Warehouse Lighting – A Guide to Properly Illuminating Your Warehouse

Last updated on December 12, 2023

Warehouse lighting is an important part of any warehouse operations. The type of lighting you choose will impact how well you can see and operate in the warehouse. Warehouse lighting can be a complex topic, but with this guide you will have a better understanding of what to look for when purchasing new warehouse lighting. So whether you are looking to update an existing warehouse or are starting from scratch, read on for all the information you need on warehouse lighting.

Types of LED Lights That Can be Uses in Warehouse

High bay LED lights
Linear LED lights
Floodlights
Panel lights
Emergency LED lights
LED Downlights
LED Batten lights
Wall Pack Lights
Troffer lights

Warehouse lighting is an essential tool to provide an enhanced user experience in the premises, promoting efficient management, safe operations, and facilitating access to stored products.

The capacity of warehouses for tool, equipment and product storage has gradually made these spaces more and more essential for businesses to grow and has opened up new markets based entirely on storage capability.

The smooth operation of warehouses is therefore essential, and can be ensured and improved with proper warehouse lighting. Most commonly used today are energy-efficient LED lighting products.

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Below are 5 major reasons to use LED lighting in the warehouse:

1. Minimizes Maintenance Costs

Since warehouses are deeply tied to business operations, the operating cost of warehouses and warehouse lighting can be a substantial overhead expense for the business.

As businesses look for solutions to cut losses and operating costs in order to save money while maintaining operation of the warehouse, LED lighting plays a key role in cutting maintenance costs. LED lights have a long life span of 100,000 hours, which translates into almost 11 years of continuous operation.

This long-life drastically cuts operating costs, in addition to improving the light quality. In essence, LED technology can be modified for different operating conditions, traffic patterns and specific settings.

2. Promotes Productivity

In a warehouse setting, accurate colour representation is essential for product handling and manoeuvring. Traditional lighting often causes flickering of the light, which studies have shown is a root cause of eyestrain and headaches to employees.

LED lighting, on the other hand, eliminates all flickering lights, regardless of the operating conditions.

LED Lights can therefore promote productivity by avoiding lighting distractions, as well as maintaining comfortable and safe working conditions for the employees.

Also Read: 10 reasons why your LED lights Flicker

3. Reduces Costs By Up To 80%

Another major expense businesses try to cut down on is energy usage. LED technology can cut down the energy consumption of lighting systems by at least 70% compared to traditional lighting. Adding motion sensors to the lighting system can further reduce energy expenditure by 80% in the warehouse.

4. Ensures Safety And Pleasant Ambience

LED lights offer a great array of lighting options that can create pleasant lighting patterns, transforming the warehouse environment into more comfortable settings for employees with long work shifts or late night shifts.

Since LED light fixtures instantly turn on with high levels of brightness, there’s no need to worry about slow transitions to full brightness with repetitive switching as the employees move around the warehouse.

5. Makes Use Of Frequent Switching

LED lights are semiconductors that can be turned off immediately and turned back on instantly with no effects on the lighting quality or the bulbs themselves.

Accordingly, the power and lifespan of the LED lighting fixtures aren’t compromised from frequent switching, as they are using traditional light sources which deteriorate rapidly.

Main Restrictions For Warehouse Lighting

Warehouses are often large structures with few windows, high ceilings, elevated shelving and massive floor spaces. All these unique characteristics require a specific lighting system that provides sufficient light to all the spaces required and allows workers to complete their tasks.

Owners should inform the LED lighting installation service provider about these details and unique specifications for choosing and installing the proper fixtures.

For example, in spaces with high ceilings, it is recommended to use a specific lighting fixture such as an LED High Bay light fixture.

Different Warehouse Lighting Solutions

There are several LED lighting designs for warehouse spaces. Interestingly, the best lighting fixtures come in non-standard forms, such as round and directional. Below are some examples of warehouse lighting solutions:

LED High Bay Lighting

The installation of LED High Bays is the best choice for industrial and commercial warehouses with high ceilings, as each fixture can provide a bright light level to the working area. For instance, a 200W high bay lighting is perfect for a 50-feet high ceiling.

