Business lighting is not the same as home lighting. Most people use the light source the home was built with, but for businesses, the attention is diverted to the amount of energy being used and the amount of money spent on it. It’s why an LED high bay lighting calculator was developed. What does this mean?
High Bay Light Space
This is in reference to the distance between light fixtures and determines how much light is distributed throughout a building. You don’t want to struggle for light in your building, obviously, and usually don’t have to because there is one basic rule on spacing: the Led’s height is noted as the space between them. By following this rule and using the high bay LED lights calculator, your business can have plenty of light. As the rule stands:
- Lights mounted at 20-ft must be 20-ft. apart.
- Lights mounted at 35-ft must be 35 ft. apart.
High Bay LED Lights Layouts Calculator
You can use the LED lights layout calculator to successful install your lights. You’ll need to measure the width, length and height of the place where you’ll install the light to learn the number of high bay LED lights that are necessary for the area. You’ll need to consider the light fixture’s lumen output, testing them first to see how they measure up. You also need to take into consideration the foot candles to determine how many fixtures will be needed to reach your desired foot candle level.
Be aware that this calculator is only an approximation tool and should not be a replacement tool for a lighting plan or photometric design. It’s best for direction, not light placement, light distribution ability, foot candle ratios, etc.
What Total Number of High Bay Lights Should You Have?
LED high bay lights have numerous applications, including warehouse lighting and LED plant growth lights. However, you may be wondering how many of these lights you will need for your business. An optimal high nay lights layout helps to do two things – save you money and save energy. Work with professional lighting experts to get a good idea of how many lights you need to be installed in your place of business.
If your warehouse needs LED high bay lights, you have two options – replace the metal halide light or install new lights.
Replace Current Lights
If you opt for the upgrade option, be aware that LED high bay lights can save energy and, in turn, save you money even if it’s got the same lumen brightness. That’s because less power is being used: a 1000w metal halide light is similar to a 400W LED high lay light. If you need 8000 watts in an area, you need eight 400W LED light bay lights installed.
New Installation
Lumen output is affected by the height of the area the light is needed. For example:
- 10-15 feet high needs 10,000-15,000 lumens of lights
- 15-20 feet high needs 16,000 to 20,000 lumens of lights
- 25-35 feet high needs 33,000 lumens of lights
Besides taking height into consideration, you need to consider the spacing for these lights. Too densely installed will add to your energy cost, and too far apart results in inadequate lighting. A good rule of thumb is 15 feet high light can brighten 12 feet of space. 20 feet high light can brighten 15 feet of space, with a normal brightness at 18 feet. 30 feet high light can brighten 20 feet of space with 25 feet of normal lighting.
Desired LED High Bay Light Space
There are all kinds of LED high bay lights offered for purchase, with varying wattages and lumens. This includes
- 60 watts with 8100 lumens
- 100 watts with 13000~ 14000 lumens
- 150 watts with 20000~21000 lumens
- 200 watts with 27000~ 28000 lumens
- 250 watts with 30000~ 35000 lumens
Although you have information about the LED high bay lights’ brightness and wattage, you still need to know spacing. To consider them, look at other aspects like installation height and lights with varying watts applied to the space.
- For 0 – 9 feet, the recommendation is 60 watts.
- For 10 – 15 feet, the recommendation is 100 watts.
- For 14 – 18 feet, the recommendation is 150 watts.
- For 18 – 20 feet, the recommendation is 200 watts.
- For 21+ feet, the recommendation is 240 watts.
High Bay Lighting Space and Distance of Installation
If you go with LED high bay lights for your business, there are two things you must consider – lighting space and installation distance. There are usually three situations that play into this:
- 15 to 19-feet high – For factory space lighting, you want the distance for your LED high bay lights to be around 10 to 12 feet apart. With normal, uniform lighting, keep the distance to around 14 feet.
- 20 to 29-feet high – If you want more lighting in the area, the light fixture distance should be around 20 feet. Again, standard lighting needs a 14-foot distance. A greater height means more LED high bay lights will be necessary.
- 30+ feet – For businesses with high ceilings, the spacing for light should be about 20 feet to ensure brightness. For normal light and bright conditions, 25-feet of space is best, but the lumen output should be anywhere from 400 to 1,000 watts.
2 Ways to Determine LED High Lay Lights Layout
You want more than adequate lighting for the working area when determining where to install the LED high bay lights. With plenty of lighting, workers feel you care about their safety as it helps to lower the number of workplace incidents. It’s imperative to have even and adequate lighting, and you should be mindful of color temperature and high luminous flux. When installing lights, there are two things to consider:
- Lighting Type – Find the right lighting type, such as general lighting, local lighting or combined lighting.
- Light Selection – Determine what lighting will be best for your area, but always go with waterproof, dustproof and LED-explosion proof LED lights.
