Storage Unit Lighting

Storage Unit Fixture Types

What is Storage Unit Lighting?

Storage unit lighting refers to the specialized type of lighting designed for use in self-storage facilities, encompassing both indoor and outdoor units. This form of lighting is essential for ensuring optimal visibility within storage spaces, allowing tenants to easily locate and access their belongings. Proper illumination is key for enhancing security, making it easier for both tenants and facility operators to navigate the area safely during low-light conditions.

The lighting should be bright enough to illuminate the contents of a unit clearly, facilitating tasks such as packing, organizing, and retrieving items, but calibrated to avoid glare or the creation of dark shadows that might hinder visibility. Moreover, storage unit lighting needs to be energy-efficient, capable of long hours of operation without excessive energy consumption, and durable enough to withstand varying environmental conditions, especially in outdoor settings.

In addition to functional requirements, effective storage unit lighting contributes to a sense of safety and security, deterring unauthorized access and potential criminal activity. It also adheres to relevant building and safety codes, ensuring a safe environment for all users.

Professional Storage Unit Lighting Design

Here’s an example of a 3D storage unit lighting photometric design constructed by our professional lighting engineers. In this example, a variety of lighting fixtures were used to illuminate an outdoor self storage facility as well as the parking lot. The storage area was illuminated to an average of 6.87 foot candles and the parking lot was illuminated to an average of 1.77 foot candles.

Storage Unit Storage Area
Fixtures Used: 45-90W Barn Lights, 300W Area Light
Quantity: 8 PCS
Average Illumination: 6.87 fc
Fixture Certifications: UL, DLC

Average
Max 15.0fc
Min 0.56fc

2x 45W Barn Lights (at 10ft elevation)
5x 90W Barn Lights (at 20ft elevation)
1x 300W Area Light (at 20ft elevation) - Targeting usual dark area

Storage Unit Lighting Requirements

Storage unit lighting requirements are essential for ensuring adequate visibility, safety, and security within the facility. These requirements can vary based on the specific needs of the storage area, including whether the lighting is for indoor units, outdoor access areas, or parking facilities associated with the storage units. Incorporating standards from the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) for parking areas can provide a good baseline for outdoor lighting associated with storage units.

IES Recommendations for Parking Areas:

Minimum Illuminance: 0.5 foot-candles (fc): This is the lowest light level recommended to ensure that areas are minimally lit, enhancing visibility and safety without causing excessive light pollution. It's particularly relevant for less trafficked areas of the parking lot.

Average Illuminance: 1.5 foot-candles (fc): This level is considered optimal for general parking areas, balancing visibility and energy efficiency. It provides adequate light for navigating and identifying vehicles without overwhelming brightness.

Maximum Illuminance: 3.0 foot-candles (fc): This is the upper limit recommended to prevent glare and excessive brightness that could be uncomfortable for users or create safety issues, such as blinding glare.

For outdoor areas of a storage unit facility, including parking lots and access ways, adhering to these IES standards ensures that the space is safely illuminated, promoting security while minimizing energy use and light pollution.

Uniformity and Distribution: Lighting should be evenly distributed to avoid creating dark spots that could hide potential hazards or provide cover for unauthorized activities. Uniformity ratios, such as a maximum to minimum illuminance ratio, should be considered to ensure even coverage.

Security Considerations: Higher illumination levels (closer to the 3.0 fc maximum) may be warranted near entry points, loading areas, and main pathways to enhance security and safety for users accessing their storage units during evening or early morning hours.

Energy Efficiency: Given the continuous operation of outdoor lighting, energy-efficient LED fixtures are recommended. They not only provide high-quality illumination but also reduce operational costs and environmental impact.

Adaptive Controls: Incorporating motion sensors or adaptive lighting controls can further optimize energy usage by reducing lighting levels during periods of inactivity and increasing illumination based on movement or during peak usage times.

Compliance with Local Codes: Besides IES guidelines, storage unit facilities must comply with local lighting codes and regulations, which may specify different or additional requirements for outdoor lighting.

LED Self Storage Lighting

Storage units are ubiquitous throughout the country, encompassing large areas with significant illumination requirements for usability as well as safety. These facilities require both indoor and outdoor illumination, utilizing multiple types of lighting fixtures to accomplish this. Because of the often isolated location of these facilities, choosing the right lighting is critical for the safety of users as well as reducing the likelihood of crime and theft.

Thankfully, the choice for storage facility owners has never been easier with modern LED lighting technologies. Not only do these lights have a considerably longer lifespan than traditional bulbs, they also have much better performance and energy efficiency. Thanks to the higher color rendering capabilities of LED technology, these lights provide far better visibility than the sodium or fluorescent lighting traditionally used in this application.

Outdoor Storage Lighting

There are multiple types of fixtures used for outdoor storage facilities, which are selected based on the specific area that is to be illuminated and its foot candle requirements. The most obvious area to be illuminated is the ingress/egress areas where the storage units are accessed, which are typically either narrow driveways or walkways in between rows of units. The most popular fixtures for this purpose are flood lights and wall packs, which provide powerful and broad illumination across a large area.

Other areas such as parking areas and service walkways are typically illuminated by pole mounted lights, such as street lights and high powered flood lights. These lights are ideal because they are mounted high above parking lots and roadways in order to ensure clearance for vehicles, while still being powerful enough to properly illuminate the ground below. This is due to their high lumen output and wide beam angle.

Indoor Storage Lighting Types

Just like outdoor storage facility lighting, indoor storage facilities utilize a variety of different types of fixtures to provide proper illumination. Many indoor storage facilities have multiple stories, with long hallways and corridors that need to be illuminated, in addition to the units themselves. These areas do not require the same level of weather resistance and durability as outdoor lighting but often require a larger number of lights due to the lack of natural lighting present.

Generally speaking, the most popular style of light for indoor storage facilities are strip lights, due to their low cost, ease of installation and solid performance. These are typically used in both hallways as well as the interior of the units. In addition to strip lights, wall packs are also used to provide low profile and durable lighting for hallways and entryways.