Hello all!
I am looking for an outdoor floodlight for a residential back yard.
The quick version is that the customer now has a cheap 300W linear
halogen floodlight and loves the brightness and distance, but I hate the
maintenance. I am thinking of installing a slightly less cheap linear
halogen floodlight and am wondering if any of the "name brands" stand
out; skip down to the end for the ones I've found so far.
For the long version, read on...
Customer requirements:
Instant on. It is turned on as needed by a switch (not on a photocell,
timer, or motion sensor) so they don't want to wait for it to strike or
warm up.
Has to light up all the way to the back fence (about 40' or 13 m away)
and as wide as reasonably possible. The width requirement is not as
strict as the distance requirement, but I get the feeling that something
like a single PAR38 might not be wide enough. The fixture is mounted to
the wall about 7 feet above grade.
Has to be "bright". See under "History" for what this means.
My requirements:
Shouldn't be a hassle. I have to provide free service and support for
this installation for the next 30 years or so, so I am willing to spend
money up front to reduce maintenance time later.
Has to mount on the existing standard rectangular electrical box. Right
now there is a cover on the box with standard 1/2" female thread for the
fixture. The house is brick so it is not easy to mount a fixture other
than to the box.
Should run on US-standard 120 V 60 Hz.
It is a bonus if the lamp replacement can easily be done by the customer,
but not strictly required.
History:
The original fixture, many years ago, was your basic standard jelly jar
with 100 W A-line incandescent lamp. This wasn't bright enough.
The previous solution was a fixture with two T4 bi-pin halogen lamps in
reflectors. I don't remember for sure but they were probably 100 W
each. This worked OK until the glass discs over the reflectors got
damaged.
The current solution is a $10 fixture with a 300W linear halogen. The
customer is very happy with the amount of light this provides, when it
works. I am not happy with everything else about it. The fixture has
been in service for about 2 or 3 months, and the original lamp just
failed. The contacts that hold the lamp in have lost enough "spring"
that after I removed the failed lamp, I had to dissasemble the fixture
and re-bend the contacts to get the new lamp to even think about staying
in. While in there I noted that the fiberglass sleeving over the wires
has now turned black over the last 1.5" (40 mm) or so closest to the
sockets. The replacement lamp worked for about 5 minutes before
something failed again; I haven't diagnosed it further. (Yes, I know
you can't touch these lamps, or if you do, you have to clean them off
with alcohol first.)
What I think so far:
If it was my house, I'd probably try one of those floodlights that has
a couple of CFLs in it. But it's not my house, I don't know if the
light output will be enough, I don't know how well those will work in
the winter, and the readily available brand (Lights of America) I am
not so sure about.
I am thinking of buying another 300W linear halogen fixture, but a "name
brand", even if I have to go to a distributor and pay list for it. So
far I have found the Cooper QZ3L
http://www.cooperlighting.com/common/brands.cfm?pg=Detail&id=1106
and Lithonia F500QL
http://www.lithonia.com/commercial/Floodlights(CFL-Quartz).html?pt=Outdoor
- are there others I should look at, or any suggestions as to which one
of them is better?
Or should I just eat rice for the next month or two and buy them a nice
LED or induction fixture with equivalent output?
Standard disclaimers apply; I don't work for or get money from any
companies mentioned.
Thanks for your help!
Matt Roberds
I am looking for an outdoor floodlight for a residential back yard.
The quick version is that the customer now has a cheap 300W linear
halogen floodlight and loves the brightness and distance, but I hate the
maintenance. I am thinking of installing a slightly less cheap linear
halogen floodlight and am wondering if any of the "name brands" stand
out; skip down to the end for the ones I've found so far.
For the long version, read on...
Customer requirements:
Instant on. It is turned on as needed by a switch (not on a photocell,
timer, or motion sensor) so they don't want to wait for it to strike or
warm up.
Has to light up all the way to the back fence (about 40' or 13 m away)
and as wide as reasonably possible. The width requirement is not as
strict as the distance requirement, but I get the feeling that something
like a single PAR38 might not be wide enough. The fixture is mounted to
the wall about 7 feet above grade.
Has to be "bright". See under "History" for what this means.
My requirements:
Shouldn't be a hassle. I have to provide free service and support for
this installation for the next 30 years or so, so I am willing to spend
money up front to reduce maintenance time later.
Has to mount on the existing standard rectangular electrical box. Right
now there is a cover on the box with standard 1/2" female thread for the
fixture. The house is brick so it is not easy to mount a fixture other
than to the box.
Should run on US-standard 120 V 60 Hz.
It is a bonus if the lamp replacement can easily be done by the customer,
but not strictly required.
History:
The original fixture, many years ago, was your basic standard jelly jar
with 100 W A-line incandescent lamp. This wasn't bright enough.
The previous solution was a fixture with two T4 bi-pin halogen lamps in
reflectors. I don't remember for sure but they were probably 100 W
each. This worked OK until the glass discs over the reflectors got
damaged.
The current solution is a $10 fixture with a 300W linear halogen. The
customer is very happy with the amount of light this provides, when it
works. I am not happy with everything else about it. The fixture has
been in service for about 2 or 3 months, and the original lamp just
failed. The contacts that hold the lamp in have lost enough "spring"
that after I removed the failed lamp, I had to dissasemble the fixture
and re-bend the contacts to get the new lamp to even think about staying
in. While in there I noted that the fiberglass sleeving over the wires
has now turned black over the last 1.5" (40 mm) or so closest to the
sockets. The replacement lamp worked for about 5 minutes before
something failed again; I haven't diagnosed it further. (Yes, I know
you can't touch these lamps, or if you do, you have to clean them off
with alcohol first.)
What I think so far:
If it was my house, I'd probably try one of those floodlights that has
a couple of CFLs in it. But it's not my house, I don't know if the
light output will be enough, I don't know how well those will work in
the winter, and the readily available brand (Lights of America) I am
not so sure about.
I am thinking of buying another 300W linear halogen fixture, but a "name
brand", even if I have to go to a distributor and pay list for it. So
far I have found the Cooper QZ3L
http://www.cooperlighting.com/common/brands.cfm?pg=Detail&id=1106
and Lithonia F500QL
http://www.lithonia.com/commercial/Floodlights(CFL-Quartz).html?pt=Outdoor
- are there others I should look at, or any suggestions as to which one
of them is better?
Or should I just eat rice for the next month or two and buy them a nice
LED or induction fixture with equivalent output?
Standard disclaimers apply; I don't work for or get money from any
companies mentioned.
Thanks for your help!
Matt Roberds
