LED High-Bay Cost & Payback in Ontario (2025)

Rising hydro rates in Ontario and richer lighting incentives mean LED high bays are no longer just a “nice upgrade.” They are one of the few projects that can cut operating costs, improve safety and hit your sustainability targets with one line item in the budget.

If your Google search history looks anything like “LED high bay cost Ontario” or “warehouse lighting payback,” you are in the right place. This post stays out of the theory and focuses on real-world numbers: typical one-for-one swaps, installed cost per fixture, what drives that cost up or down, and how the current Save on Energy Instant Discounts show up on your invoice.

We will link to our LED High-Bay Lighting for Warehouses: 2025 Buyer’s Guide when you need deeper spec guidance, and to our Highbays Upgrade service when you are ready for a project-specific quote. For rough planning, you can also plug your fixture count into the Lighting Load Estimator to sanity-check the layout and kW before you call anyone out.

Typical one-for-one swaps (400W metal halide and T5HO to 150W LED)

Most Ontario warehouses we walk into are still lit by one of three legacy workhorses:

• 400 watt metal halide high bays

• 6-lamp T5HO fluorescent high bays

• The odd 8-lamp T5HO in higher or more demanding areas

Credit: Relightdepot

You do not need to redesign from scratch to get LED savings. In the 20 to 40 foot mounting range, there are very predictable one-for-one replacements that keep your layout and light levels similar while cutting energy 50 to 70 percent.

400W metal halide high bay

A typical 400W metal halide high bay does not actually draw 400 watts. Once you include ballast losses, the real load is usually around 450 to 460 watts. Over time, the lamps also lose a lot of output, which is why older aisles feel dull and yellow even though you are still paying for the power.

For most aisles and open warehouse zones at 20 to 30 feet:

• Old fixture: 400W metal halide high bay (about 450–460W at the panel)

• Common LED replacement: 120 to 150W LED high bay (roughly 18 000 to 24 000 delivered lumens)

Done properly, a 150W LED high bay will match or out-punch a 400W metal halide because the light is directional and does not waste lumens trapped in the reflector.ledlightexpert.com+1

Energy reduction in simple terms:

• From about 450W down to about 150W per fixture

• Roughly 65 percent less power per high bay before you even add controls

If your ceiling is higher than 35 to 40 feet or you are trying to meet higher light levels for detailed work, you may step up to a 200W LED package instead. Our Industrial Pendant vs High-Bay article walks through when that makes sense in more detail.

6-lamp and 8-lamp T5HO high bays

T5HO fixtures are a little easier on energy than metal halide but they still burn a lot of watts and chew through lamps and ballasts. A quick rule of thumb:

• 6-lamp T5HO high bay

  • Lamp load: 6 × 54W = 324W

  • Real system load (ballasts): often 340–360W

  • Typical LED replacement: 120–150W linear or round high bay

• 8-lamp T5HO high bay

  • Lamp load: 8 × 54W = 432W

  • Real load: often 450W or more

  • Typical LED replacement: 150–200W LED high bay

In most Ontario warehouses at 22–30 feet, a 150W LED with the right optic will comfortably replace both a 400W metal halide and a 6-lamp T5HO while improving uniformity. At 30–40 feet or where you have tall racking with more demanding light levels, you are usually choosing between a stronger 150W package or a 200W LED.

When we scope a full industrial lighting upgrade, we start with these one-for-one assumptions, then refine based on:

• Required foot-candles (safety, picking, inspection, etc.)

• Ceiling height and racking height

• Colour temperature and CRI expectations

• Whether you want aisle, narrow, or wide optics

Installed cost ranges per fixture – and what actually moves the price

This is where most Ontario operators get stuck. They know the energy savings look good, but they are not sure whether the installed cost per high bay will land closer to 300 dollars or 900 dollars.

There is no single number that applies to every building, but after doing many warehouse and plant retrofits in Southern Ontario, the ranges below are realistic for a one-for-one LED high bay project using the Save on Energy Instant Discounts.