Round LED High Bays

Many warehouse owners prefer round LED High Bays over standard light fixtures for chain stores making this option the chosen type of lighting solution for shopping spaces to benefit both employees and customers.

Directional LED Channel Retrofit

To emit light from angles, the best solutions are directional LED Channel Retrofit types. They’re beneficial when installed on ceilings and the upper part of walls to emit light both directly and at an angle.

LED Lighting for the Warehouse: Savings on Maintenance Costs and Energy

To reduce expensive electricity bills and general operating costs, warehouse owners are using LED lighting technology to make yearly savings of more than 25,000$ in energy costs, when replacing their traditional lighting with LED lights.

This is due to the fact that LED lights are far more energy efficient than traditional sources of light, producing high light outputs for a fraction of the power consumed.

Additionally, LED lights can be turned on immediately to full brightness, which eliminates the wasted energy that traditional lights consume to reach full brightness.

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Dimming Solution For Warehouse Lighting

Dimming options are a great solution for managing the different spaces within the warehouse, and there are specialty LED products made for this purpose, to relieve owners from the stress of worrying about warehouse lighting management.

One such product is the luminous flux adjustor for your warehouse lighting.

Emerald Planet dimmer for warehouse lights

This is a perfect solution for spaces that receive natural light from daylight in some areas, over different periods of time during the day. This device can send a command to the light fixtures in the specific area to reduce the light output, or eliminate it altogether.

Simply put, a dimming solution is available for LED lighting.

This solution further reduces the energy consumption of the LED light and makes the system more efficient by using less power. Additionally, the lifespan of the LED bulb will increase when operating in dimming mode.

Motion Sensors For Warehouse Lighting Management

Lighting systems in warehouses should ensure sustainability, operability and efficiency and guarantee safe and comfortable working conditions. A practical solution to achieve these targets is the use of motion sensors.

With traditional lighting systems, units are either far or difficult to individually access and control, leading to weak light management where they are installed.

However, LED lighting allows for very easy integration with motion sensors, and gives the option to access and control individual units of the lighting system, based on the operations and motion within the spaces of the warehouse.

Fitting the space with motion sensors provides the added advantage of money savings on electricity bills, since these sensors will dim down or completely turn off lighting in areas that are not used

Are LED lights Safe for Warehouses?

Based on the feedback of numerous business owners and warehouse managers, LED lights are not only safe for use within warehouses, but also seem to promote a safer working environment.

LED lights eliminate the problems of light flickering and fluctuating light levels that cause eye strain, headaches and general discomfort, making them safer and more practical for warehouse usage.

Additionally, warehouses have vast spaces, deep aisles and tall shelving structures that tend to leave dark gaps at edges and corners, possibly causing accidents or errors.

LED lights provide a bright, uniform light output that spreads deep and wide within the warehouses, eliminating brightness gaps and illuminating the entire spaces consistently.

5 TIPS TO PROPERLY LIGHT YOUR WAREHOUSE

3D diagram for warehouse lighting process

Image By: Salient Group

Facility managers and warehouse owners plan and install lighting systems based on expert advice and suggestions. There are basic tips to look for in order to properly illuminate a storage facility. Below is a list of the 5 main tips to follow and what you should consider when upgrading the lighting system of your warehouse.

1. Identify the lighting levels

Identifying the level of lighting required to illuminate a storage space is a key figure to determine before completing the lighting selection.

There are a handful of design guides that provide the lighting levels based on a number of factors in addition to calculation methods used to determine the degree of installation of light fixtures.

Each warehouse space is unique in its architecture, structure and operation and thus the lighting system needs to be studied based on the specific layouts, to employ the calculation results as a basis for planning. This will provide the warehouse with the unique lighting system that properly and uniformly illuminates the space.

