Time to Rethink High Bay Fixtures — Think LED

Not long ago, warehouses, manufacturing plants, retail operations and even gymnasiums had few options when it came to specifying lighting for their high bay fixtures. The choice was to either install HID or fluorescent. That’s no longer the case as LEDs now provide more lumens per watt to reach an economic value that makes them a highly attractive alternative. With LED system efficiencies exceeding 130 lumens per watt, LED is 3.5 times more efficient than HID and 2.5 times more efficient than fluorescent T8 or T5 fixtures, which results in a rapid return on investment.  Since an LED only uses 25 - 30 percent of the energy of the fixtures being replaced in retrofit situations, there is an opportunity to add more fixtures to the existing lighting system in order to enhance visibility without incurring additional energy costs when switching light sources.