Buying Reclaimed Commercial Lighting

It's worth being clear on what you're buying. Everything on Material Index comes in below the cost of new, and falls into one of four types. Reclaimed fittings are taken out of a building during a strip-out and resold largely as-is. Refurbished fittings have been cleaned and repaired. Remanufactured fittings have been stripped down and rebuilt to an as-new standard, often with a fresh warranty. Excess stock is surplus new product that was never installed.

The difference is mostly price against how much work has gone into the fitting: reclaimed is the cheapest and closest to as-found, remanufactured the most rebuilt. Each listing states which applies.

As with any reclaimed electrical item, ask whether the fitting has been tested and to see the result rather than taking a general “tested” claim on faith. If it hasn't been checked, we'd suggest having a qualified electrician look it over before it goes into use.

Confirm fitting type, wattage and colour temperature match what you need. LED panels, downlights and pendant fittings aren't interchangeable even within the same broad “commercial lighting” category:

Older reclaimed fittings, particularly pre-LED stock, may be less energy efficient than current equivalents. That's usually still a fair trade against the cost and embodied carbon of buying new, but it's worth checking wattage against a modern equivalent if running costs matter for your project.

Fittings listed here come from the same pre-demolition, pre-deconstruction and pre-refurbishment audits as every other category in our marketplace, with condition and any available details recorded per item. Browse current stock in Lighting, or read about how materials are identified and graded in our audit service.