if i keep digging, will i find more?
- Thread starter amolaver
- Start date
green.bubbly
Well-known member
What stadium are you re-lighting?
green.bubbly
Well-known member
A good start? The glow from your building will be visible from the space station.
some people seem to think its only about 1/2 to 3/4 enough (just over 1 watt/sq foot). some folks aim for 1.5+; that would be 57 fixtures - 114 4' bulbs, or 456 feet of T8 tube. a mere 320' of T8 i think will be sufficient.
i think the crazy thing is people putting in the 400 watt metal halide units. new, they are what, $400+? and i'd need at least 6; that's more than double the cost of the fluorescents + bulbs. not sure if the MH fixtures typically come lamped or you buy separate. yes, you only need to wire up 6 fixtures (vs my crapton) but when i lose a bulb or fixture, it won't be a significant loss of light and can wait to be fixed. lose one of 6, and thats going to leave a serious dark spot.
ahm
i think the crazy thing is people putting in the 400 watt metal halide units. new, they are what, $400+? and i'd need at least 6; that's more than double the cost of the fluorescents + bulbs. not sure if the MH fixtures typically come lamped or you buy separate. yes, you only need to wire up 6 fixtures (vs my crapton) but when i lose a bulb or fixture, it won't be a significant loss of light and can wait to be fixed. lose one of 6, and thats going to leave a serious dark spot.
ahm
DoyleDee
Well-known member
I was going to go metal halide because I have the fixtures (I have 8 100w -new ballast and bulbs) , but I decided to go fluorescent instead. The metal halide fixtures can be noisy and put off more heat, plus they take a few minutes to come on fully.
also true, at least for the older MH systems; they took around 5 minutes to start, and even if you turn them off for a second, relighting them takes another 5 minutes. i think there are newer ones that light off faster, but still not like electronic ballasts in modern fluorescents (ie, instantly).
the heat is an interesting point. not sure if 6x 400w MH fixtures would throw more heat than 40x 4' two bulb T8 fixtures.. at least in my case though, one of the pros of all the fixtures is i'm able to 'zone' the lights and only use what i need. with six fixtures running down the ridgeline, i'll be able to just flip those few on and have enough light to navigate the entire structure while drawing about the same power as ONE of the MH units. then each of the 6 20'x20' bays will have 4 more fixtures, plus extras over the workbenches etc, all switched separately.
ahm
the heat is an interesting point. not sure if 6x 400w MH fixtures would throw more heat than 40x 4' two bulb T8 fixtures.. at least in my case though, one of the pros of all the fixtures is i'm able to 'zone' the lights and only use what i need. with six fixtures running down the ridgeline, i'll be able to just flip those few on and have enough light to navigate the entire structure while drawing about the same power as ONE of the MH units. then each of the 6 20'x20' bays will have 4 more fixtures, plus extras over the workbenches etc, all switched separately.
ahm