Mercury vapor (or other) security light
Anyone know anything about MV lights? I have an old (10-20 yr)
security light outside my barn, wired to come on at night. It hasn't worked since I bought the place, ~7 years ago. I got up on a ladder yesterday and noticed the fixture buzzing when power was applied, just barely audible. I replaced the bulb (and placed a bucket over the photocell, and waited for nightfall) and still no light. So I'm guessing the ballast is shot. However, doing a quick search online, h39 ballast seems to go for $60 up! And that's not even for the correct form factor. Somehow I don't think repairing this is going to be the most cost-effective approach to getting some work light. Any suggestions for fixing/repairing this? Is there a better/cheaper technology (halogens, e.g.)? What's the advantage of MV lighting used, anyway? SInce I'll only use this a couple hours a week at most, energy efficiency isn't high on the list of priorities. (By the way, I know I'll get flamed if I don't add this, so: I don't have any intention to leave this on 24/7, or even 12/7. It will be on a switch, and I'll turn it on when I need some temporary work light in this location - the entrance to my barn. I don't need always-on lighting, and I don't intend to contribute to light pollution.) Thanks, Kelly |
Mercury vapor (or other) security light
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Mercury vapor (or other) security light
If it's buzzing, the power is passing through the photocell. It's probably a
bad ballast or igniter and not worth repairing wrote in message ups.com... Anyone know anything about MV lights? I have an old (10-20 yr) security light outside my barn, wired to come on at night. It hasn't worked since I bought the place, ~7 years ago. I got up on a ladder yesterday and noticed the fixture buzzing when power was applied, just barely audible. I replaced the bulb (and placed a bucket over the photocell, and waited for nightfall) and still no light. So I'm guessing the ballast is shot. However, doing a quick search online, h39 ballast seems to go for $60 up! And that's not even for the correct form factor. Somehow I don't think repairing this is going to be the most cost-effective approach to getting some work light. Any suggestions for fixing/repairing this? Is there a better/cheaper technology (halogens, e.g.)? What's the advantage of MV lighting used, anyway? SInce I'll only use this a couple hours a week at most, energy efficiency isn't high on the list of priorities. (By the way, I know I'll get flamed if I don't add this, so: I don't have any intention to leave this on 24/7, or even 12/7. It will be on a switch, and I'll turn it on when I need some temporary work light in this location - the entrance to my barn. I don't need always-on lighting, and I don't intend to contribute to light pollution.) Thanks, Kelly |
Mercury vapor (or other) security light
On Oct 21, 2:48 pm, wrote:
Anyone know anything about MV lights? I have an old (10-20 yr) security light outside my barn, wired to come on at night. It hasn't worked since I bought the place, ~7 years ago. I got up on a ladder yesterday and noticed the fixture buzzing when power was applied, just barely audible. I replaced the bulb (and placed a bucket over the photocell, and waited for nightfall) and still no light. So I'm guessing the ballast is shot. However, doing a quick search online, h39 ballast seems to go for $60 up! And that's not even for the correct form factor. Somehow I don't think repairing this is going to be the most cost-effective approach to getting some work light. Any suggestions for fixing/repairing this? Is there a better/cheaper technology (halogens, e.g.)? What's the advantage of MV lighting used, anyway? SInce I'll only use this a couple hours a week at most, energy efficiency isn't high on the list of priorities. (By the way, I know I'll get flamed if I don't add this, so: I don't have any intention to leave this on 24/7, or even 12/7. It will be on a switch, and I'll turn it on when I need some temporary work light in this location - the entrance to my barn. I don't need always-on lighting, and I don't intend to contribute to light pollution.) Thanks, Kelly The photocell could be shot too, but you should look at replacing it with a Sodium Vapor light. Same amount of light with about half the electricity. JK |
Mercury vapor (or other) security light
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Mercury vapor (or other) security light
