What is a Vapor Tight Light? When is it Used?

If you are a facility manager or even a building owner in a facility that deals with wet environments you probably already know what vapor tight lighting is. And for those of you who aren’t one of those; you are probably already getting a very small idea about what they are.

In short, vapor tight lighting is made to block out moisture from entering the fixture. This is extremely important for any situation in which the lighting fixtures within a facility are faced with wet conditions and need to block out moisture from entering.

Often times in food processing facilities this is very common due to regulations and rules requiring them to wash down everything in the facility frequently, even the lighting fixtures. Think about this; what happens when water gets into technology? It can ruin it, grow mold, and just ruin the overall safety and functionality of the product itself; and this all goes along with the lighting fixtures in wet facilities. But not only are they for wet environments, they are also made to lock out dirt and dust; which can also cause issues to lights.

Hopefully you now have a better understanding of what vapor tight fixtures are, what they do, and why they are important to have. Now we are going to cover exactly where they are used besides just in food processing facilities and also uncover the difference of a vapor tight and a vapor proof fixture. There is a difference, and you want to know what it is!

Where are they used?

We’ve talked about food processing plants as a common place that you will find a vapor tight light fixture being used. But where else are they used? Here is a list of many common applications that you will find vapor tight fixtures being used…

• Food Processing Plants
• Cold Storage Facilities
• Paint Booths / Areas
• Parking Garages

As you can probably imagine, all of these areas are susceptible to either water, dust, dirt, or any of the related. Thus, it’s highly important for these types of environments (as well as many more) to install vapor tight fixtures.

Vapor Tight vs Vapor Proof

There is a common confusion of vapor tight and vapor proof lighting. Vapor tight is what we’ve been talking about and the applications we’ve discussed. Vapor proof on the other hand is a bit different yet similar at the same time.Vapor proofs are designed to replace existing metal halide or HPS lights (just like the tights do), but instead of water and dirt; they are meant to resist corrosive fumes, vapors, gases, and the related (moisture too!).

Some common applications that vapor proof fixtures include the following (but not limited to):

• Oil Refineries
• Nuclear Power Plants
• Any related environments…

The importance of this technology is highly important for all environments that are susceptible to wet, dirty, or gas environments. Without such technology, the lights in such environments would be vulnerable to the elements that these places produce.

Final Words

We have covered what a vapor tight lighting system is, when it’s used and where, as well as the difference of a vapor tight and vapor proof fixture.

We hope you now have a better understanding of how important this technology is to any fragile environment that is susceptible to certain conditions such as moisture, dirt, or dust. You should now be able to identify if you will need these types of lighting fixtures in your facility or not; and if you do you now know which you need (proof or tight).

Have any other comments or questions on the topic? Comment them down below and share your thoughts!

source http://my-led-lighting-guide.blogspot.com/2016/09/what-is-vapor-tight-light-when-is-it.html