Types of Floodlights

1 What is flood light?

Floodlights are an artificial form of light with a broad beam. Floodlights are most commonly found in places where plenty of artificial light is needed. Some of these spaces include a large parking lot, places that host events such as concerts or theater halls, and outdoor playing fields.

There are even professional sports that require stadiums to have floodlights installed even if they want to host a game securing the day. Floodlights aren’t just used to give players better visibility, but they are also beneficial to television broadcasts. Even if most sports grounds have floodlights installed some of them also use portable temporary ones.

While the correct use of the term “floodlights” is only in a context where we refer to very strong beams of light, people also use the term nowadays to describe powerful outdoor fixtures they install in their own backyard.

2 Types of floodlights:

As said above, once it comes to choosing which type of bulb to pick for your flood light, the options you will find will be numerous and hence it is good to have at least some knowledge about specifics and functions of each type of bulb. Listed below are the main types of bulbs used in outdoor flood lights:

Fluorescent Flood Lights. The main advantages of fluorescent flood lights are the fact that they are energy efficient and their lifespan is comparatively long. Fluorescent lamps are quite expensive but they are still cheaper than LED and HID bulbs and that pretty much is the main advantage. The disadvantages however are quite notable and the main downside of using CFL in your flood light lies in a fact that fluorescent bulbs contain mercury which if not disposed and recycled properly can do harm both to your health and environment. Plus fluorescent bulbs have quite long warm-up period and their lifespan is very dependent on their usage and maintenance. If you will regularly turn the lamp on and off (which for instance is the case for motion sensor flood lights), the lifespan of the bulb will notably decrease.

High Intensity Discharge (HID) Flood Lights. As with every type of bulb, HID lights have some great advantages and disadvantages, too. HID bulbs can last for quite a long time (their lifespan is around 3 times longer than for halogen lamps) plus they are comparatively energy efficient. The light of HID lamps is quite intense yet the bulb requires relatively few replacements during its haul. However there is one drawback worthy of attention if opting for HID lamps. Most HID lamps produce UV radiation, and that is why UV-blocking filters are necessary in order to block UV-induced degradation of all the fixture parts. Also exposure to broken or HID lamps with defective UV-blocking filters can cause health-risks to humans and animals, because of the toxic mercury used in these lamps. Different types and combinations of chemicals are used in HID lamps and hence there are numerous types of HID lamps you can chose from:

• Metal halide lamps (ceramic MH);
• Mercury vapor lamps;
• Sodium vapor lamps;
• Xenon short-arc lamps;

Halogen Flood Lights. Due to their high-quality performance halogen bulbs have become one of the top choices once it comes to flood lights. Halogen bulbs are bright and suitable for pretty much any outdoor purpose. Halogen gas and tungsten filament within bulb is being activated by electricity creating steady, strong and very intense beam of white light. Moreover, the intensity of halogen flood lights is notably higher than for other types of bulbs with the same wattage. However, halogen bulbs are very inefficient and have short life span, making other type of flood lights such as LED flood lights a better option for areas, where light needs to illuminate for long hours.

Light Emitting Diode (LED) Flood Lights. If analyzed in such aspects as energy-efficiency, lifespan, physical qualities and features, LED happens to be the best of all the options for outdoor flood lights. First of all, LEDs consume around the same amount or less energy than fluorescent bulbs and they can last very long (up to 50, 000 hours) if properly used and maintained. This will have a very positive impact on your monthly electricity bill. Another great advantage is that it takes very little time for LED bulbs to reach maximum brightness. Moreover, compared to all the options listed above they are very environment-friendly and cannot cause any significant damage neither to environment nor your health. Although it does seem like the best of all the options, it has to be pointed out that LED bulbs are also the most expensive ones. However, if you need the best type of bulb and are ready to invest in your outdoor flood lights, LED bulbs surely is an option to go for.

3 Why we choose floodlights?

The closest type of lighting fixture to flood light is spot light. Spot lights are also used indoor and outdoor, but in opposite to flood lights, they have much smaller and concentrated range of light. Spot lights are great for illuminating one spot, but cannot be used to illuminate a whole area. High powered flood lights can provide close amount of light to daylight. For example, in some sports fields flood lights are arranged in such way that you have feeling that it’s actually bright outside. Flood lights also are being used as work lights. Miners use flood lights to shed light into dark passages and caves they work in. Battery operated flood lights are used as emergency lights in places, where it’s crucial to have permanent lighting source. Portable flood lights are also used by rescuers in disaster-prone areas, where other types of light sources are not available. As you can see, the advantages and usage of flood lights are practically unlimited, which makes them one of the most popular lighting source from small houses to arenas and other large areas.

4 Where to use floodlights?

Flood lights are mostly used outdoors, but you will also see flood lights being used in larger indoor places, like arenas. The most common place, where people use flood lights is around the house. Flood lights are great outdoor lighting source and come in all sorts of sizes, from few watts to couple hundred watts. Flood lights are great to illuminate dark areas around the house at night for comfort and security purposes. It is common to use flood lights to provide light for security cams in dark, or to scare unwanted persons and animals away from backyard. Many people use flood lights to illuminate doors at night. In this situation, flood lights with motion sensor are used. Besides individual usage around the house, flood lights are also used in much larger areas. Some of these areas are:

• Stadiums
• Sports fields
• Streets
• Driveways
• Parking lots
• Indoor and outdoor arenas
• Warehouses
• Many other large areas

5 Conclusion:

A floodlight is a perfect way to illuminate large areas, such as concert halls, huge parking lots, or sports fields, but they have also made their way into people’s yards. Floodlights are a great way to get that broad beam of light that helps you monitor your home’s surroundings