Thanks for the input and I appreciate it... So you have had Metal Halide for 16 years? Does that mean that your fluorescent experience was prior to that? My understanding is that technology has come a long way in the past 10 years. If I understand your comments, you are talking fluorescent technology at least 20 years old. Ballasts are now electronic and "buzz free". Bulbs are rated for 20,000 hours. Believe me, I don't want to make the wrong choice. That is why I solicit input. Did you go with a budget fluorecent and a commercial MH? or commercial with both? I have bought the budget fluorescent lights and not been pleased. The key is to get the best ballast money can buy. The same is true of the MH.
I don't know, I didn't originally install the florescent fixtures.
We tried a wide variety of different ballasts in them. You can't imagine how the dust will build up in the strangest places in your indoor and what it will affect. Our staff waters and drags the indoor with a tractor(don't get me started about our failed indoor sprinkler system) as often as necessary and dust is still a problem. In the attached care takers residence we went through 3 air handlers before we stopped using forced air and switched to infra red heating and window AC units.
A build up of dust will make ballasts over heat. They are up near the roof so the heat up there in the summer will be intense. Moisture condensation from watering your indoor will get everywhere 3 seasons a year. What will all that do to the electronic ballasts? I have yet to see electronic components that like to be too hot.
I am amazed at how little trouble the metal halide lights have been considering the harsh environment.
Imagine the sheer number of bulbs that you will have to change. Yes you will need to do it less often with 20K hour AVERAGE life. But remember that is Average life. Some bulbs might last 10K hours and some might last 30K hours... You have no way to know. Changing even one bulb 18 feet in the air is a big project. So you will need a plan on how you will manage the DOZENS of bulbs you will have. We could replace every bulb in our indoor in a couple of hours. To replace every bulb you could have a 2 day project!
If one bulb goes out will it disable another?
If you leave dead bulb in the fixture for a month or 6 will it kill the electronic ballast?
Will you replace all your bulbs at once every 5 years, dead or alive, or will you replace all the dead ones every 6 months starting at year 3 or 4?
What will be the opportunity cost of the arena being unusable while light bulbs are being changed?
How much extra lighting capacity are you going to hang and light year around to make up for the fact that you are not going to climb up and change a bulb straight away when it goes dead?
What is the extra electric cost for this unnecessary lighting that is hung to cover the random bulb failures that aren't replaced for a month or more?
We keep two bulbs on hand all the time and replace the bulbs when 2 burn out. The theory being that we only have a problem if 2 burn out beside one another and the odds of that happening are fairly low. These have been sitting on the shelf here for over a year.
What part of the country are you in? During the coldest winter months here our large equipment door directly into the arena freezes such that it would be VERY difficult to open it for 30+ days a winter. (remember condensation?) We end up parking a tractor inside to groom the arena in the winter. No getting the RV into the indoor then! If we had to replace multiple bulbs in the winter we would have to rent an off road man lift small enough to get into the arena via one of the stable doors and around the corners. That is probably not happening even if we have 2 bulbs go out side by side.
How big a man lift will you need to replace dozens of 4 or 8 foot long bulbs?
What would you do if 2 bulbs in the same fixture go out knocking out 2 pairs of bulbs... Or pairs of bulbs in adjoining fixtures?
