Talk to me about interior barn lights

[LowKey]

I’m in the process of building my barn. 36 x 36 is the main part (excluding overhangs and trailer parking) with 3 stalls down one side and wash stall, large tack/feed on other side. I want lights in my stalls and in the aisle. Someone suggested doing lights lower on the walls in wash stall for visibility when grooming, etc but they’d obviously have to be water tight.

Anyone out here have lights they love/hate - great insight on what they wish they’d done when building their barn, specifically around lighting?

Barn is a basic pole barn structure with scissor trusses, 12’ exterior walls, and a 4’ roof pitch.

Thanks in advance! (Also if anyone wants to see the barn building in action I’m chronicling it on You Tube. My channel name is Foothills Horse Life.

[mmeqcenter]

I despise fluorescent lights, and am replacing the ones in my barn slowly with these:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Commercial-Electric-4000K-3-ft-Black-Integrated-LED-Shop-Light-with-5-ft-power-cord-54254141/206028863

They are super bright, and I like having plug-ins better than hardwired so I can change them out easily whenever I feel like it.

[WhiteOakFarm]

I’ve switched my barn lights over to all LEDs, either strip lights or bulbs. Even the flood lights in the motion sensors are now LED. Love them

[Bluey]

Working with horses, get the electricians to put lights where they illuminate horses from the side, not overhead.

Lights in the middle of aisles and stalls look fine to humans, but if you are checking or working on horses, you want to see as much of the horse as you can, not a very bright top and all dark on sides and underneath.

You may have to supervise electricians, because even after explaining that carefully and pointing to where you want the lights, on the sides of the aisle, you may come later and see they ended up putting them in the middle, because that is where electricians, in their superior light knowledge, know best where to put lights, of course.

[mellsmom]

I love the outdoor rated wet location day light floods I am replacing my overhead bulbs as they blow out with these. I recently saw a shedrow that had overhead lights and then on the inside edge of the over hang they had a wall mounted upscale verion of the cage lights you see in many stalls. I think that might be brilliant for side lighting and need to write that down for myself.

[2DogsFarm]

Agree with @mmeqcenter
& I now covet the fixtures she linked to.

I chose cold-ballast fluorescents as I hated the wait-time for On & buzz from halide.
My Bad that I did not also specify enclosed fixtures.
Mine are fussy in humidity & bird dirt has also contributed to early demise.
At 10’ rafter height I do not get on a ladder as often as I should to clean the fixtures either.

My barn is also 36X36 center aisle.
I have 2 banks of 2 8’ fixtures set at either side about 4’ in from the walls. This centers one bank over the stalls.
I had the electrician wire each bank to a separate switch placed right by the entry door.
This way I can light the aisle w/o levitating sleeping horses if I come in when it’s pitch black out.
I also have 3’ translucent eavelights, so once the sun starts to come up I hardly ever need to put lights on.

[clanter]

60W LED Flood Light,4500lm,

4500lm is bright enough to light two stalls so a pair (or maybe three…one each side and one overhead) mounted in a wash bay show work well

[goodhors]

Know that horse barn dirt seems to filter into all sorts of fixtures. Even with regular dusting off, they PROBABLY have dirt in them which will cause problems if ignored. Real hard to cover all the holes letting out bulb and fixture heat. I have not checked the big LED fixtures yet, but planning some light changes here. I am changing to LED bulbs as they age out. Instant on is great, along with low electric needs.

We took down some older cold-start florescent fixtures in the barn aisle to move to new locations, found them PACKED inside on the wires with dirt! Yikes!! They had been dusted regularly with leaf blower and broom, appeared clean. So a nasty surprise for us and we took down all the old fixtures, finding each packed up solid with dirt where you can’t clean it out.

Barns are just dirty, comes in on cooling breezes, hay bales, bedding, rises from grooming horses and sweeping the floor. Airborne dirt has to settle someplace and light fixtures are a landing spot.

We were fortunate to not have any bad things happen with heated fixtures.

Something to consider, ways for dust to get in them, looking at various barn lighting fixtures.

[4LeafCloverFarm]

When we bought our farm in 2002 and had electricity put in our 1900’s pole barn, I used exterior rated jelly jar lights (not the cheap porch light type - ours are heavy duty, real glass, etc,) for stalls/aisle feed room, etc. We do use LED bulbs now to replace the older type CFL bulbs as they burn out. They are so well sealed, nothing gets inside (not dirt or dampness or anything) and they are caged, so it something strikes them, they won’t shatter. I’m still happy with them but wish we had installed more of them. They are outdor lights so are fine in wet areas like a wash rack. This is similar to what we used (but mine are parallel to the ground, instead of perpendicular like this one):

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Southwire-Industrial-1-Light-Gray-Outdoor-Weather-Tight-Flushmount-Wall-Light-Fixture-L1707SV/202765270?MERCH=REC--PIPHorizontal2_rr--205566502--202765270--N

[4LeafCloverFarm]

This is what we used to replace a damaged sodium area light at the end of our barn, outside. Provides plenty of light, comes on at dusk automatically. Is a little odd looking, but its growing on me.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Commercial-Electric-High-Output-9-000-Lumens-Dusk-to-Dawn-Gray-Outdoor-Integrated-LED-Area-Light-with-DLC-Premium-Rating-ASTR75-PC-4K-GR/307505295

[LowKey]

@4LeafCloverFarm

When we bought our farm in 2002 and had electricity put in our 1900’s pole barn, I used exterior rated jelly jar lights (not the cheap porch light type - ours are heavy duty, real glass, etc,) for stalls/aisle feed room, etc. We do use LED bulbs now to replace the older type CFL bulbs as they burn out. They are so well sealed, nothing gets inside (not dirt or dampness or anything) and they are caged, so it something strikes them, they won’t shatter. I’m still happy with them but wish we had installed more of them. They are outdor lights so are fine in wet areas like a wash rack. This is similar to what we used (but mine are parallel to the ground, instead of perpendicular like this one):

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Southwire-Industrial-1-Light-Gray-Outdoor-Weather-Tight-Flushmount-Wall-Light-Fixture-L1707SV/202765270?MERCH=REC--PIPHorizontal2_rr--205566502--202765270--N

Any photos of these installed? They’re kind of cool.

