Overcoming warehouse lighting challenges

What are the particular challenges associated with designing lighting for distribution centres? The main factors to take into consideration are:

• Long burning hours 24 hour operation means that lighting consumes a lot of energy. The electrical load of each light fitting may be low, but when you have hundreds of them, it adds up to a considerable sum and can represent a significant proportion of the total energy consumed within the building. For example, the electricity consumed by a typical 2 lamp fluorescent fitting burning for 24 hours per day will cost about £175 per annum. A typical large distribution centre may have thousands of these, so the cost soon adds up.

The development of high-efficiency LED lighting has been the major energy-saving advance of recent years. It’s now possible to halve the energy consumed, but still maintain the same light level. For example, the equivalent LED light fitting to replace a fluorescent fitting will use less than half the electricity, and produce 30% more light.

• Glare Manoeuvring a pallet onto high racking is a difficult enough task, but can be made even more difficult and potentially dangerous if the operator’s vision is compromised by looking up directly into a high-glare light source.

Glare can be significantly reduced by selecting the correct type of LED fitting. Adding lighting controls that dim based on the natural light level such as the Thorlux SMART system will also help, because the fitting will be dimmed (or switched off) during daylight hours, reducing its brightness. 

• Vertical and horizontal illumination levels The ability to read labels fixed to the side of cartons is essential, so good levels of vertical illumination are required. The fork-lift operator often has to procure items from a picking list, so a good level of horizontal illumination many metres below the light fittings is necessary.

The illustration demonstrates how managing the distribution of light means we can deploy the light where it is needed. A narrow distribution lens is best for racking aisles because it helps the operative to read labels on the side of the cartons at all heights, and a broader distribution lens is used in wider aisles or open spaces to optimise the spacing and reduce the numbers or rows of light fittings.

What level of savings can be achieved?

Replacement of the original lighting with the latest LED technology can generate savings in excess of 60%. If integral lighting controls are incorporated as well, savings in excess of 80% are achievable. On one scheme with over 4,000 light fittings, the electricity bill for the entire building was halved, and the complete installation pay-back was two and a half years.

What other factors should be considered when upgrading or replacing lighting in a warehouse?

Consideration should be given to other factors that can make the process run smoothly and provide peace of mind and confidence.

• Compliance Is your building meeting the recommended light levels to promote safe working practices? Often buildings can be underlit, especially if the lighting is old. The only way to determine the right lighting scheme is to conduct a survey of the building and produce accurate lighting designs. Thorlux provides this service at no charge.

• Upfront cost Investing in a long life LED solution can deliver substantial savings and a good return on investment. Capex is often the barrier to efficient deployment. Thorlux have set up financing options where customers can pay for the lighting from their savings with no capital outlay.

• Risk There is a now a vast array of LED products with the promise of long life and reduced maintenance. So what if it doesn’t deliver? Thorlux offers a 5 year warranty with an option for installation and onsite warranty to minimise risk.

• Controls The solution that works very well in distribution centres is a combination of presence detection (to ensure lights are switched off when no-one is in the aisle or area) and daylight-based dimming. It’s also possible to dim down or switch off lights if the daylight input from roof lights is good. The SMART control pod is integral to the light fitting and wireless technology is used for network communication, so no additional wiring is needed for ease of installation. Case studies have demonstrated that savings in excess of 50% can regularly be achieved by applying controls to a lighting installation.