I'm in need of a new security light for my barn. What is currently the best bang for the dollar? I'm looking at HPS but is LED or CFL a better way? Any light fixture recommendations will be grate.
Looking to replace the standard 175W Mercury light found on most old barns.
I deal with a lot of exterior lighting.
HPS is one of the most efficient light sources out there, only common light source that trumps it is low pressure sodium, which is what's usually in street lamps.
I don't buy them anymore for multifamily properties solely because the bulbs and ballasts go bad it's not something most people have sitting around. It's all the light in one source and it's basically just too "different" than other lamp sources, which costs more time and money than it saves. When one goes out, it probably means there is a large area that is now completely dark. With traditional fixtures on the other hand, one bulb goes out, the guys have them on the truck, done.
The other thing I like about traditional fixtures is that you can choose numerous mounting locations and directions. You would obviously need several fixtures to match the light output of what you had, but at $10 a pop, who cares.
Also don't listen to people who say CFL won't last outside, I even use indoor CFL's with no protective housings in a pinch and they last for years through rain and snow. The outdoor projector bulbs last much longer. The life of the bulb seems to have much more to do with the quality of your electric feed than anything else. In some buildings I haven't replaced a single cfl bulb in 6 years, in others it's every 6 months.
If I was in your shoes
If you don't feel like running new electric to multiple fixtures and just want a bright *** energy efficient light, go with LPS. In my opinion they are better for lighting up a parking lot or anything that needs 24/7 lighting.
If you could use light in more than one spot go with a bunch of cheapo outdoor fixtures and CFL spots.
Personally, if it's just for security, nothing beats a few 500 watt halogens with motion sensors. A) the place won't be lit up letting people even know where it is.
b)you save money because 500 watt halogens on for a few minutes a day is a whole lot less than something else on all night
c)I would think getting lit up by a giant light as you approach would be a lot worse than approaching a lit up area. I haven't gotten around to it yet, but I plan on running off the power of my motion sensor lights on my garage and running it into a few house lights. That would be quite scary if you are trying to rob a garage and you get lit up with halogens, and the lights in and around the house come on.
CFL's aren't good for motion, since you don't want to wait for them to get to full brightness.
Generally speaking buying LED's for your home is a bad investment over CFL's. Buy the time you get the cost difference back, which is like 5-10 years, you will almost certainly be able to buy an LED bulb much cheaper. This is unless of course the bulb is used for long periods of time, such as in a night light on all night. HPS trumps LED by a landslide though for efficiency though. So if it's going to be on all night, LED serves no purpose. They aren't that cheap and they aren't that efficient compared to sodium lamps. I only use LED in hallways lights that are on all night or 24/7, or in recessed cans in my own home since CFL's seem to take a lot longer to turn on when they are projection bulbs.
