Industrial High-Bay LED Lighting in the Denver Metro
A high-bay retrofit is a layout problem before it is a fixture problem, because mounting height, rack height, and aisle direction set the spacing.
Target light levels come from how the space is used. IES guidance for warehouse and industrial space generally lands around 10 to 20 foot-candles in bulk storage and 20 to 30 in aisles and travel lanes, with assembly, inspection, and detailed work areas higher than that. Uniformity matters as much as the average: an average-to-minimum ratio near 3 to 1 keeps operators out of the dark pockets between fixtures. In rack aisles the useful measurement is vertical foot-candles on the label face, which is why narrow-aisle optics that throw light down the aisle beat round distributions that dump most of it on the top of the rack.
The electrical side is mostly circuiting and mounting. High-bay fixtures on 277V or 480V draw less current per fixture, so more of them fit on a circuit and the homerun conductors shrink. Mounting height is set by the structure and by rack tops, and fixture spacing is tied to that height rather than to a fixed number of feet. Occupancy sensing and daylight response in skylit bays are commonly required by the energy code the jurisdiction has adopted, and control zones should match how the building is worked so a single picker does not light the entire floor.
How many foot-candles does a warehouse need?
Bulk storage where pallets move in and out on a lift usually works at roughly 10 to 20 foot-candles. Pick aisles, travel lanes, and shipping areas are commonly designed to 20 to 30. Packing, inspection, assembly, and any area where operators read fine print or check quality needs more, and those zones are usually treated separately rather than lit to the same level as the rest of the building.
How high should high-bay fixtures be mounted?
At or just below the lowest structural obstruction, above the rack tops, and coordinated with sprinkler heads so the fixture does not sit in a discharge pattern. Spacing follows mounting height: a spacing-to-mounting-height ratio somewhere around 1.2 to 1.5 is typical for warehouse distributions, so a higher ceiling supports wider spacing with fewer, higher-output fixtures. Aisle-specific optics change that math and are worth laying out per aisle.
Can old HID high bays be replaced without rewiring?
Often the existing circuits and whips can be reused when the voltage matches and the branch circuit has capacity, since LED fixtures draw far less than the metal halide or high-pressure sodium units they replace. What has to be verified is conductor insulation temperature rating, the condition of existing whips and boxes, whether the circuit was shared with anything else, and whether current code requires controls that the old wiring cannot support. Ballast wiring and any remaining ballast get removed, not left energized.
Based in Golden and on site across the Denver metro, from Lakewood, Wheat Ridge, and Arvada to the foothills.