Sufficient light, fresh air and enough space are essential for the safety and well-being of farm animals. In this blog, we explain how light affects the animals on the farm, which type of lighting is suitable for lighting the barn and how you can choose particularly efficient and sustainable light sources.
The most important information at a glance:
- Your barn lighting should be adapted to the needs of your animals
- LEDs are ideal as stable lamps
- Make sure to clean the lamps and the stable regularly
- LED ceiling lights, strips, and floodlights can be used in various areas
Why is LED barn lighting particularly suitable for livestock?
The main task of high quality lighting is to create a comfortable environment. This is as true of animal welfare as it is of us humans. There are certain measures and regulations that ensure that farm animals, such as chickens or dairy cattle, receive enough sunlight through windows and artificial light through lighting. Lamps that are installed in stables should also be dimmable so that the animals have the opportunity to relax at night. In addition, they should be attached in such a way that the stable residents cannot injure themselves on them.
What do you have to consider when buying LED stable lights?
The safety and welfare of the animals are the top priority when choosing the lighting for the barn. However, if there is an inexpensive and energy-efficient variant that meets these requirements, why not use it? If you opt for LED lamps, you can save up to 70% of your energy costs. At the same time, maintenance and replacement costs are reduced many times over, since LED lighting lasts up to five times as long as conventional lamps. It is also absolutely flicker-free , immediately reaches its full brightness and does not radiate any heat.
Protection class, light color and intensity
If your LED lamps are installed in the stable, you should make sure that they have a protection class of IP65 and higher. This means that they are completely dustproof and that no dirt can collect inside the lamp. In addition, they are protected against strong water jets: This means that no moisture can penetrate and you can also clean the lamps with water. If you would like to use a high-pressure cleaner on your lamps, however, you should use IP69 .
Depending on which animals you keep in your barn, different conditions apply to lighting duration, color temperature and light intensity. You should find out more about this in the Animal Welfare and Farm Animal Husbandry Ordinance . The fact is: if you give your animals the right lighting, they will be happier , less aggressive and also more productive.
Stable lighting for horses – an example
If you set up a stable for horses, for example, you should proceed with caution: If the animals are provided with adequate lighting, their stress level is reduced and they feel comfortable. This is the best prerequisite for a good riding performance. Poor lighting, on the other hand, creates frustration, tension and a hectic pace in horses. What you should definitely note is that the animals do not tolerate a quick change between light and dark . You should therefore rely on LED lamps with a dimming function . You must achieve a value of at least 80 lux for the brightness. On the other hand, values of 150-200 lux are better .
Spread over the day, this light should illuminate the barn for at least 8 hours. It is particularly important that the lighting is distributed as evenly as possible and that there are no dark areas. These can frighten horses and negatively affect their stress level.
Why you should clean the stable lighting regularly?
LEDs have a much longer lifespan than conventional lamps, but they too can get dirty over time. So make sure you clean them regularly. The same applies to the walls of your stable. If these are white, they reflect the light that is emitted from the lamps in all directions and thus generate sufficient basic lighting. If they are covered with dirt, on the other hand, too much light is absorbed – so the room is not sufficiently illuminated despite the lamps. This is not good for the welfare of your animals, which is why you should definitely clean the barn regularly.
Which LED lights are the best for agriculture?
With LED lighting, you make the right decision in the barn and in the rest of the agricultural sector. However, there is a large selection of products that is not easy to understand. In this section, we explain the possible uses of LED ceiling lights, LED strips, and LED floodlights.
LED high bay lights
LED hall lights are attached to the ceiling and are ideal for large stables, halls, sheds, and other buildings around the farm with a ceiling height of at least four meters. The advantage of these LED lamps in contrast to HID and HPI lights is that they emit their light immediately when you switch them on and that they are flicker-free. There are also dimmable products, which make it even easier for you to adjust the lighting yourself and save energy at the same time. In addition: LED ceiling lights are far away from the animals. This could not hurt itself on the lamps. In addition, they emit a lot of lumens, which is why they donate both high-quality and sufficient light.
LED ceiling lights
LED strips can be used in all kinds of application areas and therefore also fit perfectly in stables, storage rooms, and more. Unlike conventional lighting strips, LED strips last much longer and can also save you up to 70% on energy costs. LED strips come in different lengths and with possible through-wiring, through which the strips can be easily connected to one another. LED strips also can be waterproof as well as may come with emergency lighting. These can in turn continue to shine for a short time without electricity.
LED floodlights
LED floodlights are the perfect solution to illuminate large squares, fields, parking lots, or paddocks. They can also be used as general lighting for outside areas. The LED floodlights from LichtDirekt come with symmetrical or asymmetrical light. These differ as follows:
LED floodlights with symmetrical light illuminate a large area evenly, whereas LED floodlights with asymmetrical light only illuminate a certain area. There are also products that come with a motion or twilight sensor. These only provide light when it is necessary and give your site more security.