50% on those areas | Stockroom, cold rooms, preparation rooms, changing rooms, toilets, service corridors | Sensors integrated in the luminaires (3F Petra Sensor, wireless versions), standby level in cold rooms |
| Daylight dimming | 10–20% on the affected zones | Glazed entrances, malls, skylit areas, tills near the windows | Light sensors by zone, DALI dimmable luminaires |
| Constant illuminance and peak reduction | 10–15% | The whole sales floor | Dimmable driver, initial setting below 100%, maintenance curve |
| Tunable White and scenes by department | Sales, not just energy | Fresh food, bakery, seasonal promotions, areas with layout changes | Tunable White luminaires (3F HD, 3F Dìagon P), scenes by department |
| Energy monitoring and diagnostics (D4i) | Decisions and maintenance | Store chains, maintenance contracts, certifications | D4i drivers, gateway to BMS or cloud, central dashboard |
Adding up scheduling, presence in service areas and daylight, a typical supermarket cuts 30–35% of lighting consumption compared with the same LED installation without controls — which already used 60% less than fluorescent. EN 15232-1 classifies the level of automation: scheduling, presence and daylight dimming by zone earn class A, the one that counts in the energy certification of the commercial building.
Three technical choices that set a smart installation for food retail apart from one for offices, and how 3F Filippi luminaires address them.
High colour rendering LEDs (CRI > 90 for display areas and windows) with colour temperatures calibrated for food — CRISP, MEAT and BREAD LEDs for fresh produce — ICE versions down to −40 °C for cold rooms and refrigerated counters, SDCM 3 colour tolerance. All versions dim from 0.1 to 100% without flicker, with the same tint at every level. Tunable White versions (3F HD, 3F Dìagon P) change colour temperature on command: warmer for the bakery in the morning, more neutral on the aisles, different for the seasonal promotion.
DALI-2 (IEC 62386) is the choice for new stores and complete relampings: every luminaire has an address, zones follow the departments and are redefined by software at every layout change, and Binario 3F carries the DALI signal to the spotlights on fresh food too. With D4i the drivers report consumption, hours and temperatures. Wireless versions suit retrofits on existing installations without a bus: sensors and zones are configured from a smartphone, with no extra cables in the suspended ceiling.
Housings in extruded aluminium or painted sheet steel, diffusers in polycarbonate or methacrylate, BAT optics for the aisles and adjustable ones on the tracks: the mechanics are those of the supermarket page, the electronics add the control.
A gateway connects the lighting to the store's BMS (BACnet, Modbus, KNX via dedicated platforms): same opening hours, integration with intrusion detection and with the refrigeration system, automatic switch-off at closing. In store chains a central platform shows consumption, status and faults of every shop, and allows the scenes of the whole chain to be changed at once. Luminaires compliant with EN 60598-1 and the requirements for premises open to the public, CE and ENEC certifications and HACCP suitability for food areas.
The four results that store management, energy managers and maintenance measure in the first year.
High colour rendering LEDs and dynamic light control according to display needs: accents on fresh food rise at opening and at peak hours, colour temperature changes with the department and the season, the promotion of the week has its own light without moving a luminaire.
Smart systems that adapt the light to customer presence and natural light: restocking and cleaning at half level, back of house and cold rooms lit only when someone enters, entrances that follow the day. It is the 30–35% that LED alone cannot remove.
Customisable lighting scenes and adjustable luminaires to follow layout changes and promotions: zones are redefined by software, not by the electrician, and the same scene is replicated across all stores in the chain.
Remote monitoring and predictive diagnostics through smart platforms: D4i drivers report hours, temperatures and faults, and maintenance intervenes in the scheduled window — at night, with the store closed — instead of with an aisle in the dark during opening hours.
The ranges for aisles, fresh food, tills and back of house are available in DALI-2 and D4i versions, many with integrated sensor or wireless module, some in Tunable White. The range pages give control variants, optics, spectra by merchandise and calculation files.
Other retail ranges with DALI or wireless control: Mira Wall, 3F HD R, 3F Eldorado, 3F Six R, 3F LED Panel, L 320, L 340, L 350, L 360, L 490, 3F Reno, Zero 3F Track, 3F Zeta Track, 3F Linux, Binario 3F, 3F Mirella, 3F Mirella Floor, 3F Filoluce, 3F C8, Lucequadro.
Two hypermarkets where the light is managed by department and by phase of the day.
It improves product presentation, reduces energy consumption and allows more efficient management of the installation through automation and remote monitoring. In practice: accents on fresh food and promotions rise when the store is busy and fall when not needed, restocking and cleaning are done at half level, back of house and cold rooms light up only with someone inside, and the energy manager sees the consumption of every department — or every store in the chain — from a single dashboard. The typical saving is 30–35% on an installation that is already LED.
Yes. 3F Filippi smart luminaires are designed to operate in thermally critical environments and guarantee constant performance in refrigerated areas too: ICE versions work down to −40 °C, drivers and sensors are qualified for cold and condensation, and presence control in cold rooms — with a standby level that never leaves the room dark — is one of the highest-yield strategies, because in a cold room light left on is also heat to remove.
Through central control, the ability to create lighting scenes and predictive diagnostics, smart lighting improves efficiency, maintenance and coordination of the whole sales floor. Light scenes dedicated to the different sales needs — restocking, opening, peak hour, evening, cleaning — are recalled by clock or by a command, layout changes are handled by redefining zones in software, and driver faults reach maintenance before a department goes dark. In store chains, the same platform governs all the shops.
A scene is a stored combination of levels — and, with Tunable White, of colour temperatures — for every zone of the store. A supermarket typically uses three or four: restocking at 50% on the aisles with accents off; opening at 100% with accents on fresh food and promotions; evening with full general light and reduced accents where footfall drops; cleaning with reduced general light and back of house on. They are recalled by clock, by a button at the tills or by the BMS, and edited in software without touching the installation.
It depends on how much can be wired. In a complete relamping, where luminaires are replaced and the bus can be laid together with the supply, DALI-2 gives the most complete control, with D4i data, Binario 3F carrying the signal to the spotlights and direct integration with the BMS. Where the existing wiring stays and no control cable can be added, wireless versions allow zones, sensors and scenes without cabling, configured from a smartphone. The two systems coexist through gateways: you can start with wireless in the back of house and move to DALI on the sales floor at the next refit.
Often yes, with rules that vary by country and over time. Lighting control systems generally count among the energy-efficiency measures recognised by white certificates, business tax credits and regional schemes, and class A automation to EN 15232-1 counts in the energy certification of the commercial building. What all of them require is a measurement of the saving: D4i data are exactly that measurement. Our technical department prepares the savings documentation; eligibility should be checked with your own adviser or an ESCo.
With the floor plan, opening and restocking hours, the position of glazed entrances and the list of departments, our technical department estimates the saving of each strategy and proposes the level of automation that really pays back. No obligation.
