DIYbanter - Outside lights

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Local hotel where I work regularly has 2 x 500w halogen flood lights above
the front of the building. They essentially just illuminate the pavement
around the entrance & are wall mounted 4m up.

Current policy is to buy el cheapo ones, which last about 6 months & then
rot/rust/leak etc. Changing the lamp or fixture is a PITA because of the
ladder access on a busy street. Apart from which, they are consuming 1000w
just to provide a little illumination.

Any better type of light? Sodium or something, that would use less energy &
give longer lamp/fixture life?

--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

wrote in message ...
On 10 Aug,
"The Medway Handyman" wrote:

Local hotel where I work regularly has 2 x 500w halogen flood lights
above
the front of the building. They essentially just illuminate the pavement
around the entrance & are wall mounted 4m up.

Current policy is to buy el cheapo ones, which last about 6 months & then
rot/rust/leak etc. Changing the lamp or fixture is a PITA because of the
ladder access on a busy street. Apart from which, they are consuming
1000w
just to provide a little illumination.

Any better type of light? Sodium or something, that would use less
energy
& give longer lamp/fixture life?

Metal Halide? Very similar colour rendition. better lamp life and
efficiency.

Something like this:

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/TCGB70H.html

--
B Thumbs
Change lycos to yahoo to reply

You need to change the fittings

I use a 70W CDM-T light for the front of my house. 70W and as bright as a
500W halogen once it has fired up. 4 years after installation it still
works. I have a 150W metal halide at the back of the house but that was only
installed 3 months ago.

Adam

"ARWadsworth" wrote in message
om...

wrote in message
...
On 10 Aug,
"The Medway Handyman" wrote:

Local hotel where I work regularly has 2 x 500w halogen flood lights
above
the front of the building. They essentially just illuminate the
pavement
around the entrance & are wall mounted 4m up.

Current policy is to buy el cheapo ones, which last about 6 months &
then
rot/rust/leak etc. Changing the lamp or fixture is a PITA because of
the
ladder access on a busy street. Apart from which, they are consuming
1000w
just to provide a little illumination.

Any better type of light? Sodium or something, that would use less
energy
& give longer lamp/fixture life?

Metal Halide? Very similar colour rendition. better lamp life and
efficiency.

Something like this:

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/TCGB70H.html

--
B Thumbs
Change lycos to yahoo to reply

You need to change the fittings

I use a 70W CDM-T light for the front of my house. 70W and as bright as a
500W halogen once it has fired up. 4 years after installation it still
works. I have a 150W metal halide at the back of the house but that was
only
installed 3 months ago.

Adam

We've been using these for a while now
http://www.ecofriendlylightbulbs.co....cat=270&page=1
and they seem to be lasting years. They give good light to the properties
we've used them on. Shop about a bit for the best price though.

As for the fittings themselves. Try buying decent aluminum bodied floods,
rather than the cheap "DIY store" pressed steel things. You know the ones,
with a thin coat of Hammerite Paint on them. :-)

In article ,
writes:
On 10 Aug,
"The Medway Handyman" wrote:

Local hotel where I work regularly has 2 x 500w halogen flood lights above
the front of the building. They essentially just illuminate the pavement
around the entrance & are wall mounted 4m up.

Current policy is to buy el cheapo ones, which last about 6 months & then
rot/rust/leak etc. Changing the lamp or fixture is a PITA because of the
ladder access on a busy street. Apart from which, they are consuming 1000w
just to provide a little illumination.

Any better type of light? Sodium or something, that would use less energy
& give longer lamp/fixture life?

Metal Halide? Very similar colour rendition. better lamp life and efficiency.

Something like this:

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/TCGB70H.html

Yes, but you'll need 150W to match a 500W halogen output.

There are other options if they don't need something which is
the same as the 500W halogen output, e.g. if you don't need it
as bright, use a 70W metal halide, or don't care too much about
the colour (or want something warmer and possibly more welcoming),
use a SON (high pressure sodium, peach coloured).

Metal halide come in warm white, white, and cool white colour
temperatures (and many specials, but we'll ignore those here).
Warm white is slightly lower light output (not enough that
you're likely to notice), but in my view is the best of the
three in terms of the colour to use for night time use.
Often, you'll get a lamp with the luminare anyway, and unless
you buy it from somewhere which sells spare lamps and will do
a swap, you'll probably be stuck with whatever it comes with.

