How to Choose Commercial Lighting
Whether you’re adding shop lights to the garage or a 24-hour warehouse, quality commercial lighting is important for safety and efficiency. With so many choices, it’s easy to create a well-lit space if you know how to narrow the field with your project’s needs. When it comes to choosing the best commercial lighting, it’s important to consider a few questions before you buy.
What's the Ceiling Height in the Space You Want to Light?
Ceiling height is crucial when planning your lighting grid. For uniform light coverage, you want to create a grid that answers the light coverage coming from the fixtures in consideration. The goal is to eliminate shadows and dark zones for a uniform wash of light throughout the space.
Ceiling height also determines what type of light fixture you’re able to use in a space. Ceilings higher than 15 feet may require high bay lights, while 8-foot ceilings are better suited for flush mount fixtures.
What Type of Ceiling Is it?
Open ceilings with exposed trusses are often more forgiving than drop ceilings, which often work best with troffers.
What Tasks Are Performed in the Area?
If people in the space are doing detailed work or color is important, you’ll want to choose a light fixture and bulb that supports the tasks performed in the area. Likewise, you may want to layer your lighting with additional work lights or lamps to illuminate specific spaces for clear vision.
What's the Climate Inside the Space?
Some bulbs have difficulty operating in temperatures below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. If your workspace is refrigerated or uninsulated in a northern zone, factor operation temperatures into your buying decision.
What Level of Natural Light Is Available in the Space?
If your work area is only used during daylight hours and provides ample amounts of light, you’ll want to adjust the light output of your commercial lighting, as well as add task or desk lighting to account for light changes throughout the day.
What Are the Most Energy-Efficient Options?
Light-emitting diode (LED) lighting has the advantage of long life and reduced energy consumption. Plus the bulbs don't contain any toxic elements.
Types of Commercial Lighting
There are many types of commercial lighting depending on your setup and your needs. Below, we will walk you through the different forms of commercial lighting to better help you choose the lighting you need.
LED Shop Lights
LED shop lights are an excellent choice for garages. These fixtures can be suspended by a chain or mounted directly to the ceiling or wall and are available in a variety of lengths to suit your project space. Thanks to a variety of power sources, like hard-wiring, plug-in and solar, shop lights offer a flexible and affordable light source for your workspace.
Wraparound Lights
Mounted directly to the ceiling, wraparound lights are great for spaces with lower ceilings. Due to the multidirectional light output, these fixtures allow more light to flood the room from the sides of the fixtures. This means that you may be able to create ample light coverage with fewer fixtures when you work with wraparound lights. Many can be fitted with dimmers to control the brightness as needed.
Strip Lights
Straightforward and affordable, strip lights are popular choices for home workshops and garages. Available in LED strip lights, integrated LED strip lights or fluorescent strip lights, you can customize your lighting experience with color temperature. Cool color lighting can mimic daylight and increase productivity, while warmer colors can foster relaxation and creativity. Since some tube lights create a bit of a delay on start, consider whether you want to use strip lights with a timer or instant-on feature.
Ballasts
In fluorescent fixtures, ballasts control the amount of electricity a bulb receives. Just like bulbs, ballasts may require replacement. If you have trouble with flickering lights that aren't improved with new bulbs, your ballast may need replacing. To choose a new ballast, examine your bulb type, whether you want instant on or programmed start and the intended brightness level.
Troffers
Ideal for use in drop ceilings, troffer lights require even spacing throughout the room for even light distribution. They often feature reflective backing to bounce more light into your space. With LED and integrated LED options, you can have more control over the light color and output. While most troffers are hard-wired, some plug-in options are available to ensure you get the fixture you need for the space you want to light.
High Bay Lights
Best suited for ceilings higher than 15 feet, powerful high bay lights illuminate large spaces with both LED and fluorescent bulb choices. The distribution pattern of your new lighting will be determined by the specs of your preferred fixture. They are a great choice for warehouses, professional garages and workshops.
Flush Mount Fluorescents
Flush mount fluorescent fixtures attach directly to the ceiling without any drop. This type of lighting is ideal for use in areas where tall equipment or accessories, like forklifts or ladders, are being used.
Work Lights
Portable in nature, work lights add additional light where required. Available in stand, hanging, clamping, handheld, string, ceiling mount and wall mount configurations, these illuminators cast out shadows for acute attention to detail. With your choice of power source, work lights perform in the space you need them most so no job is off-limits.
Emergency and Exit Lighting
Essential to the safety of occupants, emergency and exit lighting are must-haves in commercial lighting. Available in your choice of hard-wired or battery power sources, emergency lighting shines bright and clear with LED, incandescent and halogen bulbs.
These lights include illuminated exit signs and bright, flame-resistant flood-mount emergency lights with backup battery power.
Grow Lights
Whether in a commercial greenhouse or garage grow station, grow lights extend a plant’s growing season throughout the year. Grow lights are available in an array of pleasing color temperatures to help your indoor plants thrive. For wide shelves of plants, linkable grow lights are a great choice. There are also clamping lights perfect for desks and high shelves. Use a multi-head lamp to give your larger potted plants a boost. Whatever you choose to illuminate your space, a little planning and research are all you need for outstanding results. For help, see our guide Choose the Best Grow Lights for Plants.
Commercial Christmas Lights
If your business decorates for the holiday season, it's worth investing in commercial Christmas lights. These string lights and bulbs are designed for long-term use and many can be used indoors or outdoors. For outdoor use, look for co-axial connectors that form a watertight seal when linking multiple strings of lights. They're also customizable, as the strings and bulbs can be purchased separately, so you can coordinate with your brand colors. Create a light show set to music with Bluetooth-enabled smart bulbs that can sync to your favorite tunes. For a light show without having to hang strings of lights, check out laser and light projectors.