High Bay Fluorescent for Arena

   / High Bay Fluorescent for Arena #21  
I would encourage you to look at 4" LED's - last 4 times as long, no ballast required, no flicker, instant on, and half the power consumption. Depending on the number of bulbs the ROI can be less than a year. They have come a long way in color and temp -

hmmm, to light an entire indoor arena with LED's would still cost a fortune. And as far as the ROI being 1 year is way off base. I just attended a meeting on LED's with manufacturers, and while the $$$ is going down, no one there ever suggest that theres a 1 year return on investment even possible. A street light replacement fixture may have a 5 year return on investment and thats due to the reduction in labor to maintain and power savings. But there still WAY $$$. I'm not sure how to even determine a lighting design for led lighting ??? new technology baaaah. hehe

As LED's become more and more used, they will have to come down in price. right now the manufacturers are trying to recoup their R&D funds in the ridiculous prices their charging.
 
   / High Bay Fluorescent for Arena #22  
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?
 
   / High Bay Fluorescent for Arena #23  
Mine are about exactly a year old in our new building. The part in the picture is 60 x 40. One fixture for each 20x40 "bay". Roof is 14' at the eaves, so maybe 16 to 18' or so where the lights are. Very bright. No problems. They have the reflectors behind the bulbs, but no covers. Instant on even when it's cold. No noise we can hear. I would get them again if I had it to do over, I like them.
 
   / High Bay Fluorescent for Arena #24  
I am looking for input for those that have been down the road before me.

I am building an indoor arena.... for riding horses in it.

I am about to pull the trigger on the lights. I will put in T8 High Bay fluorescent fixtures. Should I get a lense to keep the dust out of them? The pro's of the lens are that it will keep the dust off the bulbs and reflectors and only be one thing to clean. The con's are that i suspect they will fill with bugs, unless of course the fixtre is really tight. It also adds to the price.

Any input on what is the "best" fixture. There is a huge range in cost. For a six bulb T8 one can pay $110 per fixture, or $220 per fixture... so i am in the process of "what ballast, what bulb, etc." is included in the quote.

Let me know your thoughts. Lense/no lense? Also, if you have a reco for a specific light let me know, and why you recommend it.
Thanks.

Biggest problem I have with T8 arrays is ballast failure. As these units crap out in my shop, I'm replacing them with outdoor reflector type screw-in compact fluorescents that have the integral ballast arrangement. No more messing around with ballast replacements while standing on a 12-ft step ladder. I'm getting too old for that hassle.
 
   / High Bay Fluorescent for Arena #25  
Biggest problem I have with T8 arrays is ballast failure. As these units crap out in my shop, I'm replacing them with outdoor reflector type screw-in compact fluorescents that have the integral ballast arrangement. No more messing around with ballast replacements while standing on a 12-ft step ladder. I'm getting too old for that hassle.

Hmm, I'm finding just the opposite. I haven't had to replace a t8 ballast for many years. The newer electronic ballast seem to last forever,
I just bought a high output t5 4 lamp fixture for my work bench, cause the old 2 lamp t8 sucked. Now if i don't go blind, ill be happy.
 
   / High Bay Fluorescent for Arena #26  
   / High Bay Fluorescent for Arena #27  
Ummm, that's not true. Fluorescents lose output over time too.

Quick google search:
How well do T8 fluorescent lamps maintain light output? | T8 Fluorescent Lamps | Lighting Answers | NLPIP


come on, that chart is showing 90-95% retention for florescent thru its life (20-30,000 hours). Metal Halide can drop 50% during their 5,000-9,000 hr rated life. Dont get me wrong, i love MH lighting, but im starting to love the high output T5's more.

I just put one in my shop over my work table.
 
   / High Bay Fluorescent for Arena #28  
Most lights lose output with time, it's a matter of how much. I've seen fluorescent lights lose more than 5-10%, but your point is valid - it's not as dramatic as MH apparently is (I've never worked with them).
 
   / High Bay Fluorescent for Arena #29  
I've been following this thread and have one question.
What defines "High Bay" and what defines "Low Bay"

I have a barn with 12' celings.. Should I be looking at high bay lights?

Wedge
 
   / High Bay Fluorescent for Arena #30  
high bay usually refers to greater than 15 foot up to say 25 feet. Low bay is less than 15 foot (these figures is how Lithonia lighting states them). Ive personally have a high bey T5 florescent 4 lamp light in my shop over my work bench mounted at 12 feet and it works great....Dont recommend looking into it though.....hurts the eyes.
 

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