1. Supply-only cost after Instant Discounts

The Save on Energy Instant Discounts program funds part of the LED high bay cost at the distributor level. You do not file paperwork; you see a line-item discount on the material invoice.

Current program tables show incentives up to 120 dollars per LED high bay depending on lumen output and wattage band, with typical end-customer portions in the 50 to 90 dollar per fixture range.

Credit: saveonenergy

For a good quality 150W high bay suitable for 20–30 foot mounting heights in Ontario, this usually works out to:

• Before Instant Discount: roughly 280 to 380 dollars per fixture (brand, optics, 347V option, and warranty drive this)

• After Instant Discount: often in the 220 to 320 dollar range per fixture on your invoice

Very low online prices are usually non-qualifying fixtures (wrong lumen package, non-listed brand, or no 347V/480V option), or they lack the photometrics and warranty you want in a busy warehouse.

2. Installed cost per fixture – simple one-for-one swaps

Assume this scenario, which covers a lot of real Ontario projects:

• Ceiling height: 20–30 feet

• Existing high bays on 347V or 208–240V circuits

• Clear floor with good scissor-lift access

• Work done during normal hours with a small disruption plan

On projects of 50–150 fixtures, we typically see installed, after-incentive cost per fixture land in these rough bands:

• Simple swap, no controls:

  • Ballpark: 350 to 550 dollars per fixture installed

  • Includes fixture, Instant Discount, lift time, licensed electrician, disposal of old heads

• Swap with basic integrated sensors (on/off or step-dim):

  • Ballpark: 400 to 600 dollars per fixture installed

  • Slightly higher fixture cost and a bit more commissioning time

Larger projects (100+ high bays) often fall toward the lower half of these bands because lift mobilization, ESA permits, and setup are spread over more fixtures. Small jobs of 10–20 lights are usually closer to the top.

3. When the cost per fixture climbs

Your “LED high bay cost in Ontario” jumps when one or more of these are true:

• Ceiling height over 35–40 feet

  • You move from a standard scissor lift to a boom lift, and productivity slows.

  • 

• Difficult access

  • Obstructions, production lines, mezzanines, or sensitive equipment under the fixtures.

• New circuits or panel work

  • Adding extra rows, emergency circuits, or cleaning up legacy wiring adds real labour.

• Tight outage windows

  • Night or weekend work carries premiums, especially in busy logistics and cold-storage facilities.

• Added controls and zoning

  • Networked controls, group daylight zones, and integration with BMS add design and commissioning hours.

In those cases, it is common to see installed cost in the 550 to 850 dollar per fixture range, even after incentives, because the job is more about access and labour than the fixture itself.

If you want to sanity-check a quote, a quick method is:

1. Count your existing high bays.

2. Use the Lighting Load Estimator to confirm the LED wattage and rough count make sense.

3. Divide the total project price (materials, labour, lifts, permits) by the fixture count to get a per-fixture number.

If that per-fixture cost looks out of line with the ranges above, it is a sign to ask more questions about lifts, wiring changes, or after-hours work before you sign.

Instant Discounts for high bays in Ontario (and how they show up on your invoice)

Ontario is one of the few places where a big chunk of your high-bay upgrade is quietly subsidized in real time. You do not apply for a retrofit grant. You buy qualifying fixtures from a participating distributor and the Save on Energy Instant Discounts are baked right into the quote or invoice.

Here is what that means in practice for LED high bays.

Typical discount ranges per high bay

Current program tables for 2024–2025 show different bands for LED high and low bays, based mainly on lumen output and wattage. According to Save on Energy, for most warehouse-grade high bays used in 20–40 foot Ontario facilities, you will usually see:

• Smaller high bays (around 10 000 to 12 000 lumens, roughly 80–120W)

  • Incentives often top out around 50 to 75 dollars per fixture.

