Flood Light Question
- Thread starter rocknrod
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Travelover
Elite Member
OP
rocknrod
Gold Member
Cat_Driver
Elite Member
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2008
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- Coachella Ca.
- Tractor
- 2016 Kubota 4060, 2017 Tackeuchi excavator TB260
Go with LED on everything. Puts out as much light but 1/10 the power.
Super Bright LEDs - LED Spot and Flood Light Bulbs
I just put up some LED street lights WOW are they bright and they are only 40 W and are as bright as the 1000W street lights.
The lated thing is SOLAR street lights. They use NO power. Charge all day ling and run all night long.
Super Bright LEDs - LED Spot and Flood Light Bulbs
I just put up some LED street lights WOW are they bright and they are only 40 W and are as bright as the 1000W street lights.
The lated thing is SOLAR street lights. They use NO power. Charge all day ling and run all night long.
NSBound
Platinum Member
That link sounded interesting until I saw they are all for INDOOR use only
. All my motion sensor lights are outside. Travelover
Elite Member
Motion sensor lights are usually only on for a matter of minutes. I can't see the payback for LEDs ( or CFBs for that matter.) When it does go on, I'd think you'd want full brightness right away.
tsteahr
Gold Member
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- Jul 22, 2008
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- CT shoreline
- Tractor
- Massey Ferguson GC2410tlb w/ R1 and Rimguard
I am using some CFL outdoor floods. They are OK, but the pattern is not as even as a incandescent flood. The biggest problem I have with CFL is the warmup time. Even on a hot summer evening they take a good three minutes to get bright. In the winter, when it is zero outside, forget it. At least 15 minutes before you get any decent light.
I'm ready to get rid of them. If you want to flip on the light for a quick trip outside they are totally useless. It doesn't save me any energy if I have to run a CFL for 8 minutes warmup for a 30 sec trip outside.
I'd be interested in BRIGHT outdoor LED floods as well, but I can't seem to find any. The brightest LEDs I can find are around 15 watts and claim to me comparable to a 120 watt incandescant, for $135! That buys a lot of KW Hours using regular bulbs. I'm looking for a lot more outdoor light output than a 120watt bulb.
I also have different pair of out outdoor lights that are 500W floods. I would love to have a efficient alternative to replace those.
Does anyone know of BRIGHT, energy efficient outdoor light that actually turns on when you flip the switch?
I'm ready to get rid of them. If you want to flip on the light for a quick trip outside they are totally useless. It doesn't save me any energy if I have to run a CFL for 8 minutes warmup for a 30 sec trip outside.
I'd be interested in BRIGHT outdoor LED floods as well, but I can't seem to find any. The brightest LEDs I can find are around 15 watts and claim to me comparable to a 120 watt incandescant, for $135! That buys a lot of KW Hours using regular bulbs. I'm looking for a lot more outdoor light output than a 120watt bulb.
I also have different pair of out outdoor lights that are 500W floods. I would love to have a efficient alternative to replace those.
Does anyone know of BRIGHT, energy efficient outdoor light that actually turns on when you flip the switch?
dcyrilc
Super Member
At this point in time, LEDs are still just in their infancy. We're doing some test areas with LED street lights and the illumination isn't bad, but at $1,000 each to replace a 250 watt sodium fixture which costs just over $200 they still have a long way to go to pay for themselves. The other issue we have found is that the optics (LEDs) are not replacable yet so a burn out requires replacing the fixture vs replacing a $25 lamp.
Scooby074
Super Member
you do know those bulbs arent rated for outdoor use.
dcyrilc
Super Member
Not sure who you were responding to.
Scooby074
Super Member
The OP.
They do make outdoor CF but the ones pictured arent.
Rain will do a number on them.
what brand of led streetlights are you installing? Theres been a big modernizing program going on here and so far the lights from these guys (made locally too boot
) http://www.ledroadwaylighting.com/ have been working out quite well. I do agree on the high initial cost though. I THINK that each LED array is replaceable in the field, but dont quote me on that
Last edited:
dcyrilc
Super Member
The OP.
They do make outdoor CF but the ones pictured arent.
Rain will do a number on them.
what brand of led streetlights are you installing? Theres been a big modernizing program going on here and so far the lights from these guys (made locally too boot
At this point, I don't remember who the manufacturers were. We installed them a couple of years ago. Haven't had any maintainance issues.
