Floodlights are named so because they flood sections with light. Take an example of streetlights. They emit enough light to cover whole streets from one bulb. Thanks to this intensity, floodlights are the best for use in areas that require wide coverage. In such spaces, e.g., parking lots, using regular bulbs cannot work. We will cover why LEDs are perfect for floodlights and what you must consider when buying these lights.
What are LED floodlights?
LED floodlights are like any other floodlights. They provide light at wide angles, enabling them to light wide areas. They, like any other kinds of floodlights, come in an array of dimensions. You can easily find what works for you, regardless of the space you want to light. The only difference between LED floodlights and traditional floodlights is the operating mechanism. LED floodlights are low maintenance, energy-saving, elegant and safe. They do not feature any mercury or lead, unlike their traditional counterparts, and have proven cost-effective in the long run. For these and more reasons, more people have moved towards using LED floodlight bulbs, and traditional options have now taken a backseat. Plus, LED lights have come a long way and are no longer as expensive as they were when they were new in the market. It has become increasingly common to come across cheap LED light fixtures that offer the benefits of higher-priced LED lights.
How should you choose LED floodlights?
While LED lights are highly effective, they only work great if you choose the right one for your space. It would help if you considered the following factors when deciding on the most applicable lighting option:
Where will you use the floodlight?
Typically, people use floodlights in large spaces. Otherwise, using such lights in smaller spaces would make the room too bright and make people uncomfortable. Usually, these lights work in:
Retail Stores and Offices
These spaces require people to be alert, safe and productive. Additionally, adequate lighting allows people to move around with ease and avoid bumping into each other. Using regular lighting would not only be costly, but it can also be inefficient. Therefore, floodlights are the better choice. For such spaces, base your measurements on foot candles. Most professionals use foot candles as their preferred measurement. They equate to the amount of light needed to saturate a square foot using a lumen of light. In the case of retail stores and offices, 70-80 foot candles should be adequate.
Warehouses
These spaces are quite large and require people to be alert lest they end up hurt or unproductive. Even during the day, these spaces often require source lighting as natural lighting is hardly ever enough. Smaller warehouses can do with 30 foot candles. However, with bigger warehouses, you may need to increase the lighting to as many as 100 foot candles. There is no standard measurement in this case as the light intensity comes down to specific rooms.
Storage Rooms
These spaces barely require much light as they are not used often, and it is rare for more than a few people to be in them at one time. For these and equivalent spaces, you are safe with about 30 foot candles. However, with bigger spaces, you may need to up the intensity.
How bright should the room be?
When picking traditional lighting, leaning on wattage often makes the most sense. Such bulbs have more brightness as the wattage goes up and vice versa. However, with LED lighting, this measurement can be misleading. LED bulbs are energy efficient. Therefore, while the wattage may seem low, the brightness is still high. Why? Watts measures the power output and shows you how much you can expect to pay to power a bulb. LEDs use less energy to heat the bulb and start-up faster compared to traditional bulbs. They also lose more heat to the environment and overall focus their energy on producing light.
To avoid getting the wrong level of brightness, use lumens instead. Lumens are a measure of how intense the light is. For example, a traditional bulb with 150 watts can emit about 2,500 lumens. Now, take an LED bulb with the same wattage. Such a bulb can produce as many as 20,000 lumens. You can see what a difference the lumens make!
So, how many lumens should you work with for your space? There is no clear answer to this question. Instead, it would help if you considered how big the space is, how you use it and how often you do so and the cost of lighting the room. For example, a big retail store can require up to 1,000 lumens. You may need a professional to assess your space and suggest what can work best for you.
How should you space the LED floodlights?
Now, here is a good question. Floodlights are very bright, and one light can cover a very wide distance. Spacing the lights can be a bit of a challenge. If you space them too close, the room becomes uncomfortably bright due to overlapping. On the other hand, if you space them too far apart, you will notice some spotting. You need to consider the positioning of the lights, their brightness (lumens), and the environment you want to create. Take the example of a warehouse. Shadows can be costly in such a space, and the overall goal is to have overlapping.
The final aspect will be the mood created by the lighting. For this, you will need to consider the color temperatures, which fall into three categories. The first is about 3000 kelvins or less. It works for relaxing spaces such as homes and restaurants. Eateries using this light can prompt people to eat more and spend more time in the setting. The next is between 3000 and 5000 kelvins, which comes off as natural. For workspaces and retail stores, this works great. Above 5000 kelvins are cool temperatures that are quite sharp. These augur well with outdoor spaces, which require lighting like daylight.
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