Unlike regular commercial buildings, warehouses are large structures with high ceilings, few windows, elevated shelving, and massive floor spaces. Areas with such characteristics call for lighting systems that not only have wide beam spreads offering good coverage, but are also bright enough to allow workers to complete their tasks effectively. 

Switching to proper warehouse lighting benefits both business owners and workers, as it ensures a well-lit, brighter and cooler space (temperature-wise) and enhanced workplace safety for employees with reduced heavy equipment accidents, losses, and damages to the property. Not to mention it is a low-cost choice, especially since lighting makes up the biggest portion of warehouse energy usage. 

So if you are planning to upgrade your warehouse’s lighting and need some recommendations, you can check out our industrial lighting range here. 

For further insights, scroll down and give this blog a read. Our team at IKIO LED Lighting hopes that it will make your transition to LED warehouse lighting easier and hassle-free!

Common Choice of Fixtures for Warehouse Lighting

Before we delve into the best ways to choose fixtures for a warehouse, let’s first learn about the different kinds of lights available in the market. The most preferred category of light amongst businesses is High Bay Lighting—with options of Linear or Round/UFO style fixtures. Apart from that, low-profile and drop-ceiling luminaires such as Panel Lights, Troffers, Wallpacks & Tubelights are also commonly used to cover additional areas like parking lots, driveways, garages, and security zones. 

IKIO offers a vast selection of options in High Bays, Panel Lights, Troffers, Wallpacks & Tubelights for commercial and industrial projects!

Our two Bestsellers—Upstar Round High Bay and Lineo Linear High Bay—have been absolute favorites of our industrial customers. Both these luminaires come with CCT selectable (35-40-50K for UFO & 40-50K for Lineo) & Power selectable (240-200-150-100W for UFO and 165-135-110-80 W for Lineo) capabilities, making them suitable for a variety of applications and mounting heights. With an efficacy of up to 157 lm/W, 90° beam angle, high CRI, and sensor & dimming options, our high bay range covers all your LED lighting upgrade needs!

We also offer a range of tube lights with various specifications and features to help you up your warehouse lighting game as per your business requirements—T5 Tubes (Type B), T8 Tubes (Type B as well as Type A&B), T8 U-Bend Tubes (Type A&B), and T8 Emergency Tubes (Type B).

Designing a Warehouse Light Layout

By having your warehouse’s light layout ready first, you can avoid a lot of hassle during the overhaul process. Start by measuring the space between the fixtures, as well as the height they will be at. While calculating the dimensions, make sure also to review existing light locations (if any), as using already available fixture points can make installations much easier and help reduce the cost. The next step is to lay out the grid. Here’s the rule: the higher you go, the brighter the fixture and the farther the spacing will be. For example, for a luminaire placed at the height of 15 ft, you will need about 20,000 lumen output, and the spacing should be about 14 ft on average. Similarly, for a luminaire at the height of 25 feet, 30,000 lumen output and 20 ft spacing are appropriate.

Consulting a reliable lighting professional who can provide you with a photometric can be a great idea. At IKIO, we offer precise photometric reports within 24 hours of placing the request, created by our experienced team using advanced software. The dependability of these reports ensure that your lighting system adheres to IES & other industry standards.

Get Our Expert’s Help for Your Photometrics!

What If the Lights Are Control Integrated?

If you are upgrading your warehouse lighting system for energy efficiency and hence choosing LEDs, going for control-integrated lights might be a great idea! LEDs allow effortless integration with motion sensors, giving the ability to access and control individual units of the lighting system based on the operations and motions within specific spaces of the warehouse. The extra cost savings—as sensors will automatically dim down the lights or completely turn them off when not used—is just an added advantage to it all!

Our latest offering—Apex Linear Low Bay—is one of our best industrial lights with both CCT & Power Selectable (30K-40K-50K & 70-60-50W) capability and Integrated Sensors (Daylight, Occupancy, Multifunction). With efficacy up to 156 lm/W, iron housing, 130° beam angle, dimming, and 80+ CRI, Apex makes the perfect solution for all your retrofitting and new projects. With it, you can save up to 80% more energy than traditional lighting fixtures. 

Check Our Apex Linear Low Bay Here!

What to Consider When Choosing Your Warehouse Lighting?