2. Take advantage of natural light if possible

Allowing sunlight into the warehouse can be a great solution to reduce operating costs and provide a natural light source, and should be studied during the planning process.

The most straightforward option is through holes in the roof of the warehouse, however this might not be practical due to rain and weather issues.

Depending on the structure and layout of the warehouse, different solutions can be employed from high windows to retractable roofs, however the most recommended are special roof lights with solar glazing.

These solutions are used to draw ample sunlight into the space and provide protection, and should be studied for the project to weigh their benefits against their high upfront costs.

3. Plan the lighting system based on the warehouse environment

The unique layout and distribution of the warehouse needs to be closely examined when installing or upgrading the lighting system.

The space should be studied with reference to operating areas, available windows, layout of shelves, spacing of aisles, among other factors. A redesign of the space should be considered when planning the lighting system, as they are directly correlated.

For example, if more windows can be added to the warehouse, then the space would require less lighting fixtures.

4. Calculate the approximate energy consumption

Another key planning factor is the energy consumption of the lighting system and the methods that can be employed to decrease the energy expenditure and ultimately to decrease operating costs. This adjustment is dependent on the facility layout as well as the types of products stored in the warehouse.

Additionally, the operation of the warehouse needs to be studied to determine the details of the lighting system, and if it allows for using lighting control and motion sensors to dim certain spaces, to further reduce energy consumption.

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5. Adopt new lighting technology where possible

There are currently a number of lighting products to assist in proper warehouse operation and management. Upgrading the warehouse lighting system can incur a significant expense, a well-studied and dependable plan needs to be set before upgrading and installing the fixtures.

It is highly recommended to employ LED lights for the upgrade. LED lights use 70% less energy when compared to traditional lighting systems and have a longer life span based on the same operation.

LED lights produce a higher lighting output that is more uniform for lower power levels and also eliminates the warm-up time to get to full brightness. These added benefits make the space brighter and more comfortable at a fraction of the energy needed for traditional systems.

Moreover, LED lights emit far less heat than traditional lighting systems. Warehouses often offset this additional heat by increasing the air conditioning loads, especially in spaces with delicate products.

Using LED lights would add the extra advantage of lowering energy spent on cooling, further decreasing the energy consumption.

Finally, LED lights are more sustainable than traditional lighting products offering a more environmentally friendly solution than incandescent bulbs.

What is the power required for Warehouse Lighting

With the lower wattage LED lighting, savings can be made to the power levels, however, using levels that are too low, can result in inefficient or poor lighting. This may have a negative impact on productivity and safety in the warehouse.

The appropriate power required for the warehouse lighting can only be accurately analyzed by studying the warehouse space and structure. It is always recommended to get help from professional LED installers to make an accurate estimate.

How Bright Should the Lighting Be?

The level of brightness in the warehouse depends on the space between the floor and ceiling and the type of products to be handled in the storage area.

Typically in spaces that handle large products, the suggested lumen requirement is 10 lumens per square foot. On the other hand, if small items need to be handled in the storage space, the level increases to 30 lumens per square foot.

What Color Temperature is Good for Warehouse Lighting?

The perfect lighting color temperature for use in warehouses is between 4000K and 5000K. This range of color temperatures provide a cool white with a bluish tint. Studies have shown that this range and output helps diminish eyestrain and promotes increased productivity at work.

How Efficient are Warehouse Low Bay and High Bay Lighting?

Warehouses require a reliable lighting system which promotes user experience on one hand, and provides the owner with a low operational cost.

LED high bay lighting is remarkably efficient for warehouse areas that have ceilings of 20-40 feet in height. If the ceiling height is below 20 feet, LED low bay lighting is a more efficient option.

How Much Money will LED Light Save Compared to Halogen and Fluorescent Lighting?

The shorter lifespans, flickering and switching deterioration make halogen and fluorescent lighting systems very expensive to operate and maintain. Upgrading the facility lighting to LED fixtures would drastically reduce these costs, thereby saving thousands of dollars each year, depending on the size and operation of the warehouse

Warehouse lighting infographic view