HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT LED SHOEBOX LIGHTS FOR YOUR PARKING LOT
If you are considering upgrading your lights to LED, the parking lot lights should always be the first one to take into consideration, because of the large service area of parking lot and the high energy consumption of traditional metal halide parking lot light.
It’s not easy to research dozens of websites to put all the pieces of the puzzle together and answer all of your questions about what is the right LED shoe box light Fixture for your needs. For this reason, we prepared some tips about shoebox light, Parking Lot and Area Lighting in this article.
Here are several things you need to know before converting your facility:
1. Type of facility: Is the site retail, warehouse or other commercial use?
2. Type of fixture or lamp: Wall Packs, Shoeboxes, Flood Lamp
3. Wattage of existing lamps: This gives your LED manufacture insight to the LED equivalent needed.
4. Line voltage: LED products are voltage specific, and the LED installer will need to know this detail.
5. Needs from the changes: To increase/decrease the lighting output, address a specific problem or area, meet a specific specification or code
6. The best color of light: The sun is 5778k, and in the LED industry, 5000k is considered to be the closest to natural sunlight. Outdoor lighting is often oriented to a 5000k color.
7. Quality of LED products: Quality means you trust you will not have any warranty issues, service means if you do have any issues, the integrity of service will be tasked to work its magic.
What is high bay lighting, and what applications benefit from it?
Whenever a large indoor space needs to be illuminated, high bay lighting is usually appropriate. Consider spaces like manufacturing facilities, gymnasiums, warehouses, large department stores, factories, and more; these facilities are typically vast and cover a lot of vertical as well as horizontal space. This requires powerful lighting to provide the appropriate foot-candle levels to adequately illuminate. High bay lighting fixtures typically hang from the ceiling via hooks, chains, or pendants, or they may be fixed to the ceiling directly (similar to troffer lights). The image above features high bay lighting in action.
Various industries and facilities require high bay lighting. Some of the most common are:
Warehouses
Industrial facilities (read more about Industrial LED lighting here)
Manufacturing facilities
School and university gymnasiums
Municipal facilities like community centers or recreation centers
Commercial applications like department stores
Why choose LED high bay lights instead of metal halide, fluorescent, or other conventional high bay lights?
Historically, various lighting technologies were (and still are) used in warehouse and industrial settings when high bay lights were required. Some of the most common include metal halide (MH), high pressure sodium (HPS), and fluorescent. While each of these bulbs have their merits, industrial LED lighting outperforms its conventional counterparts in important ways. Let’s take a look at some of the various considerations when deciding whether an LED retrofit is appropriate for your warehouse or industrial space.
Industrial LED lighting vs metal halide high bay light: If you’ve ever been to a ballgame, you've likely seen metal halide illuminating the field. MH lamps are common in sporting and warehouse/industrial uses (as well as any setting where large, high spaces need to be illuminated). Benefits of MH lights include decent color rendering and comparatively adequate foot-candle levels (as opposed to other types of conventional bulbs). Some of their major drawbacks are a long time to warm up (sometimes 15-30 minutes) and a high cost to maintain, and their failure characteristics include flickering on and off. This is in addition to the fact that much of the energy they produce is wasted as heat. Read more about LED versus Metal Halide Lights.
Linear LED high bay light vs high pressure sodium (HPS) lights: HPS lights are often used in warehouse, industrial, business, and recreational facilities where high bay lighting is appropriate. Their benefits include cheap selling price, high energy efficiency (low operating costs), and a relatively long lifespan. HPS lighting technology retains these advantages over most conventional bulbs, but they lose on all three counts to LED high bay lighting. The downsides of HPS bulbs include the worst color rendering on the market and a warm up period. Read more about LED versus High Pressure and Low Pressure Sodium Lights.
Industrial LED lighting vs fluorescent lighting: Though somewhat less common, fluorescent lighting is sometimes utilized in warehouse or industrial applications (primarily T12, T8, and T5 lights). The benefits of fluorescent lights include cheaper initial costs and relatively high efficiency (especially when compared to other conventional bulbs). Downsides include the presence of toxic mercury (which requires certain waste disposal procedures), decreased lifetime if switched on and off, and requiring a ballast to stabilize the light. Read more about LED versus Fluorescent Lighting.