• “Standard” 150W class high bays (roughly 15 500 to 24 000 lumens, up to ~178W)

  • Incentives can rise to about 90 dollars per fixture.

• Very high-output high bays (20 000+ lumens, 200–300W, very tall ceilings)

  • Incentives can reach 120 to 140 dollars per fixture.

Not every high bay qualifies. To receive the discount, the fixture has to:

• Meet the Save on Energy measure definition (lumens, wattage band, and efficacy)

• Be on a qualifying spec list (typically DLC listed, with proper product codes)

• Be sold through a participating distributor or contractor

Some of the program dollars are reserved for the distributor to cover admin, but the customer-facing discount is still significant. Industry examples show a typical range of about 50 to 120 dollars off per fixture once the dust settles.

If you want a deeper dive on how the bands work and what counts as a “high bay” under the rules, we break it down step by step in our 2025 Save on Energy rebate guide.

How the discount actually appears on a quote or invoice

In the field, we usually see one of three formats:

1. Line-item rebate per fixture

   • Example:

     • “150W LED high bay – 310.00 each”

     • “Save on Energy Instant Discount – 90.00 each”

     • “Net fixture price – 220.00 each”

2. Net price only + footnote

   • The quote shows “150W LED high bay – 225.00 each”

   • A note at the bottom says something like “Includes Save on Energy Instant Discount. Customer must be an eligible Ontario business.”

3. Bundle price per fixture installed

   • The contractor gives you a turnkey installed price (fixtures, lifts, labour, ESA permit) and shows the Save on Energy discount as a single lump sum credit, often in the middle of the quote.

If your quote does not show this clearly, it is reasonable to ask:

• “What Instant Discount amount per fixture did you assume?”

• “Is this based on the current high-bay band under Save on Energy?”

Having that number lets you check whether your project is taking full advantage of the program or if there is room to tighten the spec for a better band.

What about controls incentives?

Credit: saveonenergy

Occupancy and daylight sensors are increasingly covered as add-ons under the same umbrella. Industry guides for the Instant Discounts program point to typical discounts in the 15 to 30 dollar range per qualifying sensor, especially for integral or fixture-mounted occupancy devices.

That does not sound huge, but in a 100–150 fixture project it can shave a meaningful amount off the controls package and help justify going beyond simple on/off switching. We will talk about the extra savings from sensors in the controls section later in the post.

If you want a quick ballpark of how much rebate money is on the table for your own project, try dropping your fixture count into our Lighting Rebate Estimator as a first pass, then refine with your distributor’s exact product codes.

Annual savings math for Ontario warehouses (step by step, with real numbers)

Here is a clean way to think about savings from LED high bays in Ontario. You only need three inputs:

1. How many watts you shave off each fixture

2. How many hours per year the lights run

3. Your all in cost per kWh

From there, the math is straightforward.

Step 1: Watts saved per fixture

Use two common retrofit scenarios.

A. 400W metal halide to 150W LED

• Old fixture: 400W metal halide

  • Real draw at the panel with ballast: about 455 watts

• New fixture: 150 watt LED high bay

Wattage reduction per fixture

• 455W − 150W ≈ 305 watts saved

• In kilowatts, that is 0.305 kW saved per fixture

B. 6 lamp T5HO to 150W LED

• Old fixture: 6 lamp T5HO high bay

  • Real draw at the panel: about 350 watts

• New fixture: 150 watt LED high bay

Wattage reduction per fixture

• 350W − 150W = 200 watts saved

• In kilowatts, that is 0.20 kW saved per fixture

If you want to check these numbers with your exact fixtures and counts, you can plug them into the Lighting Load Estimator.

Step 2: Annual kWh savings per fixture

Now turn those kilowatts into annual kWh using your hours of operation.

