How do bay ceiling lights work?
I have heard this issue posed several times over the years, but I very rarely hear an explanation that goes any farther than mentioning our "warehouse ceiling". So let's get started with the fundamentals. What what is a bay ceiling?
A ceiling bay is described as follows by Wikipedia:
A bay in architecture is a recess or compartment that separates two architectural features. Old French baee, which means an entrance or hole, is where the word "bay" originates.
Let's examine some of the instances mentioned with this description now that we have a basic understanding of what it means:
Aisles are the divisions between the widths of posts, columns or buttresses along a building's length. Within a structure with a vaulted structural system, this definition also applies to above vaults (between ribs). For instance, the nave (primary interior area) of the Gothic-era Chartres Cathedral is "seven bays long." Similar to how aisles run longitudinally in timber construction, a bay is the space between posts in the transverse direction of the structure.[2]
A joist bay or rafter bay is the area between joists or rafters.[2]
Does any of this ring familiar to you? When people talk about the ceiling of their warehouse in generic terms, they are trying to convey this. However, warehouse building is not the only place where high ceilings may be found. Bay ceilings may be seen every day in completely commonplace locations that you may have never noticed. This is how most "big box" establishments, including your local gym, grocery store, home improvement store, electronics store, and others, are built.
Categorization...
Now that we are clear on what a ceiling bay is, let's talk about how we light the areas inside these buildings. For this, we have bay ceiling lights, also known as "high bay" lights most often.
We categorise LED bay ceiling lights into a number of sub categories.
"High Bay" and "Low Bay" are the subdivisions within each of these. This distinction is brought about by variations in output in relation to ceiling height. A high bay light is for ceilings 20 feet or above, and a low bay light is for ceilings 20 feet or less. Many of the bay ceiling fixtures we sell, ranging in power from 150 watts and more, will fall into the high bay category because to the great effectiveness of contemporary LED lighting.
Output in Directional Lumens
Using optics to regulate output, LED lighting accomplishes the same foot candles with significantly less energy use than prior lighting technologies that concentrated on high consumption to produce light by essentially just dumping as much light as possible out in all directions. This is also known as "directional lumen output," and it plays a big role in how LEDs outperform HIDs in terms of efficiency.
With LED lighting, most clients see a return on their investment (ROI) in under two years because to energy savings, maintenance cost savings, and energy subsidies (where applicable).
