Bay lighting is a type of lighting which is perfect for areas with tall ceilings. These include factories, warehouses, manufacturing facilities, and other such structures. Before you choose bay lighting for your building, you need to consider a few things. First, you need to measure your ceiling’s height. Also, you need to consider the lighting requirements of your building. Do this so you can determine whether you need high or low bay lighting fixtures. In this article, we’ll talk about high bay versus low bay lighting. Hopefully, all this information will allow you to pick the best lighting option out there.
Let’s define the lighting options
In order to understand these fixtures better, let’s define them. High bay lights are those used with really high ceilings. Those between 15-20 feet or more in height. Generally, high bay lighting fixtures may have lens angles or reflectors. These spread the light as you prefer. The former is for LED bulbs and the latter is for HID. Of course, different lighting projects may vary. They would need different approaches depending on their application.
Now let’s talk about low bay lighting fixtures. These are typically used with ceilings below 20 feet in height. The lens and reflectors of low bay lights also spread their lights. You can still maintain the lighting level you desire while using a number of the fixtures in your space.
How do they differ?
One of the major differences between high and low bay lights is the ceiling height they’re used in. Also, the lumen output and intensity of the bulbs vary in these lighting features. Finally, the lens angles or reflectors vary from one application to another. These will depend on the ceiling height of the structure. Also, they will depend on the lighting requirements.
There are cases when the application in the space clearly leans towards low or high bay lighting. In this case, then you have an easy choice. But if you aren’t sure what type of fixture to get, it’s best to contact a bay lighting professional. It’s very important to install the right fixtures and install them properly. If not, it may result in bad levels of lighting. In cases like these, you might have under or over-lit areas in your structure. This may cause unsafe conditions and it might also cost you a lot of money in the long-run.
The best applications of high bay and low bay lighting
If you need to install lighting in a huge indoor space, you may need to use a high bay lighting. Such spaces include gymnasiums, manufacturing facilities, warehouses, and more. Any structure with a ceiling of 15-20 feet or more in height would need high bay lighting. On the other hand, when the ceiling is less than 20 feet, you may use low bay lighting.
This is because the lighting in such spaces needs to cover a lot of horizontal and vertical space. Therefore, the fixtures need to produce a lumen output that’s really bright. A lot of low and high bay lighting fixtures create a diffused light to reduce glare. Also, such fixtures are usually suspension-mounted using hooks or chains. But depending on your choice, you may also surface-mount the fixture.
High bay lighting fixtures are generally used in spaces with high areas and ceilings. They provide uniform and well-distributed light for these areas. One thing you need from high bay lights is it should be able to illuminate the vertical surfaces. Also, the illumination should also reach the floor. Vertical lighting is especially important for warehouse applications and other such structures.
Basically, low bay lighting works the same way as high bay ones do. But they’re better suited to heights with lower mounting. The major difference would be in the types of lamps, reflectors, and optics you choose. So before you choose the lighting to use, make sure you know what your building needs. In doing this, you’ll be able to select the perfect fixture and get the most out of it.