Three common Ontario warehouse profiles:

• Daytime only

  • About 10 hours per day, 5 days per week

  • Roughly 2,600 hours per year

• Two shift operation

  • About 18 hours per day, 5 to 6 days per week

  • Roughly 4,700 hours per year

• Fully continuous operation

  • Lights on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

  • 8,760 hours per year

Now apply the kWh formula:

kWh saved per year = kW reduction per fixture × hours per year

A. 400W metal halide to 150W LED (0.305 kW saved)

Run profile	Hours per year	Annual kWh saved per fixture
Daytime only	2,600	~0.305 × 2,600 ≈ 790 kWh
Two shift operation	4,700	~0.305 × 4,700 ≈ 1,430 kWh
Twenty four seven	8,760	~0.305 × 8,760 ≈ 2,670 kWh

B. 6 lamp T5HO to 150W LED (0.20 kW saved)

Run profile	Hours per year	Annual kWh saved per fixture
Daytime only	2,600	0.20 × 2,600 = 520 kWh
Two shift operation	4,700	0.20 × 4,700 = 940 kWh
Twenty four seven	8,760	0.20 × 8,760 = 1,750 kWh

A quick sanity check:

• One hundred metal halide fixtures in a continuous facility

• Each saving about 2,670 kWh per year

That is roughly 267,000 kWh per year saved just from the high bays.

You can cross check this with the Lighting Retrofit Savings Calculator by entering your old and new loads and your hours per week.

Step 3: Turn kWh into real hydro dollars

Now multiply the annual kWh savings by a realistic Ontario hydro rate.

Most small and mid size businesses in Southern Ontario, once you add delivery, demand related riders, regulatory charges and the Ontario Electricity Rebate, end up with an all in cost around 16 to 20 cents per kWh. A good planning number is 18 cents per kWh.

Annual dollar savings = annual kWh saved × 0.18 dollars per kWh

A. 400W metal halide to 150W LED

Run profile	Annual kWh saved	Blended rate	Annual saving per fixture
Daytime only	~790 kWh	0.18	≈ 140 dollars
Two shift operation	~1,430 kWh	0.18	≈ 260 dollars
Twenty four seven	~2,670 kWh	0.18	≈ 480 dollars

B. 6 lamp T5HO to 150W LED

Run profile	Annual kWh saved	Blended rate	Annual saving per fixture
Daytime only	520 kWh	0.18	≈ 95 dollars
Two shift operation	940 kWh	0.18	≈ 165 to 170 dollars
Twenty four seven	1,750 kWh	0.18	≈ 315 dollars

This is the level of detail you want for a quick business case. From here you can:

• Multiply the per fixture saving by your actual fixture count

• Drop in your quoted installed cost per fixture

• Use the Lighting Operating Cost Calculator to compare pre and post retrofit bills

Once you have those three pieces, it becomes easy to show management or ownership exactly how much your LED high bay project saves each year and how fast it pays for itself.

Simple payback by scenario (24/7, 2-shift, daytime only)

Now that we have installed cost ranges and annual savings per fixture, we can answer the real question: “When does this LED high-bay project pay for itself?”

To keep things apples to apples, let’s use:

• A typical installed cost of about 450 dollars per fixture (midpoint of the 350–550 dollar range for simple one-for-one swaps)

• A blended hydro cost of 18 cents per kWh

• The annual savings we already calculated for 400W metal halide and 6-lamp T5HO to 150W LED

These are planning numbers, not a quote, but they will be in the same ballpark as a real Ontario project.

Daytime only (about 2,600 hours per year)

Lighting profile: shipping and production mostly 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday.

Per-fixture annual savings (from earlier):

• 400W MH → 150W LED: about 140 dollars per year

• 6-lamp T5HO → 150W LED: about 95 dollars per year

Mini table — simple payback, daytime facility

Legacy fixture	Annual saving per fixture	Example installed cost	Simple payback
400W metal halide	~140 dollars	450 dollars	~3.2 years
6-lamp T5HO high bay	~95 dollars	450 dollars	~4.7 years

If your quote comes in closer to 400 dollars per fixture installed, the payback in a daytime-only building gets about 10–15 percent faster. If your blended hydro cost is higher than 18 cents, the payback speeds up again.