Appropriate Lumens at Various Heights

The lumen output of lights differs as they are moved up in height. We recommend creating a plan that charts the lumen suitability of the fixtures first; however, to provide you with a rough idea as to where your warehouse lights will be the brightest but not overly so, here is an estimate:

• The fixtures should be at 12-15 ft for about 10,000-15,000 lumens. At such lower heights, more fixtures will be needed at fewer lumens.
• For fixtures at a height of 15-20 ft, the suggested lumens are 16,000-20,000.
• About 25-35 ft is ideal for 33,000 lumen lights, as the size of the area increased, and hence, it became important to increase the number of lumens.

Best Wattages for Fixtures

While traditionally, wattages have been given great importance in lighting solutions, with LEDs, they are no longer a reliable metric for energy usage or brightness. This is because good-quality LED lights can easily produce more luminosity at lower wattage levels. Therefore, lighting professionals today focus more on lumens for measuring light output.

Here’s an example: suppose you had been using a 250 W metal halide light for 11,000 - 14,000 lumens previously and need a replacement for it. If you switch to LED, you can easily go for a light with 80-100 W for the same lumen output. Even if it costs the same, LED lights offer greater benefits long-term, as known. 

As noted, higher ceiling heights do require fixtures with more lumen output and power, so the fixtures must be chosen depending on the size of the warehouse.

The Right Color Temperatures for Your Light

When deciding on CCT for warehouse lighting, finding the right balance is the key. You may want your warehouse to be bright but not so much that it causes discomfort for your employees working there. Usually, high bays within the 4000 K - 5000 K range are a recommended choice for warehouses.

This range is ideal because it emits slightly bluish-white light, which has been proven to help reduce strain on the eyes and headaches. In addition, this CCT also provides a well-lit space to encourage employee productivity and safety.

If you are looking for other options apart from High Bays, IKIO Delphi Troffers are also great for warehouses. Not only are they CCT & Power Selectable, but also come with features such as 5780 lm lumen output, 80+ CRI, durable build, and a solid finish, allowing them to deliver uniform and flicker-free lighting in your industrial spaces. 

The Spacing Between Fixtures

Spacing is an incredibly important aspect of lighting. If fixtures are too close, there will be hotspots and/or glare in places where the light overlaps. If fixtures are too far apart, there will be dark spots or illumination "drop-offs".

Hence accurate calculation for spacing is a must in warehouse lighting projects, and for that, multiple factors should be taken into consideration—especially the height of the lights, beam angle, and desired footcandles. Here’s what is usually implemented:

• For fixtures at 15 ft ceiling height, about 12 ft spacing is suggested for bright lighting and 15 ft spacing for normal lighting. 
• For fixtures at 20 ft ceiling height, you can go for 15 ft spacing for bright lighting and 18 ft spacing for normal lighting. 
• For fixtures at 30 ft ceiling height, you can go for 20 ft spacing for bright lighting and 25 ft spacing for normal lighting. 

How Many Lights Should Be Used?

It depends on the use, height, and width of the area. You need to:

• Determine the use of lighting and desired footcandles for it. 
• Then, determine the appropriate lumens needed per fixture.
• Finally, spacing is decided for even lighting, along with things like dimming and beam angle. 

To get a good idea of lighting specs and ideal positioning, it is best to take the help of a Lighting Consultant who can help you correctly map out the lighting system. Our experts at IKIO can not only guide you with the most appropriate lighting but can also help you with everything, from spacing to the number of fixtures. We offer thoroughly done photometric reports within 24 hours of turn-around time!

Click Here to Request Photometric Services!

Dimming Should be Used or Not?

Last but not least,  dimming is a great way to reduce energy consumption, save money, and set the light level you want, and hence, can be a great addition to your lights. It is always easier to reduce lighting than to have to add more. Most of our lights at IKIO LED Lighting come with 0-10 V dimming technology. 

Other Considerations

Control-integrated lights are a technology of today. Controls like occupancy, vacancy, and daylight sensors are a great upgrade to include in a lighting retrofit. For warehouses, this will mean less manpower and ease of operations. Such sensors can automatically turn lights on when someone is in the space and turns them off after periods of no activity. Great for both energy savings and safety and productivity. 

So we hope this blog has helped you gain clarity on the things you need to look for when choosing to light for your warehouse. Once you have a general idea of how you would like to go about your warehouse lighting, feel free to reach out to our team of Lighting Professionals. 

We will start with a site visit, then prepare an energy audit to show you how much you will save cost and energy-wise by switching to LED Lighting!

Contact Your IKIO Representative Today by Clicking Here!