Mercury Vapor bulb question

[phoenix5x]

Hey all,


Just purchased a new house and it happens to have a very nice out building on the property. Currently it has mercury vapor bulbs which produce plenty of light for the 50 x 100 area. My question being, are there more efficient bulbs than the mercury vapor that produce similar lighting if not better? Such as high pressure sodium or LEDs?

 

[Syberia]

I had one of those on a post above my driveway. Was a 175 watt bulb, but probably on the verge of death because it was VERY dim. I think replacement bulbs are banned from sale in the US by efficiency regulations.

I actually just replaced the MV bulb with a "300 watt equivalent" CFL bulb from Home Depot. Uses 68 watts instead of 175, and produces much brighter light than the old MV bulb was giving me (and it's more white, as opposed to the bluish light I had before which I did not like). The process requires some re-wiring (bypassing the ballast in the MV fixture) and the purchase of a mogul base to regular screw base adapter, but I am very happy with the results.

Cost to do this was about $15 for the bulb and $3 for the adapter.

 

[phoenix5x]

Hmm thank you I will look into that option...

 

[Syberia]

If it's indoors, the other option would be to take down the MV lights and put up fluorescent tubes. That seems to be the norm for shop lighting.

 

[phoenix5x]

Yeah it is indoors but I hate replace all the fixtures at the moment maybe a little down the road got enough to do getting moved into the house..lol

 

[Rookie2]

look at/for indoor LED fixtures , use about 20% of the energy.

 

[Elginz]

Put in the big (probably 68 watts) CFL for my uncle. It is a yard light outside in WI, he loves it, still, that was 3-4 years ago.

 

[phoenix5x]

I think I mat experiment with the 68 w cfl on one of the lights and see how the output looks according to the output the lumens are about half the merc vapor ligts so I will need to compare...appreciate the input guys...keep em coming I am still in the planning phase here

 

[SARG]

I regret installing the sodium lights on my property.

 

[Mustang51js]

You don't want hps unless you like the orange color

 

[phoenix5x]

No I think HPS is definitely out The cfl or led is probably the option just looking for the better option for my application..

 

[Norcal]

I regret installing the sodium lights on my property.

High pressure or low pressure sodium? There is a difference.

 

[Strouty]

You don't want hps unless you like the orange color

A local NAPA installed those years ago, they made everyone look like they had jaundice. I still hate being in that store for too long.

 

[phoenix5x]

Haha that's funny..also didn't know there was a Low pressure sodium light

 

[rlitman]

High pressure or low pressure sodium? There is a difference.

There is, but LPS is really not that used.

LPS is severely yellow, and is completely lacking in blue or green. The color rendition is ghastly (though I used to use a few in a photo darkroom, and there it was pretty nice).

HPS is the orange glow we're used to from street lights. Totally inappropriate for indoor lighting, except perhaps to provide enough ambient light for security purposes overnight.

Neither would be useful indoors.

 

[knobby]

What wattage is the MV fixture?
400w and down it is a straight swap for the same wattage metal halide lamp with a increase in efficiency

 

[knobby]

Haha that's funny..also didn't know there was a Low pressure sodium light

LPS is one of the oldest forms of HID lighting and in the 180w version is the most efficient HID for lumen per watt to this day

Horrible spectrum of light to work under though and lots of mercury in the lamp

 

[phoenix5x]

I believe they are 175 watt believe the one replacement package I have says they are 7700 lumens...the cfl and LEDs that I find are like 3800 lumens trying g to save the wattage with similar lighting efficiency

 

[knobby]

I believe they are 175 watt believe the one replacement package I have says they are 7700 lumens...the cfl and LEDs that I find are like 3800 lumens trying g to save the wattage with similar lighting efficiency

A direct swap for a mh175/u with a mogul base would give more light with the same hydro usage

 

[phoenix5x]

Well I decided to try and swap out one of the 400 watt fixtures for a 6 bulb t8 fixture...it's an older fixture but seems to work well...I have a question though...this string of fixtures had 4 x 400 w fixtures wired together I dropped one out and put in the flourescent fixture..now when I power it up one of the other 400w fixtures makes a higher pitch wine as opposed to the normal hum when the power is on...could that be because of the different type of ballast used causing some type of interference? Do you think it is causing a problem that might be dangerous or damaging to the lights in the series

 

[phoenix5x]

Thought I would add a picture in case my description isn't clear

 

[toplessHO]

I had one of those on a post above my driveway. Was a 175 watt bulb, but probably on the verge of death because it was VERY dim. I think replacement bulbs are banned from sale in the US by efficiency regulations.

I actually just replaced the MV bulb with a "300 watt equivalent" CFL bulb from Home Depot. Uses 68 watts instead of 175, and produces much brighter light than the old MV bulb was giving me (and it's more white, as opposed to the bluish light I had before which I did not like). The process requires some re-wiring (bypassing the ballast in the MV fixture) and the purchase of a mogul base to regular screw base adapter, but I am very happy with the results.

Cost to do this was about $15 for the bulb and $3 for the adapter.

they make CFLs that fit mogul base
Last time I checked they were around $10 at the box stores