Case Study: Lighting for Horse Stable

Case Study: Lighting for Horse Stable

In the world today there are two different types of light that can be used to provided lighting to a barn and these choice are sunlight and man-made light. The better choice out of these two lights is obviously sunlight but when it is dark outside you would need man-made light to power up the horse stable. Having sunlight rather than man-made light is also better for both the human and horses because of the vitamin D that it provides.

Natural Light (Sunlight)
Having natural light is very efficient because it is provided by the sun and the lighting is both good for you and the horse. Natural light has Vitamin D which is good for both the human and horses which is why if natural light is a preferred source of light inside a stable that would be better than artificial lighting. There are different ways that you can light a horse stable with sunlight but the best way to do that is get clear acrylic panels which are clear sheets and use them as part of the building material which provides the source of sunlight to come in to the horse stable. These clear acrylic panels will provide the horse stable with a skylight which the sunlight will be coming in through the roof of the horse stable.

The only major flaw to using sunlight that is when the temperature starts increasing it will get pretty warm in a place like a horse stable so there would have to be a way to keep the temperature at a constant that the horses are comfortable in.

Artificial Lighting (LED)
Even though the best light to use is natural light there will be day that natural light will not be provided which causes us to use artificial light. There are many different types of light bulbs for artificial lighting but the most commonly used ones are incandescent, halogen energy efficient compact fluorescent, fluorescent tubes, metal halide and mercury vapors. When using artificial lighting there must be a certain way to light the place because sometimes if the light is not in the right space of the horse stable there will be spots and places where you will not be able to see. So positioning is a really big part of when you are using artificial lighting. 

How to Make it Cost Efficient 
There are many cost efficient ways for people that own horse stable to save money with lighting. The first thing is always try to use as much natural light as you can because sunlight is pretty much free and doesn't cost you a penny. Next is if you are using artificial lighting you there are solar and wind power which are alternative source of electric power and will save you money than using purchasing energy from the city. Having these two steps should help your horse stable be more cost efficient with the lighting aspect.

Solar Panel Cost
Solar Panel's cost ranged about $160-400 and they produce about 200 Watts per solar panel.

Link:
http://stablemanagement.com/article/tips-to-provide-good-barn-lighting