How To Know It’s Time To upgrade Your Warehouse High Bay Lighting

2019-08-31

If you have  HID or fluorescent high-bay, and most industrial facilities are still in use, then it's time to upgrade, it's that simple.

In today's fast-paced industrial environment, it's sometimes difficult to stop and look around and really see the state of your factory.

For example, in the past few months, I have been to many warehouses and factories, and the lighting level of traditional lighting is too low.

Insufficient lighting can adversely affect industrial facilities: slower picking times in warehouses or lack of quality checks in manufacturing units are just two general examples.

The most important thing for me is the safety hazard to employees.

Everyone has the right to leave the job in the same way.

Lighting systems, especially now, should never be the cause of in-service injuries.

Many of the managers I talked to didn’t know where to start.

Fortunately, checking the current system does not need to be a laborious process.

Here are five questions I used to help people determine if they should start looking for new LED high bay lighting.

What type of high bay lighting do you currently have?

If you have HID or fluorescent overhead, most industrial facilities are still in use and then upgraded. It's that simple.

You missed the advantages of LED lighting: energy savings, maintenance savings, high quality lighting, code compliance, controllability and integration with other systems.

Are your high bays always on?

If they’re always on, you can reduce your energy consumption by up to 80% in some cases by adding controls that will ensure your lights only stay on when the space is in use or as dictated by code (think egress).

Why pay for light you don’t need?

Is your high bay light controlled by a manual switch?

Automated control dims and turns lights on and off based on the time of day, using daylight, occupancy, load shedding events, etc., so you can automatically save additional costs, so it saves you time.

Who has time to remember to turn on the switch?

Do you have any elevated shelves now?

If there is a problem with any high bay light, it is time to upgrade. A dysfunctional high bay light can cause low productivity because your staff can't see the job correctly.

But more importantly, insufficient lighting can lead to safety risks. No one wants to call someone else's family.

Is your light level low and difficult to see?

it is easy to adapt to lower levels of light over time. Before you buy a new light bulb or light bulb, you don't realize how bad it is.

If your staff can't easily see the lot number from the top rack to the bottom shelf, or if clarity is needed around a dangerous machine, productivity and safety will be affected. HIDs and fluorescent overheads will soon dim, requiring maintenance and replacement of the bulb.

Many facility managers wait for a few people to go out and save on maintenance costs, but at the same time, your production floor may be dimmed. The Lighting Engineering Society (IES) recommends 20-100 foot candles for most industrial high shed applications to ensure adequate lighting and safety for workers

With LED overhead solutions, there is no reason to endure less.

Other tools can show you what to look for in different LED solutions to make the best decisions and investments for your industrial facilities.

Check out Adiding’s manufacturing site which has a great guide to LED high bays available for download.