Two-shift operation (about 4,700 hours per year)

Lighting profile: production or warehousing running into the evening.

Per-fixture annual savings:

• 400W MH → 150W LED: about 260 dollars per year

• 6-lamp T5HO → 150W LED: about 165–170 dollars per year

Mini table — simple payback, 2-shift facility

Legacy fixture	Annual saving per fixture	Example installed cost	Simple payback
400W metal halide	~260 dollars	450 dollars	~1.7 years
6-lamp T5HO high bay	~170 dollars	450 dollars	~2.6 years

This is the operating profile where warehouse lighting payback becomes very compelling. A 1.5–2.0 year simple payback is common once you layer in maintenance savings and controls.

24/7 operation (about 8,760 hours per year)

Lighting profile: cold storage, logistics, or process lines that truly never shut off.

Per-fixture annual savings:

• 400W MH → 150W LED: about 480 dollars per year

• 6-lamp T5HO → 150W LED: about 315 dollars per year

Mini table — simple payback, 24/7 facility

Legacy fixture	Annual saving per fixture	Example installed cost	Simple payback
400W metal halide	~480 dollars	450 dollars	~0.9 years
6-lamp T5HO high bay	~315 dollars	450 dollars	~1.4 years

In true 24/7 operations, a simple payback under 18 months is very realistic for a 400W metal halide to 150W LED conversion, even before you account for reduced re-lamping and avoided ballast failures.

If you want to play with your own numbers (different installed cost, hydro rate, or hours), a quick way is to plug your actual fixture count and hours into the Lighting Retrofit Savings Calculator and compare scenarios.

Optics and glare: aisle vs wide, 4000K vs 5000K, CRI choices

The money side of LED high bays only works if people like working under the light. This is where optics, colour temperature, CRI, and spacing matter as much as wattage.

A lot of the “too bright,” “too harsh,” or “spotty” complaints you hear after a retrofit have nothing to do with the LED wattage and everything to do with the optic and layout.

Aisle vs wide optics

For most Ontario warehouses, you are aiming the light at one of two things:

1. Racking aisles

2. Open floor areas

Using the right beam for each zone has a bigger impact on perceived quality than bumping the wattage up or down by 20 watts.

• Aisle/narrow optics

  • Throw more light down the length of the aisle and into vertical faces of racking

  • Help you maintain good vertical illumination for labels and picking without over-lighting the top of the racks

  • Often let you widen fixture spacing along the aisle because the beam is shaped to the corridor

• Wide or “distribution” optics

  • Better for open production areas, staging zones, and loading bays

  • Fill in the gaps between fixtures so you do not get bright “hot spots” under each head and dark patches between

As a very rough starting point, many layouts at 20–30 feet mounting height work with row spacing roughly equal to the mounting height (for example, 24–28 foot rows at 24–28 foot mounting). In tighter racking or where you want more uniformity, that ratio shrinks. A proper layout or a high bay spacing calculator helps refine that so you do not end up with checkerboard bright/dark patterns.

For a deeper dive on optics and mounting height, our LED High-Bay Buyer’s Guide walks through example photometrics.

Managing glare instead of just “more lumens”

Modern LED high bays can pack a lot of lumens into a small source. That is efficient for energy, but it can be uncomfortable if the lens is bare and the fixture is too low or in the wrong optic.

You can tame glare without sacrificing efficiency by:

• Choosing lensed or diffused high bays rather than bare chips-on-board in lower mounting heights

• Making sure fixtures are not directly in the line of sight at mezzanine levels or overhead walkways

• Avoiding big jumps in vertical illuminance in areas where operators look up frequently (stacking, overhead cranes)

If we are designing a full industrial lighting upgrade, we routinely tweak optic choices between zones to keep glare low while hitting the target light levels.

