Types and uses of floodlightsA flood light is an artificial light source with a broad beam of up to 120 degrees to illuminate a large amount of space. Any outdoor area which requires daylight like illumination for several reasons such as security, general illumination, any recreational or entertainment activities like concerts, festivals or sport events. Also used in driveways, warehouses, event centres etc.
Not just outdoors but they have several indoor applications. They are a very versatile form of lighting fixture so when choosing the right kind of flood light you can browse the categories they can be divided into.
For general convenience, We can categorise flood lights according to their:
- Homes: basically in backyards, gardens for security purposes. The normal 80-100 wattage bulb serves the purpose well for these fixtures.
- Commercial: security purposes, for parking lots, office fronts, advertisement or to illuminate the storefront. In such areas bulbs rated 100W or above are enough.
- Entertainment : the biggest flood light market, they are used in cricket or football grounds, at concerts or for festivals. These fixtures operate on 400W bulbs.
different bulbs can be used considering the fixture has a lumen output of 700-1300.
- Incandescent: low initial cost, quick start up so compatible with motion sensor flood lights. They prove to be costly in the long run as they require frequent replacement or maintenance.
- Fluorescent: they cannot be coupled with motion sensor flood lights but due to their light output they can be used in fixtures which are used to illuminate storefronts or pathways.they have an average light output of 50 to 100 lumens per watt and their lifespan can be up to 20000 hours.
- HID: Metal Halide and High pressure sodium bulbs usually have large wattages and lumen output. They have 100-150 lumen/watt output. But the only downside is that they heat up quickly and are dangerous.They have warm to cool colour output.
- Halogen: similar to incandescent bulbs but their colour rendering is high and they produce warm bright light. Only downside is that they heat up quickly. They operate on high wattages so used outdoors.
- LED: the best technology to date, their output is50-150 lumen per watt.They have a lifespan of 50000 hours and light spectrum and have good color rendering index. Initially costly but requires no maintenance and have built in heatsink which allows them to be the best bulb fixture in the lighting industry.
Lastly, flood lights can be categorised on the basis of their operation, they are compatible with different power sources which are:
- Battery operated: flood lights are in fact portable and come with battery packs which are used in rescue operations or for general use.
- solar powered: these are usually mounted on poles and used in housing or commercial areas and they charge on solar energy during the day and provide light at night.
- electrical outlet: they run on constant power supply and usually mounted on electric poles connected to an electrical source.
The development of more effective LED diodes, combined with larger capacity rechargeable batteries and more effective solar panels, has made this setup widely popular in recent years.
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