We have two test areas. The first to go in has four fixtures and each is a different manufacturer. The second, is 17 fixtures all by the same manufacturer. I wasn't the one who actually installed them. Our other crew did that as the engineers had other projects that I was working on at the time. I saw them in the shop before they went out and I've seen them in the air when doing street light night checks, but thats about it. I had a high interest in them for the farm initially... at least until I found out what the price was.:laughing:
dmccarty
Super Star Member
Try an R30 bulb.
We have about a dozen flood lights.
The house has about 85 recessed light cans on the porches and in the house. Honestly I am not afraid of the dark but when I turn on the lights I want light. :laughing:
If you think my house is bad, our builder built a house for a couple in the subdivision to our front. When they turn on their outdoor lights it looks like a UFO has landed.
To fill the cans we were buying cases of R30 and R40 CFLS. I left a case or two of CFLs in the house one day and the electrician installed them in the flood lights. I was going to put in incandescent bulbs in the floods but since he put in the CFLs I just left it alone.
These were indoor rated bulbs. Our fixtures while outside are under large roof overhangs so the rain never gets to them.
Warm up time is an issue, but for us, not a big issue.
Those bulbs have been in service for six years at this point. The flood lights are only used a few times a month so they should still be good.
I have had VERY poor performance from R30 and R40 CFLs from Lowes. The bulbs in the flood lights are from HD. The HD bulbs we first installed lasted as expected. Some of them in the house are still going. The Lowes bulbs I do not buy anymore. I have seen them fail after 3-6 months. The ones that quickly fail I take back to Lowes.
I started putting the install/purchase date on the light bulbs and I keep the receipt.
We got to a point where we needed another 6-12 CFLS. I have looked at a variety of places to find decent bulbs cheap. I could get decent or I could get cheap but not both.
We were in Lowes a few weeks ago and I had a coupon for $10 off a $50+ purchase. Lowes had some GE R40s in three packs for $18. The other bulbs I refuse to buy were the same price per bulb. I think our local power company was subsidizing the bulbs. The GE bulbs were very expensive at Graingers.
Later,
Dan
We have about a dozen flood lights.
The house has about 85 recessed light cans on the porches and in the house.
Honestly I am not afraid of the dark but when I turn on the lights I want light. :laughing:If you think my house is bad, our builder built a house for a couple in the subdivision to our front. When they turn on their outdoor lights it looks like a UFO has landed.
To fill the cans we were buying cases of R30 and R40 CFLS. I left a case or two of CFLs in the house one day and the electrician installed them in the flood lights. I was going to put in incandescent bulbs in the floods but since he put in the CFLs I just left it alone.
These were indoor rated bulbs. Our fixtures while outside are under large roof overhangs so the rain never gets to them.
Warm up time is an issue, but for us, not a big issue.
Those bulbs have been in service for six years at this point. The flood lights are only used a few times a month so they should still be good.
I have had VERY poor performance from R30 and R40 CFLs from Lowes. The bulbs in the flood lights are from HD. The HD bulbs we first installed lasted as expected. Some of them in the house are still going. The Lowes bulbs I do not buy anymore. I have seen them fail after 3-6 months. The ones that quickly fail I take back to Lowes.
I started putting the install/purchase date on the light bulbs and I keep the receipt.
We got to a point where we needed another 6-12 CFLS. I have looked at a variety of places to find decent bulbs cheap. I could get decent or I could get cheap but not both.
We were in Lowes a few weeks ago and I had a coupon for $10 off a $50+ purchase. Lowes had some GE R40s in three packs for $18. The other bulbs I refuse to buy were the same price per bulb. I think our local power company was subsidizing the bulbs. The GE bulbs were very expensive at Graingers.
Later,
Dan
Scooby074
Super Member
Yeah the price is pretty steep. BUT if they last like there supposed to then they SHOULD pay for themselves (at least commercially where you have to pay labor)
I have one LED outdoor. Its a phillips. Gives a surprising amount of light. Going every night for over a year now. Probably closer to 2. No issues. Price was around $25.
For a hard to reach fixture, or just to save power in an always on light id have no problem recommending one.