4000K vs 5000K in Ontario warehouses

Credit: ledlightingsupply

Colour temperature is partly preference and partly application:

• 4000K (“neutral white”)

  • Softer, less stark

  • Often preferred in food processing, light manufacturing, and mixed-use spaces

  • A good option when staff complain that 5000K feels “too blue” or “too harsh”

• 5000K (“cool white”)

  • Feels brighter for the same measured light level

  • Common in logistics, high-bay warehousing, and outdoor yards

  • Works well where visual acuity and contrast on labels and barcodes matter

In most Ontario plants we end up with a mix: 5000K in high-activity racking and loading areas, and 4000K in offices, QC labs and some production zones where a slightly warmer feel is preferred.

CRI: when is 80 enough, and when to consider 90+?

Most warehouse-grade LED high bays ship with 80+ CRI. That is perfectly fine for:

• General warehousing and distribution

• Basic assembly and packing

• Most industrial production where colours do not need to be judged critically

Credit: logoslighting

You start to consider 90+ CRI when:

• Operators are matching paint, fabric, or finishes

• You have food inspection or print inspection work where subtle colour differences matter

• You are in a mixed industrial/retail environment where product has to look good for visiting customers

Higher CRI usually costs a bit more and can trim efficacy slightly, so we typically reserve it for zones where it truly matters and keep 80+ CRI in the rest.

If you are not sure which way to go, a good way to decide is to trial a small number of 4000K/5000K and 80/90 CRI fixtures side-by-side in one aisle and get feedback from the people actually working there before you roll it out plant-wide.

Controls that pay back (motion and daylight)

Once you swap a 400W metal halide for a 150W LED high bay, you have already captured a big chunk of the available savings. Controls are the next layer that can push your warehouse lighting payback from “solid” to “very strong,” especially in 2-shift and 24/7 buildings where not all zones are occupied all the time.

There are three main control strategies that consistently earn their keep in Ontario warehouses:

1. Fixture-mounted motion sensors

The simplest and most common option is a fixture-mounted occupancy sensor on each high bay or on every second fixture. These are usually microwave or PIR sensors tuned for high mounting heights.

Typical behaviour:

• Lights dim down (often to 10–30 percent) or turn off after a set time-out

• They pop back up to full when someone enters the aisle or zone

In real projects, these sensors often:

• Cut effective run hours by 20–40 percent in aisles and secondary zones

• Have a modest bump in upfront cost per fixture

• Qualify for small additional Instant Discounts in Ontario, which helps offset the premium

In a 100-fixture warehouse where aisles are frequently empty, that 20–40 percent reduction in hours can be the difference between a 2.5-year and a 1.8-year payback.

2. Daylight harvesting in perimeter and dock areas

If you have:

• Dock doors with translucent panels

• High windows or clerestory glazing

• A perimeter of skylights in a larger box

You can use daylight sensors to trim LED output when natural light is available. This is most useful in:

• Perimeter aisles

• Shipping and receiving bays

• Open production areas near exterior walls

Typical impact:

• Perimeter zones see an extra 10–30 percent cut in kWh on top of the LED savings

• Internal aisles with no daylight see little to no benefit, so you do not bother there

When we design these systems, we often pair daylight sensors with grouped controls so zones dim together smoothly instead of each high bay doing its own thing independently.

3. Networked controls and zoning

At the higher end, especially in larger plants, you may want:

• Wireless nodes in each fixture

• A central interface to group fixtures into zones

• Schedules, daylight, and motion all managed in one place

• Trend logs that show which areas burn the most hours

This kind of system lets you:

• Turn entire zones down during known slow periods

• Reduce light levels to a lower “security” setting after hours

• Fine-tune time-outs and levels without a lift

The upfront cost is higher, but in big 24/7 warehouses the ability to shave another 15–25 percent off lighting hours in low-traffic zones can have a very clear ROI, especially with rising hydro rates.

