I’ve installed thousands of LED highbays over the years. Literally thousands. And every time a facility manager asks me “which brand should we go with?”, I have to resist giving the non-answer of “it depends.”

Because it does depend. But that’s not helpful. So here’s what I’ve actually seen in the field.

The Brands We’re Looking At

For this comparison, I’m focusing on five brands that show up consistently in Australian commercial projects:

1. Pierlite (Australian distributor, quality European designs)
2. Philips (you know them)
3. Thorn (owned by Zumtobel Group)
4. SAL Commercial (Australian company, good value tier)
5. Lumascape (specialised industrial options)

I’m deliberately leaving out the no-name imports you can buy on eBay. If you’re installing those in a commercial setting, we need to have a different conversation entirely.

What Actually Matters in a Highbay

Before diving into brands, let me be clear about what I look at when specifying highbays:

Lumen maintenance: How much light output does the fitting retain after 50,000 hours? Cheap LEDs can lose 30% or more. Good ones stay above L80 (80% of original output).

Thermal management: Highbays often sit in hot spaces. Poor heat dissipation means shorter life and more colour shift.

Driver quality: The driver is usually what fails first. Philips Xitanium, Osram, Meanwell—these are names I trust. If the spec sheet doesn’t mention the driver brand, that’s a red flag.

Mounting options: Sounds trivial until you’re trying to retrofit an existing chain-hung system and the new fitting doesn’t have compatible lugs.

Glare control: Some highbays are straight-up uncomfortable to look at. That matters for worker safety and comfort.

Brand Breakdown

Pierlite

I’ve had consistently good results with Pierlite’s commercial range. Their highbays tend to be well-engineered, with proper thermal fins and quality drivers. The Eco Highbay II has been my go-to for medium-height warehouses (6-8m mounting height).

Pros:

• Good local technical support
• Solid warranty backup
• Clean light distribution

Cons:

• Premium pricing
• Not always the brightest for the wattage

Best for: Projects where you want reliable performance and don’t mind paying for it.

Philips

The name recognition helps with building owners who want to see familiar brands in their asset. Philips commercial products are generally reliable, though I’ve noticed their pricing has crept up over the past few years.

The GreenPerform Highbay is their current flagship. It’s efficient and well-built, but you’re paying for that brand name.

Pros:

• Excellent driver quality
• Strong lumen maintenance ratings
• Wide distribution network

Cons:

• Price premium of 15-25% over comparable products
• Support can be slow during busy periods

Best for: Blue-chip facilities where the building owner recognises and values the brand.

Thorn

Thorn has been around forever, and their industrial range is solid if unexciting. The Craft highbay is commonly specified in new-build warehouses.

What I like about Thorn is consistency. I’ve never had a batch of their fittings arrive DOA, which is more than I can say for some suppliers.

Pros:

• Consistent quality control
• Good range of optics
• Reasonable pricing for the quality

Cons:

• Design is functional rather than elegant (not that you care in a warehouse)
• Limited smart-ready options in their industrial range

Best for: Straightforward industrial applications where reliability trumps everything.

SAL Commercial

SAL is interesting. They’re Australian-owned and have carved out a niche as the “good enough at a good price” option. Their commercial highbays aren’t going to win design awards, but the specs are legitimate.

I use SAL for budget-conscious projects where the client needs to maximise rebate value. The fittings meet all the relevant standards and perform adequately.

Pros:

• Competitive pricing
• Local company with decent support
• Wide range of wattages

Cons:

• Build quality a step below the premium brands
• Fewer optic options
• Driver quality can be variable between product lines

Best for: Value-focused projects, especially ESS/VEEC rebate maximisation.

Lumascape

This is your specialist choice for harsh environments. Lumascape focuses on industrial and outdoor applications, and their highbays reflect that. IP66 ratings, marine-grade options, hazardous area variants—if you need something tough, they’ve got it.

Pros:

• Excellent build quality for harsh environments
• IP66 and higher ratings available
• Good technical documentation

Cons:

• Premium pricing
• Overkill for standard warehouse applications
• Longer lead times on some models

Best for: Food processing, outdoor covered areas, corrosive environments.

Real-World Performance Notes

Here’s something the spec sheets won’t tell you: how fittings hold up after a few years.

I recently revisited a warehouse I fitted with Pierlite highbays in 2020. Five years in, running 12 hours a day, not a single failure. The client hadn’t even thought about them since installation. That’s what you want.

Contrast that with a project where budget pressures pushed the client toward an unknown import brand. Within 18 months, we’d replaced 15% of the fittings under warranty (which itself was a battle to claim). The “savings” evaporated.

My Honest Recommendation

For most commercial warehouse retrofits, I’d rank my preferences as:

1. Pierlite or Thorn for standard applications where you want quality
2. Philips when brand recognition matters to stakeholders
3. SAL when budget is tight but you still need compliant products
4. Lumascape for harsh environments specifically

Don’t cheap out on drivers. If a fitting uses a no-name driver, the initial cost savings will come back to bite you in maintenance calls.

One More Thing

These days, I’m seeing more projects incorporate lighting controls—occupancy sensors, daylight harvesting, scheduling. If that’s on your radar, check whether your chosen highbay is compatible with DALI or other control protocols before you commit. Retrofitting controls into non-compatible fittings is painful.

For complex multi-site rollouts where you’re integrating controls and need to coordinate with building management systems, sometimes it’s worth bringing in specialists who focus on that integration work. But for straightforward LED replacements, any competent commercial electrician should be able to handle the standard brands I’ve mentioned here.

Next month, I’ll cover linear LED options for offices and retail. Different considerations entirely.