If you are considering upgrading your lights to LED, the parking lot lights should always be the first one to take into consideration, because of the large service area of parking lot and the high energy consumption of traditional metal halide parking lot light.
It’s not easy to research dozens of websites to put all the pieces of the puzzle together and answer all of your questions about what is the right LED shoe box light Fixture for your needs. For this reason, we prepared some tips about shoebox light, Parking Lot and Area Lighting in this article.
Here are several things you need to know before converting your facility:
1. Type of facility: Is the site retail, warehouse or other commercial use?
2. Type of fixture or lamp: Wall Packs, Shoeboxes, Flood Lamp
3. Wattage of existing lamps: This gives your LED manufacture insight to the LED equivalent needed.
4. Line voltage: LED products are voltage specific, and the LED installer will need to know this detail.
5. Needs from the changes: To increase/decrease the lighting output, address a specific problem or area, meet a specific specification or code
6. The best color of light: The sun is 5778k, and in the LED industry, 5000k is considered to be the closest to natural sunlight. Outdoor lighting is often oriented to a 5000k color.
7. Quality of LED products: Quality means you trust you will not have any warranty issues, service means if you do have any issues, the integrity of service will be tasked to work its magic.
What is high bay lighting, and what applications benefit from it?
Whenever a large indoor space needs to be illuminated, high bay lighting is usually appropriate. Consider spaces like manufacturing facilities, gymnasiums, warehouses, large department stores, factories, and more; these facilities are typically vast and cover a lot of vertical as well as horizontal space. This requires powerful lighting to provide the appropriate foot-candle levels to adequately illuminate. High bay lighting fixtures typically hang from the ceiling via hooks, chains, or pendants, or they may be fixed to the ceiling directly (similar to troffer lights). The image above features high bay lighting in action.
Various industries and facilities require high bay lighting. Some of the most common are:
Warehouses
Industrial facilities (read more about Industrial LED lighting here)
Manufacturing facilities
School and university gymnasiums
Municipal facilities like community centers or recreation centers
Commercial applications like department stores
Why choose LED high bay lights instead of metal halide, fluorescent, or other conventional high bay lights?
Historically, various lighting technologies were (and still are) used in warehouse and industrial settings when high bay lights were required. Some of the most common include metal halide (MH), high pressure sodium (HPS), and fluorescent. While each of these bulbs have their merits, industrial LED lighting outperforms its conventional counterparts in important ways. Let’s take a look at some of the various considerations when deciding whether an LED retrofit is appropriate for your warehouse or industrial space.
Industrial LED lighting vs metal halide high bay light: If you’ve ever been to a ballgame, you've likely seen metal halide illuminating the field. MH lamps are common in sporting and warehouse/industrial uses (as well as any setting where large, high spaces need to be illuminated). Benefits of MH lights include decent color rendering and comparatively adequate foot-candle levels (as opposed to other types of conventional bulbs). Some of their major drawbacks are a long time to warm up (sometimes 15-30 minutes) and a high cost to maintain, and their failure characteristics include flickering on and off. This is in addition to the fact that much of the energy they produce is wasted as heat. Read more about LED versus Metal Halide Lights.
Linear LED high bay light vs high pressure sodium (HPS) lights: HPS lights are often used in warehouse, industrial, business, and recreational facilities where high bay lighting is appropriate. Their benefits include cheap selling price, high energy efficiency (low operating costs), and a relatively long lifespan. HPS lighting technology retains these advantages over most conventional bulbs, but they lose on all three counts to LED high bay lighting. The downsides of HPS bulbs include the worst color rendering on the market and a warm up period. Read more about LED versus High Pressure and Low Pressure Sodium Lights.
Industrial LED lighting vs fluorescent lighting: Though somewhat less common, fluorescent lighting is sometimes utilized in warehouse or industrial applications (primarily T12, T8, and T5 lights). The benefits of fluorescent lights include cheaper initial costs and relatively high efficiency (especially when compared to other conventional bulbs). Downsides include the presence of toxic mercury (which requires certain waste disposal procedures), decreased lifetime if switched on and off, and requiring a ballast to stabilize the light. Read more about LED versus Fluorescent Lighting.