Horse barn lighting ideas
1. Indoor gooseneck barn lights
Every barn stall needs to have some country style with a touch of elegance. Gooseneck barn lights are old fashioned enough but efficient enough for any self-styled horse stable. LED light bulbs will fit into any of these light fixtures very easily. When hooked up to a suitable LED dimmer, your lights can be dimmed on smart light controls.
2. High bay lights
Stalls that have a second floor built into them will benefit from using high bay light fixtures. These are also called UFO lights since the saucer shape looks like the typical 1950s flying saucer. These can be hung from the rafters and illuminate larger areas of your horse barn as you like. The advantage of DIY high bay lights is greater control over illuminating square footage.
3. Recessed lights
Some dressing and grooming stables are very fancy for lighting preferences. You might consider using classic recessed lighting to provide a nice clean and professional atmosphere. Recessed lights also look fancy without being too pretentious in their overall appearance. If you want to give amble light that is present and not overbearing, recessed lighting is a great choice.
4. Horse wash barn lights
Every horse wash is going to need good lighting to scrub down dusty riding equestrian horses. The major problem that horse owners will find with standard light fixtures is they’ll be sensitive to moisture. Horse wash barn lights are built with fixtures that resist water and water vapor. It’s the constant threat of water vapor that starts to rust internal electrical connections. Horse wash barn lights are meant to keep this water out for longer periods.
5. Chandelier
OK, nobody said you couldn’t be fancy in your barn with an equine inspired chandelier. The whole point that you want to have some class that matches the beauty and grace of your best show winners. What makes a chandelier more energy-efficient is using LED lights bulbs small enough to fit into a chandelier. New technology makes these tiny bulbs brighter and more effective at lighting over standard filament bulbs.
6. Ceiling fan with lights
Horse stables are places where heat builds-up on hot summer days, especially when these structures are wooden. Providing enough ventilation for your horses helps them to keep from overheating. The circulation of air also helps keep small flying insects from bothering horses too. Add a down-light that’s attached to your ceiling fan, and it’s a perfect combo with air circulation and controlled light in one.
7. String lights
Special celebrations can give a horse stable more of a dreamy and laid-back appearance look better with string lights. Unlike Christmas lights, string lights have an appealing party-like feeling that’s part of their look. Not just for old fashioned fun but with an atmosphere for family and tradition. The bonus to string lights is that colors can change using a smartphone app.
8. Linear lights
Unlike the long fluorescent lighting tubes, linear lights bring along a cleaner strip of light. These are especially impressive running along the edges of a ceiling to provide an excellent fill and bounce light effect. These are the perfect lights to use for grooming your horses but not limited to standard stable lighting.
9. Decorative cage lighting
Light fixtures that have any kind of cage built around the bulb is as rustic as it gets. Bringing back that mood to your horse barn is easy enough with this decorative accent lighting. This lighting is not so much for illuminating a lot of space but makes for great decorative accent light.
Tips for DIY lighting in a horse stall
1. Select waterproof lighting fixtures
Moisture and water can ruin a light fixture in a short amount of time. This is why you want to have fixtures that have an IP rating to keep water out of your light. There are different IP ratings but the better ones often have IP66 and 67 that is for very rainy and wet weather. Even if you’re using these inside a horse stable, these are recommended for horse wash station lighting.
2. Select LED lights
The best reason for buying indoor LED lights is that they’re energy-saving and long-lasting. Unlike classic filament lights, the lifespan is meant for many years of trouble-free usage. The amount of wattage is also very low so the running costs are considered to be the best cost savings. Besides, these fixtures provide generous amounts of light compared to standard lights used in the past.
3. Select smart lighting
Having the control to change the brightness and switch them on/off with your smartphone is refreshing news. This makes checking on your horses easier with smartphone controls. Instead of stumbling around in the dark, your phone can turn on stable lights to a level that won’t disturb or wake-up the horses. The last thing you want is startled horses in the barn from clicking a noisy on or off switch.
4. Can select color temperature (Kelvin)
One very cool option with LED horse stable lights is that the newer fixtures allow you to control the Kelvin settings. This can be beneficial for your horses if you want them to have more simulated sunlight white or a more comfortable ambient light. For most of these light fixtures, you have to change the Kelvin setting manually.
5. Can be set to prevent the winter coat
For show horses that shouldn’t have a winter coat growing in the winter season, you can set your lights on a timer. This simulates the number of daylight hours that an equestrian horse needs to believe its spring and summer weather. This way, your horse will have automatic horse barn lighting that automatically controls when lights should come on or off.
Benefits of DIY horse barn lighting
1. Save on costs
As opposed to halogen or filament-based bulbs, LED lighting is much more efficient using electricity. These cost-savings are immediately seen within the first month and will continue for several years. Since LED use less wattage, you don’t sacrifice the number of Lumens to light up a horse barn. If you switch all the lights, that cost-savings is better for managing monthly equine budgets too.
2. Can get what you want
There are lots of great deals on LED lights bought through the online site Amazon. With so many sellers that offer many styles and shapes to choose from. It makes buying the kind of LED light that you want easier with little hassle. For many reasons, it always pays to check the reviews of these LED fixtures to see how well they work. Some imported LED lights can be really junky if you’re not careful.
3. Can still see at night using Red light
One aspect of color-changing LED lights is being able to program night lights that use a spectrum of red for horses. This is excellent when you need to enter a stable during the night and don’t want to use the regular lights. Using red light is also nice since this is a spectrum that doesn’t bother horses who are woken-up.
4. Low heat generation
LED lights have heat sinks built into their design that pull heat away from the semiconductor. This is why LEDs last so long but more importantly that the light itself doesn’t put-off much heat at all. This keeps the temperatures lower inside a horse barn without much effort. While LED bulbs are different from their heat sink design, fixtures are much better at heat dissipation.
5. Helps horses produce melatonin
Using LED light that has higher amounts of Blue in the daylight Kelvin range is good for producing melatonin. Especially in the winter months when sunlight is lower, you’ll want to ensure that your show horse has good melatonin production. This will be very important for reproduction and scheduled mating dates for your horses.
Limitations
1. Time-consuming
Some fixtures will require wiring since they’re meant to be installed on the ceiling. This isn’t as easy as plugging in an indoor light that has a built-in socket. Having to arrange for an electrician may be more hassle than it seems. Most of the time, these fixtures are very simple to hook-up if you have basic wiring skills.
2. Can be finicky for constant power supply
For some equestrian horse ranches in the countryside, a constant power supply may be coming from a local source. These power companies will supply electricity to an entire town and can have faulty or differences in the supply of voltage delivered. All LEDs need constant power to function correctly, so your power supply needs to be a steady flow to work best.
3. Cheap LED light fixtures may have flicker issues
Finding a deal on LED lights is a satisfying bit of luck but can get ugly if you don’t check the quality of that fixture. Some manufacturers use very cheap components in their LED lights that can make the LED appear to flash or flicker. Always make sure these LED lights are name brand and never buy secondary knock-offs.
4. LED bulbs no compatible with your dimmer control
If you have a dimmer control already installed in your horse barn, this controller may not work well with your dimming LED lights. Older classic dimmers meant for incandescent lights work differently with a standard dimmer. If you experience flashing or buzzing from an LED light, you need to change the dimmer to one that’s LED friendly.
Our conclusion
Hopefully, you have more good ideas for your equine horse barn or stable. There are lots of affordable lighting ideas that you can improve barn light conditions. If we’ve missed any question that you didn’t find answered here, be sure to ask us.
