7 Tips to Selecting the Best High Bay LED Lights for Home

When looking to light your home, the discussion will involve both your décor and the ambience or mood you are looking to create. However, it’s not just the home where this discussion takes place, with larger spaces like hangers, stadiums and factories all looking for an affordable and effective lighting solution. That solution is LED high-bay lights. LED high-bay lights are a powerful light source and have a vast coverage range, perfect for lighting up larger areas.

So if you’re in the market or have just brought a more ample space here’s what you need to consider before buying those LED high bay lights. Otherwise, you are likely to end up with low lighting and a costly refitting of your light fixtures.

Let’s discuss our seven tips for choosing the best high-bay LED lights for your space!

1. Create a layout of the space

Before making any purchases, you need to have a clear idea of the area and exactly where you’ll be installing these fixtures. An amateur mistake is to estimate how many lights you’ll need or eyeball the distance between each fixture.

 Once you have the measurements of the space, you can use AutoCAD to record the dimensional data and even plot in your light fixtures.

2. Purpose of the space

Now that you’ve got your detailed layout, it’s time to consider the use of the area. Is it to display product? Is it for work, or is it a living space? We’d suggest writing down how you envision your space, accompanied by other relevant information such as; opening hours, the number of people and the space and the types of activities they’ll be performing.

By completing this activity, you’ll have a clear idea of where the light fixtures need to vary and change. For example, if you’re displaying products, you’ll consider simulating natural lighting to show off the product accuracy, while workstations need bright lights to increase focus and minimalise error.

 3. Thoroughly check the available light fixtures and circuit

Now that you know where and why the next step is to consider the how.

 If there are existing light fixtures, then the next step is to hire a competent electrician who specialises in large circuits.

 Skipping this step can result in injury and damage to your lights.

Have your electrician check the following before installing High Bay LED lights:

• Status of every fixture.
• Availability of external drives for LED lights.
• A power factor of those drives (if available). Insulation of the drives against moisture, dust, water etc.
• The voltage & current rating of the power supply.
• Abnormal fluctuations of the supply voltage /current. If there is, then have a stabiliser installed to steady it.
• Safety features such as circuit breakers with appropriate ratings.

 4. Figure out the required lumen and wattage

Lumen is the standard unit for measurement of visible light emitted from a source per unit of time. Lumen differs from Watts, where

Wattage refers to this amount of energy used. For large spaces, we’d suggest hiring a professional to do a light audit, this way, they can correctly assess the scope, directing you to the exact type of lights and even a suitable manufacturer. 

 5. Type of high-bay LED lights required

Now that you’ve done all your research, it’s time to decide which sort of LED high bay light best suits your vision.

 There are several types available in the market, but below we’ll focus on the two most popular:

UFO High-bay lights

• Emits light in all directions.

Linear High-bay lights

• Emits lights in a straight line.

Of the two, UFO is more popular; however, your LED auditor may have already suggested which light works best in your space.

 6. Check out suppliers and their warranty clauses

The LED light industry is continuously growing and is projected to reach $33.3 billion valuations in 2019). With more and more suppliers moving into the industry, the intense competition reduces costs making LEDs an affordable light source. However, being spoiled for choice does come with some drawbacks.

 With so many suppliers, you’ll need to do your research and rely on customer reviews before deciding on a vendor. We also recommend researching and understanding their warranty clauses so you’d fully covered in cause there are any faults.

7. Test the lights

When negotiating with the supplier, be very clear that you’ll want to test the lights in your space, before purchase. Testing even a few lights allows you to see the effect first hand and match placements against your specs. That way, there are no errors once the final illustration carried out.  When lighting your larger space, LED lights consume about one-fourth of the energy input needed for their metal-halide or filament counterparts. They also have last up to ten times longer. Based on these facts and following our seven steps, you’ve got a cost-effective solution to all your lighting needs.

We hope that these tips will help you out to improve your home appearance by picking up the right LED lights according to size and purpose of the space.