Commercial lighting fixtures come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and are used for a variety of purposes. Some indoor commercial lighting fixtures include the beam, flush mount, and track light. Outdoor commercial lighting fixtures include the flood light, high bay light, and street light.
This article will cover the most common types commercial fixtures offered by the most well known manufacturers in the space
Outdoor Area Lights (or Street Lights)
Outdoor area light fixtures are typically used to light up areas such as parking lots, sidewalks, and pathways. They are designed to endure harsh weather conditions while providing plenty of light for the surrounding area.
You will typically see them installed high up on light poles facing downward to provide a wide beam of light over the area underneath. The higher up they're mounted the wider the area they will cover.
It's important to note that as you need the fixtures to be mounted higher, you will have to upgrade the wattage to ensure the light will be bright enough to offer good lighting to the space.
Outdoor area lights come with a variety of wattage options from 50 watt all the way to 300 Watt plus. The use cases for the wattage options vary. Low wattage are used for shorter pathways and smaller parking lots. While high wattage are used in larger outdoor areas such as public roadways.
Larger areas can also be called street lights as public streets need higher lumen options that need to be mounted on taller poles. ECO LED Mart street lights range from 150 watt to 300 watt options.
Outdoor Flood lights
Outdoor flood lights are used to light up large areas such as building exteriors, or arenas. Generally they are mounted on high walls and poles and pointed downward to provide an even spread of light over the covered area.
Outdoor flood lights come in a variety of mounting options that allow them to be mounted on exterior walls, flat surfaces or poles of various shapes.
Flood lights can be used as a security measure on the side of buildings as well as on large playing fields or stadiums. It is probably the most versatile of commercial lighting fixtures.
You can find flood lights in a variety of indoor and outdoor applications where bright lighting is required: indoor warehouses, indoor and outdoor parking lots, indoor and outdoor walkways, building exteriors etc.
The wattage of flood lights ranges from 50 Watt to 300 Watt depending on the application they are intended for. ECO LED Mart offers a variety of indoor and outdoor flood light options with many different wattage levels.
Outdoor Wall Packs
Wall pack light fixtures are an essential safety feature used around the exterior of buildings to illuminate parking lots, pathways and doorways. They typically attach directly to exterior walls and deliver a downward beam of light at a certain angle that is ideal for deterrence techniques such as lighting up entry points.
They provide plenty of illumination but wall pack fixtures also offer angle options control over where the light is projected. This is why lighting manufacturers offer a variety of wall packs with different projections
- Full Cutoff Wall Packs
- Semi Cutoff Wall Packs
- Forward throw wall packs
The cutoff of the wall pack is the amount of the light fixture covered by its enclosure. More enclosure surface means less light that escapes from the fixture. This helps in reducing light pollution and keeping energy consumption low.
Since light pollution has been a recent focus of local ordinances, forward-throw wall packs are seen as a negative since they emit a lot of uplight and glare.
Canopy Lights
Canopy lights are type of ceiling mounted fixtures used in both indoor and outdoor applications. They are typically mounted on the ceiling of a structure such as a parking garage or gas station canopy.
Due to their specific design, they provide an even spread of light over the canopy area while protecting from harsh weather conditions like rain and snow. The LED versions of these lights offer a higher lumen output while still providing the same level of protection as traditional fixtures.
Canopy lights come in a variety of wattage options ranging from 40 watts to 150 watts and they can be used indoors or outdoors.
UFO High Bay lighting
High Bay light fixtures are a type of light fixtures designed to be used in indoor, industrial spaces with high ceilings. They are designed to be hung from the ceiling and provide a wide beam of light that fills up large indoor spaces such as warehouses, factories, and retail stores.
UFO High Bay lights in particular are a type of high bay light fixture that is round in shape and designed to cast a wide beam of light to cover general working areas. They are by far the most popular type of high bay light fixtures since they are used for general purposes and are able to be mounted in a variety of ways.
Linear High Bay Lighting
Linear High Bay Lighting is also used in indoor, industrial spaces with high ceilings. However these types of high bay lighting are specifically used in warehouses with multiple aisles.
Because of their linear shapes, they are a perfect match for long aisles and are able to provide a more uniform cast of light than a UFO light would for this specific application.
Linear High Bay lights are typically suspended from the ceilings with cables and often very limited mounting options.
LED Troffer Lights
LED troffer lights are a type of light fixture that is designed to be recessed into the ceiling. They are most frequently offered in 1x4 and 2x4 configurations and are used in general office workspaces.
Troffer lights are often in drop ceilings and as a result offer a low profile look even though they are equipped with a sizable housing compartment.
The housing compartment contains all the necessary components to provide lighting to the fixture like the driver, the LED boards, the reflectors and the lens.
Therefore it goes without saying that you will need plenty of room in your ceilings in order to accommodate troffer lights for your specific application.
Troffer lights can also be installed on the surface of the ceiling leaving its sides exposed. These are known as Surface Mounted Troffer Lights
This is a great solution for offices that have no access to the above ceiling. While it won't look as seamless as the recessed troffer, it's a functional alternative.
LED troffer lights are a great alternative to the old fluorescent fixtures of yesteryear. They offer many more advantages with limited downsides.
- LED troffer lights conserver more energy than CFL lights
- They require less space in the housing.
- They offer either more light within the same fixture or are able to achieve the same amount of light in a smaller housing
- They provide more even lighting distribution
- There is no need for a ballast
- They lasts longer and are easier to maintain
- LED troffer lights offer more color temperature options
- They do not flicker and are pretty silent.
We could go on with the many advantages of LED for office spaces but at this point many business owners are well aware of their advantages and we have seen a great shift in the market using these types of lights as their primary indoor lighting source.
LED Flat Panel Lights
Like the Recessed Troffer Lights, LED Flat Panel lights are designed to be installed in the ceiling offering a modern flush mounted look to your office space. The added advantage of the flat panel light is that it has a low profile housing that does not take much space inside the ceiling.
As such, you're able to use flat panel lights in places where you would most likely be forced to use a surface mounted troffer instead. This upgraded look however does come at a cost as flat panel lights will typically cost more than the troffer types.
Suspended Ceiling Lights
Suspended Ceiling lights are a type of indoor light fixture that is designed to be hung from the ceiling with a chain or cable.
These lights are perfect for indoor spaces with higher ceilings and office spaces that are looking for a more uniform working area.
Suspended Ceiling lights beam lights upward as well as downward. The downlight has direct lighting similar to what a flat panel or troffer would offer. The Uplight shoots light up the ceiling and offers an even ceiling light distribution provided that it's installed correctly.
It's incapable to have an office with a well lit ceiling with recessed lighting. As a result, suspended ceiling lights offer a unique lighting environment only reserved for high end office spaces.
