High Bay Luminaire for Factory Lighting from WE-EF Lighting

High Bay luminaires have been around for a long time and are one of the most commonly used forms of luminaire. The use of borosilicate in the production of a high performance delivery of light is not new but has been, in recent years, neglected in Australia.

Why Borosilicate?
The borosilicate refractor is at the heart of what makes the IVH HighBay different; designed to operate with high power clear arc tube lamps and at high temperature, this material has it all; anybody interested in long term benefits from their investment will understand that a material that is inert electrically and impervious to all but the most extreme circumstances has much to offer!

Refractor or Reflector?
What is the difference? A refractor is designed to control and a reflector is designed to reflect; clear arc tube high intensity discharge lamps will deliver significantly more light than coated high intensity lamps; HighBay refractors are designed for clear arc tubes and HighBay reflectors are designed for coated arc tube lamps.

Exceptional Efficiency
The borosilicate refractor provides a downward component of - 70% of the lamp output; impressive yes but not the whole story, A further -20% of the lamps output is refracted through the prism formation making the total output (or LOR) -90%.

So what is the benefit?
The conventional aluminium HighBay luminaire has one very big disadvantage and that is the so-called 'tunnel' effect; sure, high illuminance levels but dark, cavernous and often uninteresting interiors; clear refractors deliver an upward component that delivers surround brightness and interest; but only borosilicate can deliver maintained high performance through a 20 or 30 year life cycle;

How does this work?
Borosilicate is immune to the effect of heat and electrically generated static charge; add to this the inherent 'venturi' effect generated by the thermals associated with the discharge lamp and the result is a self cleaning mechanism that is well proven;

IVH The case against plastic lenses

IESNA standards stipulate that a 3% depreciation factor should be applied to borosilicate refractors when used in a moderately dirty environment; this contrasts with plastic reflectors where under the same circumstances a 7% depreciation factor is recommended; Acrylic is a thermo-plastic, it is temperature and UV sensitive; combine both and the result is accelerated degradation; add humidity and the degradation process is further exacerbated; Continuous service life is rated at 80°C. This means that rated life is diminished above this value resulting in accelerated degradation; Highbays, it is worth recording, often work in extreme ambient conditions;

The assumption that plastic diffusers are the best solution in areas subject to impact needs to be questioned. The ageing of plastics used in lighting applications, where heat and UV is normal and sometimes humidity is present, results in embrittlement of the material, this results in the potential for shattering upon impact.