Flood type for sign illumination

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mark32

mark32

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Currently in NJ
I will be installing two floods, one for each side of a sign. I've seen pictures of the sign, which I'd guess to be about five foot in length and four foot in height, and mounted a couple of feet off the ground. I'm looking at it tomorrow to be sure, but I was trying to determine what type of illumination would be best. At first I thought of a fluorescent like this:

http://www.electricbargainstores.com/product-p/rab-plf26.htm

The specs say the min temp is 0 degrees but then says the min starting temp is 23 degrees? The specs also says for "side wall mounting only", hmm, I guess these are out. I want to mount these to the top of an outdoor FS box which would be supported by either a PT 2X4 or one of those Arlington posts like 12" above grade. My second guess would be a 50 or 70w MH (http://www.electricbargainstores.com/product-p/rab-ffh50.htm) and then thoughts of an LED like this came to mind: http://www.electricbargainstores.com/product-p/rab-ffled18n.htm

Anyone have a preference for this application? They don't have to be RAB, I just used these as examples. What about color temps?
 
mark32 said:
I will be installing two floods, one for each side of a sign. I've seen pictures of the sign, which I'd guess to be about five foot in length and four foot in height, and mounted a couple of feet off the ground. I'm looking at it tomorrow to be sure, but I was trying to determine what type of illumination would be best. At first I thought of a fluorescent like this:

http://www.electricbargainstores.com/product-p/rab-plf26.htm

The specs say the min temp is 0 degrees but then says the min starting temp is 23 degrees? The specs also says for "side wall mounting only", hmm, I guess these are out. I want to mount these to the top of an outdoor FS box which would be supported by either a PT 2X4 or one of those Arlington posts like 12" above grade. My second guess would be a 50 or 70w MH (http://www.electricbargainstores.com/product-p/rab-ffh50.htm) and then thoughts of an LED like this came to mind: http://www.electricbargainstores.com/product-p/rab-ffled18n.htm

Anyone have a preference for this application? They don't have to be RAB, I just used these as examples. What about color temps?
Click to expand...

I don't have a link, but I bought an LED from my SH that I really like.
It is a 12W that is supposed to be equivalent to a 100 W Halogen.
The customer really likes how it lights up his sign.

Maybe you can "google" it and get a link.

Luma LED Blaster
LB 100
made by LUMATEQ

Edit: Just found the web site: www.lumateq.com
 
Little Bill said:
I don't have a link, but I bought an LED from my SH that I really like.
It is a 12W that is supposed to be equivalent to a 100 W Halogen.
The customer really likes how it lights up his sign.
Click to expand...
Listed input power is 16W, FWIW.

The specified CCT of 5700K is very much on the daylight side, and the CRI is a tolerable 80. Mark would have to try it against the actual paint or coloring material of the sign to make sure the effect at night was good in his customer's opinion.
 
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Thanks Bill and Gold. Bill, what did you mount that light to? I'm not sure I'd be able to use it for my application as I want to mount/screw it into the top of an fs box, unless there's another way that's just as easy. I think I'd want something a little warmer than 5700 as well.
 
mark32 said:
Thanks Bill and Gold. Bill, what did you mount that light to? I'm not sure I'd be able to use it for my application as I want to mount/screw it into the top of an fs box, unless there's another way that's just as easy. I think I'd want something a little warmer than 5700 as well.
Click to expand...

It was mounted on the cover of a 12"x12" PVC box that was buried flush with the ground. I didn't install the box, it was already there and the old MV light was mounted to it.

My SH let me borrow the light for the customer to try before buying it. I left it over a weekend for him. He liked it so I permanently mounted it.

I don't know what you want or need, but this light lit the sign up quite well.
I think it was around $140.
 
Thanks for the info Bill, I'll keep it in mind. A couple more questions, there's a GFCI at the sign, which the existing lights are plugged into. I want to come off the load side to feed a timer which will control the lights. I'd like to do this to reduce the burial depth of my pvc raceway. You guys think this is a good idea for such an application? With regards to color temperature, would a HPS or MH (Or something even cooler like the LED Bill mentioned) be preferred for such an installation, just unsure what's popular for lighting signs. BTW, the sign is brown in color.
 
mark32 said:
Just read this interesting article about HPS vs MH, where the author dumps all over MH for reasons I never thought about.

http://www.darkskysociety.org/handouts/white_paper--mh_vs_hps.pdf
Click to expand...
That article did not take much consideration into the differences in color rendition. However it did mention using a fluorescent light source for some cases where color is important.

Are any sports stadiums or arenas using anything besides MH for the illumination of large areas? I don't think you will find a fluorescent luminaire that isn't too bulky or have other issues with coming up with comparable performance, and HPS would not be the thing for lighting these areas.

Most signs are probably good candidates for fluorescent or LED technologies.
 
kwired said:
That article did not take much consideration into the differences in color rendition. However it did mention using a fluorescent light source for some cases where color is important.

Are any sports stadiums or arenas using anything besides MH for the illumination of large areas? I don't think you will find a fluorescent luminaire that isn't too bulky or have other issues with coming up with comparable performance, and HPS would not be the thing for lighting these areas.

Most signs are probably good candidates for fluorescent or LED technologies.
Click to expand...

Thanks kwired. I left the choice of luminaire up to the customer, whom currently has fluorescent lighting up the sign (Mounted directly to the sign), just trying to determine if he likes the coloring and output of them.
 
mark32 said:
Thanks kwired. I left the choice of luminaire up to the customer, whom currently has fluorescent lighting up the sign (Mounted directly to the sign), just trying to determine if he likes the coloring and output of them.
Click to expand...
You do have some color choices in fluorescent, where HID's generally don't give you any choice at all except maybe a slight change for an inside frosted lamp.
 
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