Just after some opinions on Metal Halide vs Halogen and fluorescent lighting
for outdoor use...

I am after the most energy efficient lamp that is practical to illuminate a
patio area, a 500w halogen does the job well, but is 500w, obviously.

I am not bothered if there is a few minute warm up time, as I won't be using
it for PIR activation, just general use when having a BBQ etc.

My options seem to be, stay with a standard 500w halogen, go for a
fluorescent like this
http://www.qvsdirect.com/Low-Energy-...-pr-22878.html

Or a metal halide unit
like this 70w one
http://www.qvsdirect.com/Floodlight-...-pr-22951.html

or this 150w one
http://www.qvsdirect.com/Floodlight-...-pr-22952.html

What is the average lamp life of these units, and the approximate halogen
equivalent light output?

Thanks!

On Sep 24, 5:57*am, "Toby" wrote:

I am not bothered if there is a few minute warm up time, as I won't be using
it for PIR activation, just general use when having a BBQ etc.

Not an answer to your query but would comment that unless your patio
is very large or and the lamp is located some distance away then 500W
is very bright and a little harsh for general BBQ lighting. Have you
considered fitting two or three smaller lamps at appropriate
locations? Perhaps 60W incandescent equivalents mounted in suitable
outdoor housings.

If you have and decided that 500W of halogen equivalent is what you
want - then I'm sure that others will be along with more helpful
replies.

--
Nige Danton
For all your UK legal jobs contact
www.magenta-consulting.co.uk

In article ,
"Toby" writes:
Just after some opinions on Metal Halide vs Halogen and fluorescent lighting
for outdoor use...

I am after the most energy efficient lamp that is practical to illuminate a
patio area, a 500w halogen does the job well, but is 500w, obviously.

I am not bothered if there is a few minute warm up time, as I won't be using
it for PIR activation, just general use when having a BBQ etc.

My options seem to be, stay with a standard 500w halogen, go for a
fluorescent like this
http://www.qvsdirect.com/Low-Energy-...-pr-22878.html

Or a metal halide unit
like this 70w one
http://www.qvsdirect.com/Floodlight-...-pr-22951.html

or this 150w one
http://www.qvsdirect.com/Floodlight-...-pr-22952.html

This would be the nearest in light output to a 500W halogen.
However, as Nige says, a 500W halogen is normally quite unsuitable
for the use to which you are putting it, unless you have a very large
patio and the lamp is mounted 18'-25' high so it points downwards.

Multiple smaller wall lights would be much better, fitted with CFL's.

What is the average lamp life of these units, and the approximate halogen
equivalent light output?

Somewhere in the 8,000-12,000 hours range when switched rarely
(can get higher with electronic control gear, but not worth it
for what you want it for).

You want to get a warm white lamp for it if you can, or it will
look rather cold outdoors at night.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On Tue, 23 Sep 2008 23:57:02 +0100, "Toby"
wrote:


I am after the most energy efficient lamp that is practical to illuminate a
patio area, a 500w halogen does the job well, but is 500w, obviously.

Have a look at http://www.lo-energilighting.com/ecoflood.html
I had some of these fitted to a warehouse to provide illumination
around it a few years back and they are remarkably good with very even
light coverage.

http://www.lo-energilighting.com/ecoflood.pdf

The Midi version might do what you want.

I am not bothered if there is a few minute warm up time, as I won't be using
it for PIR activation, just general use when having a BBQ etc.

They take 5 min's or so to get up to full output but are useable
immediately they come on.

My options seem to be, stay with a standard 500w halogen, go for a
fluorescent like this
http://www.qvsdirect.com/Low-Energy-...-pr-22878.html

I've used the cheaper CFL floodlights (Screwfix one) and found they
have nowhere near the effective output of the eco-flood using the same
lamps.

What is the average lamp life of these units, and the approximate halogen
equivalent light output?

The Lumens per Watt of the lamps themselves is in the order of :-

Linear Halogen -16; life 1,000 to 2,000 hrs
CFL - 55; life 6,000 to 15,000 hrs
Metal Halide - 82; life15,000 hrs however this drops with frequent
runs of less than 10 hours. At 2 hrs per start its is about 6,000
hrs.

For floodlighting the reflector becomes important as cheap fittings
often have poorly designed reflectors with a lot of overspill of light
into unwanted areas and poor evenness of light which makes the
illuminated area appear subjectively darker than it is (the eye tends
to adapt for bright spots).

