Warehouse and hangar lighting

What the facility needs

In a warehouse, light is calculated for the aisles and zones rather than for the floor area. ShNK 2.01.05-24 (app. 9, table 2, item 65) sets, for rack storage warehouses, 50 lx on the floor in the storage zone, 75 lx on the racks in the vertical plane, 200 lx at receiving, dispatch and in the transport zones, and 300 lx at goods sorting. A client’s specification often asks for more than the norm in the aisles, and then we design to the specification. A picker reads the label on the rack, not on the floor: vertical illuminance is what matters, so the luminaires go in lines along the aisles rather than in a grid across the ceiling.

The light burns 12 to 16 hours a day, almost without days off: every spare watt is multiplied by that time. The mounting height is 6 to 14 m.

Why these series

Prom is a suspended luminaire for heights from 7 m: the concentrated distribution carries the flux down to the floor instead of spreading it over the upper tiers.

Line assembles into a continuous run along the aisle: uniformity without dips between the suspension points, and the 60×46 mm section stays clear of the overhead crane. Line is rated to 10 m, so higher aisles are covered by Prom.

Typical layout

A warehouse of ≈ 3,000 m², mounting height 9 m, racking in six rows:

• over the drive lanes: SVO 01 Prom 100W, spacing ≈ 8 m, ≈ 45 pcs
• along the aisles: SVO 01 Line 100W in a run, ≈ 30 pcs
• ≈ 75 luminaires in total, installed load ≈ 7.5 kW

The flux in the layout comes from the 2018 IES files: Prom 100W 13,000 lm, Line 100W 11,200 lm (the file of the 80 W model; the 100 W unit gives no less). Utilisation factor method: E = F × N × UF × MF / S with UF 0.5 (tall racks intercept the flux) and MF 0.67 (ShNK, app. 1, table 3, clean rooms; safety factor 1.5, MF = 1/1.5). The average over the floor area is ≈ 100 lx: the storage zone (50 lx on the floor) is covered with margin, while receiving and sorting (200-300 lx) need the run densified locally. The spacing depends on the aisle width and the rack height; the count for your plan comes from the engineer’s DIALux calculation.

What the replacement gives

Before: the same warehouse on 60 luminaires with high-pressure sodium (HPS) 250 W lamps at 275 W with ballast, ≈ 16.5 kW. At the nominal flux of new lamps (30,000 lm, Lisma DNaT 250-5M) the same assumptions give ≈ 200 lx over the floor area, and ≈ 170 lx by 16,000 hours (LLMF 0.85). But that is yellow light with Ra around 25, under which labels cannot be read, with bright patches under the luminaires and dark aisles between the racks.

After: 75 luminaires, ≈ 7.5 kW, ≈ 100 lx on average against a 50-75 lx target in the storage zone, and the light lies along the aisle on the rack, where it is read. About 9 kW of capacity is freed. At 14 hours a day for 300 days a year the difference is ≈ 38,000 kWh a year; in UZS, multiply by the tariff on the date of the calculation: the calculator on the savings page takes the current tariff with its references.

A calculated estimate under the stated assumptions, not guaranteed until measured on site. Figures marked ≈ are estimates.

Frequently asked questions

What is the illuminance norm for a warehouse?

Under ShNK 2.01.05-24 (app. 9, table 2, items 65 and 70): 50 lx on the floor in the storage zone, 75 lx on the racks in the vertical plane, 200 lx at receiving, dispatch and in the transport zones, 300 lx at goods sorting. If the client’s specification asks for more in the aisles, the design follows the specification, but never goes below the norm.

How many luminaires does a warehouse need?

The number comes from N = E × S / (F × UF × MF): E is the norm, S the area, F the luminaire flux from the IES file, UF the utilisation factor for the warehouse geometry, MF the maintenance factor (0.67 for clean premises, app. 1, table 3). In the typical layout, a warehouse of about 3,000 m² at 9 m mounting height comes to about 75 luminaires and about 7.5 kW; that is an estimate. The engineer calculates the number for your plan in DIALux free of charge.

What replaces a 250 W high-pressure sodium (HPS) lamp in a warehouse?

A one-for-one swap does not pass on flux: the Prom 200W gives 26,000 lm by its IES file against 30,000 lm for a new 250 W HPS lamp. So the replacement is designed to the norm. In the typical layout, a warehouse with 60 HPS luminaires (about 16.5 kW) gets about 75 Prom and Line luminaires at about 7.5 kW, freeing about 9 kW. The figures are estimates and are not guaranteed before measurement on site.

Which luminaire suits a warehouse with high racking?

Prom is a suspended luminaire for heights from 7 m; its concentrated distribution carries the flux down to the floor. Line assembles into a continuous run along the rack aisle and gives uniformity without dips between suspension points. The reason: a picker reads the label on the rack, so vertical illuminance is what matters.

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