"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message
.. .
In article ,
"nightjar" nightjar@insert my surname here.uk.com writes:

You can buy 18W SOX luminaries from your local electrical wholesaler that
will be more than adequate for lighting the average domestic drive. They
look not dissimilar to square bulkhead lights, but mounted horizontally,
with the glass facing down. Personally, I prefer 2 x 9W or 4 x 9W low
energy
floodlamps, which have shorter start-up times.

SOX (low pressure sodium) have a particularly long run-up time,
typically 9 minutes for the larger sizes (never played with the
low power ones, but might be a bit faster because they aren't
as efficient). SON (high pressure sodium) are significantly
faster at around 2 minutes (just measured a 250W one -- 70W is
probably not much different).

Neither is any use if you want instant-on, hence my comment
about PIR usage.

--
Andrew Gabriel

What about the colour of the light?

SON is much more appealing (or should I say less unappealing) because it has
a better colour spectrum. See
http://www.lamptech.co.uk/Documents/SO2%20Spectral.htm

To be honest the Screwfix light looks less ugly the more I look at it...and
appears to be a pretty good deal.

David