The colour temperature and colour rendering index of Metal Halide is
generally considered to be better than that of CFL which is usually a
bit "cold" and is broadly similar to incandescent lighting.

On 24 Sep, 13:21, Peter Parry wrote:
On Tue, 23 Sep 2008 23:57:02 +0100, "Toby"
wrote:

I am after the most energy efficient lamp that is practical to illuminate a
patio area, a 500w halogen does the job well, but is 500w, obviously.

Personally have just over 2Kw illuminating immediate area out side
workshop doors, for the application , loading and maintenance at all
hours, more is definately more.

For a barbie on the patio ,lighting task is slightly different, unless
you are Max Mosley looking for that barbie at Checkpoint Charlie
feel....

Have a look at http://www.lo-energilighting.com/ecoflood.html

I had some of these *fitted to a warehouse to provide illumination
around it a few years back and they are remarkably good with very even
light coverage.

http://www.lo-energilighting.com/ecoflood.pdf

Those look rather good, but CFL flood is going to look rather stark as
a patio light but mebbe just thing as cook up illumination.



The colour temperature and colour rendering index of Metal Halide is
generally considered to be better than that of CFL which is usually a
bit "cold" and is broadly similar to incandescent lighting.

MH comes in all sorts of colour temps and CRIs, just like CFLs, cheap
MH lamp, as supplied with low cost fitting, will probably be north of
4000K and appear quite blue.White SON is a nice option but lamps and
fittings are several multiples cost of econo yard light. MH has a
smaller source size than CFL or incandescent so will cast more
pronounced shadows, might look nice , might look spooky.

Whilst when actually cooking on the barbeque you want as much light as
possible, with decent CRI rather know how red the meat is, its not
neccesarily the corner of a car park feel you`ll want whilst eating.
Multiple lower power sources around the area , anything from
fairylites to post lamps, will give a much more relaxed ambience.

HTH
Adam

On Sep 24, 1:21*pm, Peter Parry wrote:
On Tue, 23 Sep 2008 23:57:02 +0100, "Toby"
wrote:

I am after the most energy efficient lamp that is practical to illuminate a
patio area, a 500w halogen does the job well, but is 500w, obviously.

Have a look athttp://www.lo-energilighting.com/ecoflood.html
I had some of these *fitted to a warehouse to provide illumination
around it a few years back and they are remarkably good with very even
light coverage.

http://www.lo-energilighting.com/ecoflood.pdf

The Midi version might do what you want.

I am not bothered if there is a few minute warm up time, as I won't be using
it for PIR activation, just general use when having a BBQ etc.

They take 5 min's or so to get up to full output but are useable
immediately they come on.

My options seem to be, stay with a standard 500w halogen, go for a
fluorescent like this
http://www.qvsdirect.com/Low-Energy-...26W-PL-Lamp-pr...

I've used the cheaper CFL floodlights (Screwfix one) and found they
have nowhere near the effective output of the eco-flood using the same
lamps.

What is the average lamp life of these units, and the approximate halogen
equivalent light output?

The Lumens per Watt of the lamps themselves is in the order of :-

Linear Halogen *-16; *life 1,000 to 2,000 *hrs
CFL - 55; *life 6,000 to 15,000 *hrs
Metal Halide - 82; life15,000 hrs however this drops with frequent
runs of less than 10 hours. *At 2 hrs per start its is about 6,000
hrs. *

For floodlighting the reflector becomes important as cheap fittings
often have poorly designed reflectors with a lot of overspill of light
into unwanted areas and poor evenness of light which makes the
illuminated area appear subjectively darker than it is (the eye tends
to adapt for bright spots).

The colour temperature and colour rendering index of Metal Halide is
generally considered to be better than that of CFL which is usually a
bit "cold" and is broadly similar to incandescent lighting.

You can use a single high up light source, but it will put you in hard
shadows wherever you go. You lso need to put it high to get a
reasonable light distribution and size of light pool - and that makes
relamping a right pain. And you've only got one lamp, so total
darkness when it goes.

A few ordinary domestic sized CFLs at wall light level would give more
pleasant, softer light, the light sources would look far nicer, and
you've got no relamping issues, and no chance of being left in the
dark. Put them among foliage and they look rather nice. Not quite as
efficient as halide but much nicer to live with


NT