wrote in message ups.com... Anyone know anything about MV lights? I have an old (10-20 yr) security light outside my barn, wired to come on at night. It hasn't worked since I bought the place, ~7 years ago. I got up on a ladder yesterday and noticed the fixture buzzing when power was applied, just barely audible. I replaced the bulb (and placed a bucket over the photocell, and waited for nightfall) and still no light. So I'm guessing the ballast is shot. However, doing a quick search online, h39 ballast seems to go for $60 up! And that's not even for the correct form factor. Somehow I don't think repairing this is going to be the most cost-effective approach to getting some work light. Any suggestions for fixing/repairing this? Is there a better/cheaper technology (halogens, e.g.)? What's the advantage of MV lighting used, anyway? SInce I'll only use this a couple hours a week at most, energy efficiency isn't high on the list of priorities. (By the way, I know I'll get flamed if I don't add this, so: I don't have any intention to leave this on 24/7, or even 12/7. It will be on a switch, and I'll turn it on when I need some temporary work light in this location - the entrance to my barn. I don't need always-on lighting, and I don't intend to contribute to light pollution.) Personally I think mercury vapor lights are outdated technology. I never liked the fact that the bulbs don't burn out. They just get progressively dimmer with age. Metal halide is more efficient as is high pressure sodium. For maximum lumens per watt there is always low pressure sodium, but you may have a difficult time finding cheap fixtures. Here is one link to some reasonably priced fixtures. There are many more links out there if you do a search. http://www.usalight.com/small_outdoor_flood_c_189.html |
Mercury vapor (or other) security light
On Mon, 22 Oct 2007 07:52:11 -0400, "John Grabowski"
wrote: wrote in message oups.com... Anyone know anything about MV lights? I have an old (10-20 yr) security light outside my barn, wired to come on at night. It hasn't worked since I bought the place, ~7 years ago. I got up on a ladder yesterday and noticed the fixture buzzing when power was applied, just barely audible. I replaced the bulb (and placed a bucket over the photocell, and waited for nightfall) and still no light. So I'm guessing the ballast is shot. However, doing a quick search online, h39 ballast seems to go for $60 up! And that's not even for the correct form factor. Somehow I don't think repairing this is going to be the most cost-effective approach to getting some work light. Any suggestions for fixing/repairing this? Is there a better/cheaper technology (halogens, e.g.)? What's the advantage of MV lighting used, anyway? SInce I'll only use this a couple hours a week at most, energy efficiency isn't high on the list of priorities. (By the way, I know I'll get flamed if I don't add this, so: I don't have any intention to leave this on 24/7, or even 12/7. It will be on a switch, and I'll turn it on when I need some temporary work light in this location - the entrance to my barn. I don't need always-on lighting, and I don't intend to contribute to light pollution.) Personally I think mercury vapor lights are outdated technology. I never liked the fact that the bulbs don't burn out. They just get progressively dimmer with age. Metal halide is more efficient as is high pressure sodium. For maximum lumens per watt there is always low pressure sodium, but you may have a difficult time finding cheap fixtures. Here is one link to some reasonably priced fixtures. There are many more links out there if you do a search. http://www.usalight.com/small_outdoor_flood_c_189.html While I will agree they do get dimmer with age, I disagree about them not burning out. I have had several of them just that quit working one day. Most were getting dim before they died, but I had at least one that was still bright and suddenly died. |
Mercury vapor (or other) security light
In article , John Grabowski wrote:
Personally I think mercury vapor lights are outdated technology. I never liked the fact that the bulbs don't burn out. They just get progressively dimmer with age. They do eventually burn out. Eventually. And now they're making them cheaper, and they don't last like they used to. Metal halide is more efficient as is high pressure sodium. For maximum lumens per watt there is always low pressure sodium, but you may have a difficult time finding cheap fixtures. Most effectively efficient lighting for outdoors at night among these is metal halide. Lumens aren't all the same when things are dim enough for scotopic vision to make a significant contribution to sensation of illumination. Furthermore, sodium light (both low and high pressure, excepting shorter life lower efficiency higher cost higher color rendering index HPS) tends to make reds, greens, blues and purples darker. Low pressure sodium has the ultimate bad color rendition - everything is an orange-yellow version of black-and-white. - Don Klipstein ) |
Mercury vapor (or other) security light
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