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Flood lights can provide brighter light to a larger area. Homeowners looking to add security to their yards and homes often choose these lights as a simple and inexpensive way to gain needed security. Check out the information below to learn more about the various types of these flood lights, their uses, their efficiency, and their cost.
In some residential areas, flood lights are used to light neighborhoods where there are no active security systems but where residents feel more secure with better lighting. Although these lights are used in residential areas, they are also used frequently to illuminate public places such as parking lots, garages, streets, playgrounds, auditoriums, assembly halls, and athletic fields. In addition, they are used in large commercial indoor areas such as warehouses and truck-loading ramps.
In general, there are five types of flood lights commonly used for lighting larger areas. These five types include sodium vapor, halogen, high-intensity discharge, incandescent, and fluorescent.
Technology: Sodium vapor is used in low-pressure sodium lights. This vapor glows when exposed to an electric current.
Advantages: These lights are the most energy-efficient and lowest in maintenance costs of the five flood light types mentioned here.
Disadvantages: When comparing light color, you'll find that the color produced by sodium vapor lights is yellowish. Some people consider the color unnatural. This technology also takes longer to produce light after you turn the fixture on. Sodium vapor lights typically do not work effectively in security systems where an alarm signal activates the flood lights.
Technology: In these lights, electricity activates the halogen gas and tungsten in the quartz halogen bulbs.
Advantage: Some people consider the white light to be superior.
Disadvantage: Halogen lights have a tendency to heat up more than their rivals and are less efficient than sodium or high-intensity discharge lights.
Technology: These lights employ an internal ballast inside the bulb. An electric arc, when created, glows and produces light which radiates out from the bulb.
Advantage: They offer the longest life and highest efficiency rating. They are rated by Energy Savers as being 75 percent to 90 percent more efficient than incandescent flood lights.
Disadvantage: If warm-up time is an important factor to you, you should take into account that after being turned on, high-intensity discharge lights take longer to produce full lighting. For this reason, they usually will not work adequately with motion detectors.
Technology: An element inside the bulb is placed in a vacuum and heated by an electric current.
Advantage: The initial cost of incandescent flood lights is lower.
Disadvantage: They have a shorter life.
Technology: Some of these lights contain mercury gas and a phosphorescent coating on the inside surface of the bulb. When an electric current passes through this coating, the bulb begins to glow.
Advantage: Fluorescent flood lights last longer than incandescent bulbs.
Disadvantage: These lights come with a higher initial cost.
Lumens Lumens measures the total amount of light emitted per unit of time. This unit essentially measures the brightness of the light.
Wattage Wattage refers to the amount of power a light projects. Generally speaking, higher wattage lights will project more lumens (brightness). LED flood lights come in a wide range of wattages. This ranges from 15 watts all the way up to 400 watts.
Color Temperature (Kelvin) Kevin or color temperature basically corresponds to the color of the light projected which also correlates to heat. LED flood lights generally come in two different measurements: K, and K.
DLC Listed DLC stands for Design Light Consortium and certifies that the product can perform under high levels of energy efficiency.
Photocell A photocell uses a sensor to detect the level of lighting available outside and turn on if necessary. In other words, once it becomes dark, the light will turn on. Certain LED flood lights are photocell compatible and can serve as dusk to dawn lights.
Base The base for a flood light involves the type of mount to attach the fixture. For example, some mounting options such as a Trunnion Mount allows the flood light to cast illumination from side-to-side. Other mounting options such as a Slip Fitter Mount involve mounting the light up on a pole.
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Lens The type of lens a lighting fixture uses will influence how light is dissipated. Two common types are a clear lens or frosted lens.
Voltage Voltage involves the amount of work required per unit of charge to move a test charge between two points. For LED lighting, this is the amount of power a lighting fixture provides a bulb.
Shorting Caps The Shorting Cap contains a shorting connection between the line and load of the receptacle keeping the lights on at all times when power is being supplied.
Motion Sensors Motion sensors inside outdoor lighting fixtures detect when theres movement close to the light and will automatically turn on. This is an ideal for security lighting purposes.
Dusk to Dawn Lights Dusk to dawn lights are any light which automatically turns on once the sun begins to set. Certain LED flood lights can be installed with a photocell and serve as dusk to dawn lights. Its important to check product descriptions and spec sheets to ensure your flood light is photocell compatible if you wish to use this functionality.
Wattage refers to the amount of power a light projects; thus, the amount of watts light bulb has pretty much dictates its brightness. In other words, the higher the wattage, the brighter the light will be. There are a wide range of wattages available for LED flood lights. This ranges from low wattage lights (15-40 watts) all the way up to industrial grade 350+ watt flood lights for major applications such as airports and sports stadium lighting. Well break this down further below.
Low Wattage (15-40 Watts) Flood lights that are considered low wattage operate with bulbs in the range of around 15 to 40 watts. These are ideal to illuminate small areas such as a footpath or door way. These bulbs generally provide ample illumination for residential purposes or very small areas around commercial buildings.
Mid Wattage (40-80 Watts) Mid wattage lights operate with bulbs in the range of around 40 to 80 watts. These are ideal to illuminate areas such as a small yard, garden, or driveway with a moderate level of brightness.
High Wattages (100 Watts or more) Once you get into triple digit wattage numbers, the bulbs are considered high wattage. These bulbs are necessary for applications such as parking lot lighting, roadways, and other municipal or commercial lighting needs. According to the International DarkSky Association, roadway lighting may have wattages up to 400 watts. These high wattage bulbs are mounted on poles high above the ground.
Ultra High Wattage (400+ Watts) 400+ watt flood lights are the highest number of approved wattages. These are typically only appropriate for major municipal or industrial lighting verticals such as airport lighting, highways, large parking lots, or outdoor sports arenas.
Lumens measures the total amount of light projected per unit of time. In other words, the higher the lumens the brighter the light. Its important to note, this number also correlates with wattage; thus, as the amount of watts go up, so does lumens.
Low Lumens (1,600-4,000) LED Flood Lights operating between 1,600 and 4,000 lumens are ideal for small outdoor area lighting such as a staircase, walk way, etc. These are very common for residential or small commercial needs.
Medium Lumens (4,000-10,000) 4,000 to 10,000 lumens is a mid range of brightness. This level is ideal for yards, fields, and slightly larger exterior areas around buildings.
High Lumens (10,000 and up) High lumens outdoor lights are generally used for municipal areas or larger commercial applications such as parking lots, cities, etc.
Ultra High Lumens (50,000 and up) 50,000 or more lumens is typically only ideal for large industrial needs like highways, airports, and large parking lots.
Wattage Lumens 15W 1,663 30W 3,720 50W 6,180 80W 10,340 100W 13,500 150W 20,250 230W 31,050 300W 40,500 400W 50,2005,000K K LED flood lights are by far the most common. This color temperature projects a cool white illumination that emulates day time environments. This is very ideal for the illumination and security of outdoor spaces.
4,000K 4,000 Kelvin LED bulbs project a natural colored light you commonly find within workspaces.
3,000K 3,000 Kelvin is a warm color of LED light used primarily inside restaurants or houses. Its rare to find outdoor flood lights in K as its not recommended.
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