Exterior flood lights are broad-beamed lights that disperse brightness to a large area. These light fixtures are more popular when it comes to landscape and lighting for outdoor sports venues. Whenever you are using flood lights, you may be underutilizing your lights.
To choose the best lighting for the stadium and game arenas, one should improve the overall lighting fixtures and ensure proper utilization of power consumption for better budget utilization. LED flood lights are a better option when compared to classical light fixtures. Let’s discuss the reasons to replace halogen or metal halides with energy-efficient LED lighting for sports arenas.
Why replace metal halides?
UV emissions – The excess amount of UV brightness damages the skin. Whenever you use traditional metal halide lights of more than 1000W, the UV intensity also goes up.
Mercury – Metal halides also have harmful toxins like mercury to generate electric arc. If the luminaire gets accidentally broken inside the stadium premises, there are chances of a toxic mercury leak which will be an unfortunate consequence.
Limited color range – To accomplish the standards of an international game, there are specific requirements got the color temperature. The temperature range between 2800K to 7500K perfectly suits the need of the audience. It becomes an arduous task for the metal halides to reach the defined color temperatures.
Energy savings – Another primary reason to replace the metal halides is to save on electricity costs. LED flood lights generate better illumination than traditional metal halides. You can save around 50-75% of power consumption, and there is a vast difference in the electricity bills. In the below table, the wattage difference between LED luminaires and metal halides is provided.
| LED lights | Metal Halides |
| 300W to 600W 500W to 1200W | 1000W 2000W |
Why replace halogen bulbs?
Heat dissipation – The audience and the players inside the stadium can feel the warmth produced by the traditional halogen fixtures. It’s become a matter of discomfort, particularly in the summer season. LED stadium lights, on the other hand, do not require warming up. The filament inside the halogen bulb needs to be heated for thousand times for better brightness.
Life span – The lifespan of halogen bulbs is much shorter than the LED bulbs. The operations life of halogen bulbs is 2000 to 3000 hours, whereas LED bulbs have an average lifespan of more than 50,000 hours. Apart from operational hours, we spend a lot of time and money on halogen bulbs when it comes to maintenance and installation.
Sensitive – It is recommended not to touch the halogen bulbs’ surface so that you might get easily burnt. Another reason is the oil from your fingertip may be left on the halogen’s surface. The oil will create an imbalance for the surface, and the glass breaks suddenly. LED lights, on the other hand, are durable and damage-resistant.
Advantages of LED lights
Lumen capacity – The most important fact is the presence of Lumens which determines the brightness of the light fixture. LED arena lights have the highest lumen efficiency when compared to metal halides and halogen bulbs. For instance, every 2000W metal halide luminaire will have a 72000 Lumens capacity, quickly replaced with an LED luminaire of 400W power. The process will help in getting superior energy consumption and premium brightness.
Beam angle – Another advantage of stadium lighting replacement from traditional mediums to LED technology is beam angle. It mainly affects the uniformity of light distribution inside a stadium. The stadium lights require large beam angles to spread the light over a uniform area. We need to have a precise arrangement of LED lighting for better brightness inside the stadium.
Cost-effective – The price is the most primary factor when it comes to the replacement of traditional fixtures. The cost of the LED stadium lights is a little high compared to metal halides and halogen bulbs. But the stadium supervisors must consider the budget when it comes to long-running and maintenance costs.
Weight limitation – After selecting LED lights, we need to consider the weight of the luminaires. If the weight of the lamps exceeds the safety limits, it becomes dangerous as they might fall on the spectators or the players inside the stadium. The best implementation is to ask the lighting professional to compare the weight of traditional lights and LED fixtures to decide the safest installation procedures.
Security lighting – The outdoor fixtures also serve as protective enhancements. LED security lights make the dark corners and entryways safe from mishaps and accidents. Make sure the lighting improves the visibility of the spectators.