[MsM]

BO just replaced the aisle lights. Had been strip florescent. She bought a bunch of LED “shop lights” at the local discount store. Way better! Instant on and more light! And no flickering in the cold! She is also replacing the bulbs in the in-stall lights with LED.

Boarders like the light. She likes the savings.

[YankeeLawyer]

We are completing a center aisle barn right now. In the aisle, we installed recessed LED lights in 2 rows (ie on either side of the aisle) and lantern-type light fixtures on each post (Hinckley Sullivan, below). In the wash stall, we have 4 recessed LED lights and 2 vapor tight LED fixtures (one on either side, near the ceiling). They are on separate switches so we can use either alone or together depending on what we are doing. (I don’t think both types are necessary but I wanted it that way).

Recessed lighting (also comes in “smart” option you can control with your cell phone):
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Commercial-Electric-5-in-and-6-in-White-Integrated-LED-Recessed-Trim-4-Pack-DL-N28A11FR1-27/301176546

Lanterns:

https://www.lightingnewyork.com/product/hinkley%2Dlighting%2Dsullivan%2Doutdoor%2Dwall%2Dl ighting%2D1744bk.html?page=1&q=Hinckley%20Sull ivan

We also installed recessed lighting in the loft (our barn aisle is half open / half lofted). In each stall, we are installing caged barn lights (in white) from Barn Light Electric.

https://www.barnlight.com/lighting/barn-lights/ceiling-pendants/stem-mount/the-flush-mount-guard-sconce/

We also got some caged wall sconces from Amazon for some areas of the loft (they come in bronze but I spray painted them black with Rustoleum):
https://www.amazon.com/Marlowe-Bronze-Hooded-Outdoor-Light/dp/B017Z51HCM

I recommend shopping around if you find a light that you like as prices can vary a lot and sometimes stores will offer a discount if you call (eg Lighting New York tends to and has free shipping)

[DoubleDown]

I have LED UFO High Bay lights. Can’t tell you what the wattage/lumens are, but they are amazing. I’m temporarily blinded if I look directly into one. I have a 48’X42’ barn, and had planned on typical LED shop lights, one every 12’ down the aisle (4), then one in each stall for 8 total. My electrician put in a UFO light for me to try, said he’d take it back if I didn’t like it. I loved it, so he put in 1 more! They were about $350 each, but the higher cost was offset by him just having to put in 2 lights instead of 8.

[TheHorseMutterer]

Background: I have a 36x40 pole barn, 2 stalls and a tack on one side, 2 stalls, a wash rack, and feed room on the other. Traditional style stall fronts with wood/metal bars and fully closed in rooms for feed and tack. Traditional, flat bottomed trusses sit 16’ high and lights are mounted to those.

Right now, I have three of the below down the aisle, centered in a line, and they do a decent job of lighting the barn. Not workshop quality lighting at horses feet, but plenty of light for 99% of anything of I do (to be honest, I haven’t ever thought to myself “I need more light here” unless I was IN the stalls). I have two additional lights over the wash rack, and I’ll tell you what, combined with the white metal walls in there, it’s BRIGHT. My farrier loves it.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01ENWKQWM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Been very happy with the setup, I have maybe one light in the wash rack that flickers every now and then, but none of the others do. The LEDs don’t use much energy and they’re waterproof/dust proof. The plan is to put one of these lights splitting the stall dividing walls to light up those some more. I don’t think I need more than half of the illumination from one light in the stalls, but I’m not obsessive about seeing super bright all the way to the floor in there and I know some people are (Not hating on this, btw. Totally understand why, but my guys just aren’t in much.). If I was interested in that, they have half sized ones and I’d put one on each side to solve that problem.

[gradytb]

Built a new barn 1-½ years ago. It’s a 3-stall, shedrow-type barn with a 16’ aisle. On the left as you enter is the wash rack, feed room, and then 3 12x14’ stalls. I have enclosed LED fixtures mounted high on each side of the wash rack, and on both sides of the aisle. I wanted to avoid the shadows that come from having a line if lights down the middle or the aisle, like my old barn was. Also put an LED light in the middle of each stall—and each stall has an enclosed fan (from RAMM) that you can take down and hose off to clean. Each fan and each stall light has its own switch. One switch is for the main aisle and one for the wash rack. LOVE my lights. At night there is so much light, no shadows when I’m working on the boys’ feet or underneath them.

[Equibrit]

@LowKey

I’m wondering if something as simple as these might work for lower in the wash stall?

Only if they are hoof proof.

[EquineJunky]

For overhead we have been replacing all of the fluorescent with LED. Aisle and tack room have the big 2’ X 4’ ones. Smaller in stalls.

[ElementFarm]

I have LED strip lights (replacing the fluorescent bulbs in work lights) but with a decorative cover over them, in all my stalls and wash stall. The aisle has dome lights (3 standard bulbs in each, which we’ll switch over to LED at some point).

I can’t abide a dim barn, and the LEDs are quite bright. I do wish I had additional lights in my grooming/wash stall, because it’s just not bright enough to body clip really well, and when I see my horses in daylight, I’m aghast at all the clipper lines, lol.

[TMares]

For body clipping and such, they sell very bright portable LED work lights for just such situations.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Utilitech-Pro-1000-Lumen-LED-Portable-Work-Light/1000260469