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A guide for buying LED Flood Lights
What are LED Flood Lights?
A: LED Flood Lights are wide angle lights designed to cover a large area or “flood” the area with light. Now powered by efficient LED technology, these lights come in a wide variety of shapes and purposes. From recessed can PAR style led light bulbs, to wall mounted lights, to parking lot flood lights and more.
What are LED Flood Lights?
LED flood lights are lights that are highly powered and can be used to light large areas. There are many types of flood lights and they are used with many different purposes. The common functionality of a flood light is a wide angle of light for covering large areas. LED flood lights come in different shapes and sizes, which may be suited to different needs and requirements of the customers. From the lighting of large stadiums and parks to lighting up your own lawn, flood lights are very helpful. They are mainly used for outdoors, but you may see them being used indoors as well, for example to light up a garage or warehouse. They are often used for security and at other times for illuminating advertisements such as billboards. Solar LED flood lights may be used in homes and parks to take out the need for direct power.
Why LEDs for Flood Lighting?
Cost: Prices are very low right now. Flood lights can be really expensive and that is where LED flood lights jump in. The amount of light they produce is huge in comparison to the price you will pay. LEDs lamps also have a very long life, 50,000+ hrs. You won’t be replacing bulbs regularly and very little maintenance so the long term costs of LED flood lights are far cheaper than traditional lighting. Energy savings:The best part about using LED flood lights is that they are energy efficient. They only use about 70-80% of the energy that normal flood lights would use.Look:Another reason you should use LED flood lights is that they have a simple and elegant look that will light up an area for whatever your need is. Ease:They are very simple to use, even for someone who hasn’t used these lights before. They are low maintenance and can be used without any prior knowledge.Safety:No amount of mercury or lead is used in the making of these lights, due to which they are much safer than other lights. This also makes LED luminaries (the scientific term for fixtures or lamps) environmentally friendly compared to all forms of HID bulbs (metal halide/HPS/etc).
Design a layout
What are the flood lights used for?
Retail Stores: LED flood lights can be used in retail stores. The stores may require brighter lights as the area is larger and they want customers to be able to see products easily. 70-80 foot candles are recommended for such a huge place.
Warehouses: LED flood lights can also be helpful in the lighting of warehouses. They useful at night, but also in day time as the warehouses often have little light from the outside. Foot candles ranges can vary in warehouses depending on the type of work being done. 30 foot candles for warehouse used more as storage and work requiring little light. A warehouse housing mechanical work and detail work may be upwards of 100 foot candles.
Storage: Storage places that are covered or are indoors can be lighted with LED flood lights. 30 foot candles are recommended for storage places.
Photometric Studies for large scale projects: A photometric study is very helpful in determining lighting for large commercial projects. It will help determine brightness, intensity and evenness of light over a property. For more detailed information about photometric studies, check out the article Photometric Study
What wattage and lumens do I need?
Use lumens not watts:When you are choosing a traditional incandescent bulb, measuring the brightness of a bulb by its wattage is the standard train of thought. Because LED lights are far more efficient and produce much higher lumens per watt, start thinking about brightness in a different way. For example, a 150 watt incandescent bulb might produce around 2600 lumens. On the other hand, a 150 watt LED UFO high bay light can produce over of 21,000 lumens, about 8 times brighter. Watts measure the power used by the lamp, whereas lumens measure the quantity of light produced by a lamp. With the efficiency of LED luminaires, it’s time to thinking about lighting in lumens, not watts. The higher the lumen rating is, the brighter will the bulb be!
How many lumens do you need?This can get tricky. Different environments call for different brightness. If you already have some traditional lighting that you are replacing with LED lamps, you can compare the lumens of your current lighting to the LEDs you are looking to replace them with. In a new environment, determining your lux (or the lumens per square meter) will depend on the lighting ambiance you want. An average office may be in the range of 300-500 lux, while a family room in a house is down closer to 50 lux and a supermarket up close to 1000 lux. Now keep in mind that daylight could be up to 100,000+ lux, so the calculations can get tough. When in doubt, get some help from an expert.
SpacingWhen you are buying LED flood lights, people often get confused as to what type of lights should be bought and what spacing should be kept for the lights. When it comes to spacing, a few different factors come into play. Height of the lights, lumen output of the light, the lighting ambiance you want in place these lights are being used and spacing between lights. For many LED flood light uses, you would want some overlap, or cross over lighting, to balance the light and cut back on shadows. An example would be on an outdoor sports court where you don’t want shadows from distracting play. If you aren’t sure what type of spacing to go with, make sure you get information from a knowledgeable source.
How many lights should you buy?The most important thing that you should determine when buying LED Flood lights is what the purpose is for buying these lights. Once you know the kind of lighting you need based on your purpose, then you can figure out light heights and spacing to come up with the right quantity of lights. Moreover, a technique that may be useful for you would be to create a layout and see if it makes sense. This will include the purpose of using these lights and will include all the essential details required for you to buy the needed amount of lights.
How to calculate foot candles and lux? Lumens tell us the amount of light that a luminare creates, but does not say where it goes. lux or footcandles takes into account the specific area. Lux may focus on the intensity of light within a 3 dimensional point in space. Foot candles and lux are almost the same, measuring illuminance in different ways. The calculations for each are different and lux is an SI (International System) measurement while foot candle is a non-SI measurement. Foot candle is very common in the lighting industry, but both are used throughout. There is also a very simple calculation that can be used for general purposes when converting between the two measurements, 10 lux per foot candle, i.e. 80 foot candles = 800 lux. Problem solved!
Cross over lighting is your friendCross over lighting is light that come from different fixtures. Standing in the middle of a tennis court for example you have almost no shadow, because the typical 8 different fixtures makes it even. The light that is coming from different directions reduces shadows and ehot spots, making the space feel more natural.
When you are deciding on the fixtures, you will have to look at the lux or foot candles, but also where that lux is coming from. Especially at lower heights, use more fixtures at lower lumen fixtures for better lighting. Many people are of the view that huge ones would do them good and save money, but the effect is usually heavy on bright spots and shadowing. Try and find a good balance of even light and cost when it comes to the number of lights to purchase.
What is the LED replacement for 400 watts of HID?
A: LED Flood Lights are wide angle lights designed to cover a large area or “flood” the area with light. Now powered by efficient LED technology, these lights come in a wide variety of shapes and purposes. From recessed can PAR style led light bulbs, to wall mounted lights, to parking lot flood lights and more.
Replacing a metal halide or HPS lightHere are some suggestions for people who are new to buying LED flood lights or don’t have much experience bt nee dto replace HID lights. HID stands for high intensity discharge and are the most common type of larger lights typically either metal halide or High pressure sodium.
For a 400 watt metal halide LED replacement can use 150 watts model LED lamp. For a 125 watt HPS flood light, try a 40 watt LED light. If you aren’t sure which light is the correct LED replacement for your metal halide, HPS or any or lighting type.
Choosing the right color for the lightNumerous options are available in the LED flood lights that may fit different purposes. The color that you choose can also depend on your choice, but it mainly varies with the purpose you want to use it for. Here is a guide that will help you in choosing the right color:3000K: This is a warm color that is used mainly in homes or restaurants. 4000K: This one is a natural color, which is suitable for work areas and even meeting rooms. 5000K: This one is the most common; a cool white color considered to be like daylight. It is recommended for large spaces and outdoors.
LED flood lights are an obvious choice to replace older, less efficient lighting technologies. With the information above, you can feel confident you are making the right choice when choosing a light for your yard, business, parking lot, warehouse and more.
