At Depond, we have just released our new range of high bay LED lighting for New Zealand so I thought I would take this opportunity to write a little about what high bay LED lights are and what they are used for.
High bay LED lights are predominantly used for, as the name suggests, high ceiling environments where to light the ground some distance below. Most models are very powerful and designed to cast light over a wide area beneath the luminaire. Some examples of the kinds of places your would typically find high bay lighting are ice skating rinks, supermarkets, department stores, warehouses, gyms, hangers, food processing plants, diary sheds and factories.
Many people also use low bay lighting, which is essentially the same thing, just with lower wattages to reduce glare. When mounted at heights of above 6m, glare becomes much less of an issue to people working on the ground meaning that high wattages can be used to better illuminate larger spaces than a similar configuration of low bay lighting would be able to achieve.
What to look for in a high bay light?
As with any lighting project, the first thing to identify is the desired level of illumination and the desired colour temperature of a work space. You will also need to determine how far apart lights can be spaced without causing large shadows on the ground. If you look at the photo above, you can see how they have installed several rows of lights within one work corridor so that no matter what is happening, people on the ground will have good vision and be safe.
Once you have figured out what you want in terms of configuration, it is important to select lights that will have the power and appropriate light distribution to cover the area evenly. If luminaires are not properly selected and the spacing is too far apart, dark areas can also appear between the luminaires. Ideally you want the light from each luminaire to be slightly overlapping with the next so that you get a nice even coverage of light throughout the workspace. Having a larger overlap is also a good safety policy to ensure sufficient light in the case that a luminaire fails and is waiting for a replacement.
High bay lighting is relatively straight forward as installations are usually more concerned with safety than aesthetics. Simple even spacing and appropriate light selection is most often all that needs to be done to ensure an appropriate lighting result. If you are interested in a high bay lighting solution, take a look at our online high bay lighting catalogue and get in touch with your requirements.