How to think about controls in your business case

When we build a project model for a Highbays Upgrade, we usually run two scenarios side by side:

1. LED only (no advanced controls, simple switching)

2. LED plus controls (motion on all aisles, daylight in perimeter zones)

For many Ontario sites, the difference looks roughly like this on a per-fixture basis:

• LED only: 45–70 percent kWh reduction vs legacy

• LED + controls: 55–80 percent kWh reduction vs legacy, depending on how often zones sit empty

If the incremental cost for controls adds, for example, 75 dollars per fixture but saves an extra 60 dollars per year in hydro, you are looking at a simple payback on the controls layer of roughly 1.25 years, sitting on top of the already-strong LED payback.

FAQ: LED High-Bay Cost & Payback in Ontario

What wattage LED high bay replaces a 400W metal halide in Ontario warehouses?

In most Ontario warehouses with 20 to 30 foot mounting heights, a 120 to 150 watt LED high bay is the right one for one replacement for a 400 watt metal halide that actually draws around 450 watts with the ballast. A good 150 watt LED high bay with proper optics will usually deliver the same or better light on the floor with roughly 65 percent less power, and it will hold its output over time instead of drifting down and going yellow like metal halide.

How much does a 150W LED high bay cost installed in Ontario?

For a typical one for one retrofit using Save on Energy Instant Discounts, most projects in Southern Ontario see an installed cost of about 350 to 550 dollars per fixture for a 150 watt LED high bay. That turnkey number usually includes the fixture, the Instant Discount, a scissor lift, licensed electrician labour and safe disposal of the old heads. Jobs with very high ceilings, difficult access or weekend work can land higher, while larger, simpler warehouses often sit near the lower end of the range.

What is the usual mounting height for 150W versus 200W LED high bays?

As a rule of thumb, a 150 watt LED high bay works very well in the 20 to 30 foot mounting range for most Ontario warehouses, especially when you choose proper aisle or wide optics. When ceilings are above 35 to 40 feet, or when you need higher light levels for detailed work, you usually move to a 200 watt LED high bay or a higher output version of the same family. The right choice still depends on racking height, target foot candles and spacing, which is why a quick layout or a high bay spacing check is worth doing before you order.

How long is the payback for LED high bay retrofits in Ontario?

With current Ontario hydro rates and Save on Energy Instant Discounts, a LED high bay retrofit often pays back in one to four years depending on hours of use. Daytime only warehouses tend to see simple payback around the three to four year mark, two shift operations often land in the two to three year range, and true 24/7 facilities commonly see paybacks near one to one and a half years on energy alone. Adding motion and daylight controls usually tightens those numbers further.

Do LED high bay motion and daylight sensors qualify for discounts in Ontario?

Yes. In Ontario, fixture mounted occupancy and daylight sensors can qualify for additional Save on Energy Instant Discounts when they meet the program’s requirements and are purchased through a participating distributor. The incentive per sensor is smaller than the high bay incentive but it still helps offset the extra cost. Because sensors can cut effective run hours by 20 to 40 percent in aisles and secondary zones, they usually deliver a strong payback on top of the LED savings.

How far apart should I space LED high bays in a 20–30 foot Ontario warehouse?

A common starting point is to space rows roughly equal to the mounting height. For example, if your LED high bays are mounted at 24 to 28 feet, row spacing around 24 to 28 feet is often a good first pass. Aisle optics let you stretch spacing along the aisle a bit more, while very tight racking or higher light level targets may need closer spacing. The safest approach is to run a quick layout or use a spacing calculator so you do not end up with bright spots under fixtures and dark stripes between rows.

Can I mix 4000K and 5000K LED high bays in the same facility?

You can mix 4000K and 5000K LED high bays in the same building as long as you group them by zone. Many Ontario sites run 5000K in racking aisles and loading docks for crisp contrast on labels and 4000K in QC areas, light assembly and offices for a softer feel. The key is to avoid random mixing within the same visual zone, which can look patchy. When you keep each area consistent, the overall look is clean and staff adapt very quickly.