An Overview Of High Bay Lighting

There are many different lighting options used in large spaces. However, when large spaces include high ceilings and when light distribution is essential for safety, high bay lighting using LED bulbs is an option that is cost efficient and offers significant advantages.

What is High Bay Lighting?

High bay LED lighting is used in facilities, venues, and buildings where there are high ceilings. These will typically be ceilings that are at least 15 feet high but may be as much as double or more that height.

The fixtures themselves can have several different shapes and styles. With the LED bulbs, the light produced is clear, white and true, eliminating color distortions that are common with other types of lighting options for large spaces.

Advantages Over HPS

A common type of light for these types of venues is a high-pressure sodium or HPS. These lights are lower cost than metal halide lights but they don’t have the long life of the LED bulbs nor do they offer the energy savings over their life.

Additionally, these bulbs have a long warm-up cycle while the LED lights are quick to switch on and turn off.

Advantages Over Metal Halide

Compared to metal halide, LED lights used in high bay fixtures still offer the same benefits. The metal halide bulbs may take 15 minutes or more to completely warm up and provide full light, while they also are prone to flickering, something that does not occur with LED technology.

Advantages Over Fluorescent

Utilizing LED high bay lighting will dramatically reduce the number of bulbs that will need to be changed in warehouse or large facility compared to using fluorescent light. In addition, turning fluorescents on and off will reduce the life of bulbs, but this is not a concern with LED fixtures and bulbs.

While there is an initial cost to upgrading to high bay LED lighting, the benefits and long-term savings are well worth the upfront costs.