The other option is conventional or electronic control gear.
Electronic control gear will get you longer lamp life and more
of the lamp life at the original colour (metal halide colour
changes as the lamps age), but you will probably struggle to
find any fixtures which include it unless you pay a fortune
for them. The control gear itself isn't overly expensive (eBay
is probably the cheapest source), but it's seen as a luxury by
the luminare manufacturers, and priced accordingly.

Also a word of warning -- metal halide (and some other) high
intensity discharge lamps require high voltage (about 5kV in
this case) to strike the arc, so keep hands out when they are
powered.

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

On 10 Aug, 00:10, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:
Local hotel where I work regularly has 2 x 500w halogen flood lights above
the front of the building. *They essentially just illuminate the pavement
around the entrance & are wall mounted 4m up.

Current policy is to buy el cheapo ones, which last about 6 months & then
rot/rust/leak etc. *Changing the lamp or fixture is a PITA because of the
ladder access on a busy street. *Apart from which, they are consuming 1000w
just to provide a little illumination.

Any better type of light? *Sodium or something, that would use less energy &
give longer lamp/fixture life?

--
Dave - The Medway Handymanwww.medwayhandyman.co.uk

Metal Halide in a warm colour or High Pressure Sodium / SON, lot
warmer be a great choice, modern street lights are usually HPS, as
Andrew puts it peach coloured, stadium floodlights are usually MH, MH
in cold white can look a bit Stalag 13, though it does make green
vegetation look good at night and provide a cool contrast to warm
table lamps etc in public facing windows.

Cautions , apart from high voltages, are that they wont hot
retstrike,no good if they are frequently switched and they NEED
changed at lifespan rated intervals, which is before they stop
emitting light but usually after they have significantly changed
colour, the arc tube contains high pressure and dosen`t get stronger
with age. Running them past rated lifespan comes with an explosion
risk, in reality about as big a bang as a halogen bubble giving up,
but sometimes enough to blow a front glass out.

Good news is lamplife will be 6000 hours plus so annual or bi annual
replacement is usually all thats required.

Adam

On Aug 10, 8:55*am, gunsmith wrote:
On 10 Aug, 00:10, "The Medway Handyman"

wrote:
Local hotel where I work regularly has 2 x 500w halogen flood lights above
the front of the building. *They essentially just illuminate the pavement
around the entrance & are wall mounted 4m up.

Current policy is to buy el cheapo ones, which last about 6 months & then
rot/rust/leak etc. *Changing the lamp or fixture is a PITA because of the
ladder access on a busy street. *Apart from which, they are consuming 1000w
just to provide a little illumination.

Any better type of light? *Sodium or something, that would use less energy &
give longer lamp/fixture life?

--
Dave - The Medway Handymanwww.medwayhandyman.co.uk

Dave. It sounds like you're wanting to do yourself out of regular work.

Actually wanting to do myself into long term regular work. If you
give people good advice that benefits them they remember it & come
back again. Thats my policy anyway.

Dave - The Medway Handyman

The Medway Handyman wrote:
On Aug 10, 8:55 am, gunsmith wrote:
On 10 Aug, 00:10, "The Medway Handyman"

wrote:
Local hotel where I work regularly has 2 x 500w halogen flood lights above
the front of the building. They essentially just illuminate the pavement
around the entrance & are wall mounted 4m up.
Current policy is to buy el cheapo ones, which last about 6 months & then
rot/rust/leak etc. Changing the lamp or fixture is a PITA because of the
ladder access on a busy street. Apart from which, they are consuming 1000w
just to provide a little illumination.
Any better type of light? Sodium or something, that would use less energy &
give longer lamp/fixture life?
--
Dave - The Medway Handymanwww.medwayhandyman.co.uk
Dave. It sounds like you're wanting to do yourself out of regular work.

Actually wanting to do myself into long term regular work. If you
give people good advice that benefits them they remember it & come
back again. Thats my policy anyway.

Yup, show clients they can trust you with small stuff and they will then
trust you with bigger jobs.

--
Cheers,

John.

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