{"id":4180,"date":"2026-06-17T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pirhome.com\/?p=4109"},"modified":"2026-06-17T09:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T09:00:00","slug":"case-study-warehouse-pir-high-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.pirhome.com\/?p=4180","title":{"rendered":"Case Study: Warehouse Cuts Lighting Energy by 65% with PIR High-Bay Sensors"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Overview<\/h2>\n<p>A 500,000 square foot distribution center in Illinois was operating 24\/7 with all lights on continuously. The facility had 1,500 high-bay LED fixtures (200W each) consuming 300 kW continuously. Annual lighting energy cost was $250,000.<\/p>\n<h2>The Challenge<\/h2>\n<p>The warehouse faced several specific issues:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>All lights were on 24\/7 regardless of activity<\/li>\n<li>Forklift traffic was concentrated in 30% of aisles at any time<\/li>\n<li>Loading docks were active only during certain shifts<\/li>\n<li>Storage areas were visited infrequently<\/li>\n<li>Manual light switching was impractical (30-foot ceilings)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>The Solution<\/h2>\n<p>The warehouse implemented a zone-based PIR lighting control system:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Sensors:<\/strong> OPTEX LX-802 high-bay PIR sensors<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mounting height:<\/strong> 9m (30 feet)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Coverage:<\/strong> Each sensor covers 2,000 sq ft (20m x 20m)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Output:<\/strong> Relay control for LED high bays (on\/off)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Zones:<\/strong> 75 zones (average 10 sensors per zone)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Quantity:<\/strong> 750 sensors total<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Lighting logic:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Active picking aisles:<\/strong> Lights on at 100% during shift hours, off otherwise<\/li>\n<li><strong>Storage aisles:<\/strong> Lights on only when motion detected, off after 10 minutes<\/li>\n<li><strong>Loading docks:<\/strong> Lights on during scheduled shifts, motion override for off-hours<\/li>\n<li><strong>Office areas:<\/strong> Occupancy sensors with 30-minute hold time<\/li>\n<li><strong>Restrooms\/hallways:<\/strong> Occupancy sensors with 5-minute hold time<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The system was integrated with the warehouse management system (WMS) to know which aisles were active based on order picking schedules.<\/p>\n<h2>Implementation<\/h2>\n<p>The installation was phased over six months:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Month 1-2: Active picking aisles (300 sensors, 30 zones)<\/li>\n<li>Month 3-4: Storage aisles (350 sensors, 35 zones)<\/li>\n<li>Month 5: Loading docks and office areas (100 sensors, 10 zones)<\/li>\n<li>Month 6: Integration and testing<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>Results<\/h2>\n<p>After 12 months of operation:<\/p>\n<table border=\"1\">\n<thead>\n<th>Area<\/th>\n<th>Before (kWh)<\/th>\n<th>After (kWh)<\/th>\n<th>Reduction<\/th>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<th>Picking aisles<\/th>\n<p> 1,300,000<\/th>\n<p> 650,000<\/th>\n<p> 50%<\/th>\n<th>Storage aisles<\/th>\n<p> 1,300,000<\/th>\n<p> 260,000<\/th>\n<p> 80%<\/th>\n<th>Loading docks<\/th>\n<p> 260,000<\/th>\n<p> 130,000<\/th>\n<p> 50%<\/th>\n<th>Offices\/other<\/th>\n<p> 260,000<\/th>\n<p> 130,000<\/th>\n<p> 50%<\/th>\n<th>Total<\/th>\n<p> 3,120,000<\/th>\n<p> 1,170,000<\/th>\n<p> 62.5%<\/th>\n<th>Annual cost<\/th>\n<p> $250,000<\/th>\n<p> $93,600<\/th>\n<p> $156,400<\/th>\n<\/tbody>\n<p>\u8868<\/p>\n<p>Additional benefits included:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Reduced CO2 emissions by 850 metric tons<\/li>\n<li>Extended LED fixture life (62% fewer operating hours)<\/li>\n<li>Improved forklift driver visibility (lights only in active aisles)<\/li>\n<li>Reduced light pollution (warehouse no longer glowing at night)<\/li>\n<li>Eligibility for utility demand response program ($25,000\/year)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Key Lessons Learned<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>High-bay sensors need narrow beams:<\/strong> Standard wide-angle sensors detected adjacent aisles, causing false triggers.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Zone-based control is essential:<\/strong> Individual sensor control would have been too complex (750 controllers).<\/li>\n<li><strong>WMS integration saved energy:<\/strong> Knowing which aisles were active allowed preemptive lighting.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Forklift detection required sensitivity tuning:<\/strong> Slow-moving forklifts were initially missed.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Maintenance access needed override switches:<\/strong> Technicians needed to lock lights on during repairs.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>This case study demonstrates that high-bay PIR sensors with zone-based control can deliver 62% lighting energy savings in warehouses. The $156,400 annual savings and 18-month payback period made this a successful investment. The key to success was integrating with WMS for active aisle prediction and using narrow-beam sensors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Overview A 500,000 square foot distribution center in Illinois was operating 24\/7 with all lights on continuously. The facility had 1,500 high-bay LED fixtures (200W each) consuming 300 kW continuously. Annual lighting energy cost was $250,000. The Challenge The warehouse faced several specific issues: All lights were on 24\/7 regardless of activity Forklift traffic was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-case-studies"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\r\n<title>Case Study: Warehouse Cuts Lighting Energy by 65% with PIR High-Bay Sensors - PIRHOME<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pirhome.com\/?p=4180\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Case Study: Warehouse Cuts Lighting Energy by 65% with PIR High-Bay Sensors - PIRHOME\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Overview A 500,000 square foot distribution center in Illinois was operating 24\/7 with all lights on continuously. 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