How many watts of LED light can replace 1000 watt metal halide lamp?

In the past, metal halides were the first choice for contractors whenever large space lighting or large stadium lighting was required. It has high power and 80-100LM/W efficiency, which was very popular at the time. However, metal halide lamps consume a lot of energy and have a lifetime of only 8,000 hours. This is why modern LED lighting is so popular. The Lampshining LED flood lighting efficiency can reach 150-160LM/W, and the life span is up to 50,000 hours.

Nowadays, traditional lighting fixtures are replaced with LED lighting in both public and recreational buildings to reduce energy consumption and save costs. And often people ask, “How many watts of LED light can be a perfect replacement for a 1000 watt metal halide lamp? How much energy can be saved after replacement?”

LED lights usually have three important specifications: tile, lumens and Kelvin. Watts are used to measure the energy consumption of LEDs. Kelvin is used to measure color temperature, and our LED lights are usually able to customize the color temperature of 3000-5700K. Lumens are also parameters that determine brightness, so when considering replacing a metal halide lamp with a led light, you can't make a decision about the wattage. Decisions need to be made based on the amount of lumens required and the efficacy of the light. LED lamps have a higher lumen count, so they can replace high-power metal halides with lower power.

What is lumens?

Lumens are measures of the total amount of visible light emitted by a light source, and lumens represent brightness, not watts. When replacing MH lighting with LED lighting, it should be noted that the wattage is important, and the wattage determines the energy consumption, not the light output. When replacing existing metal halide luminaires, you need to know the lumen output of each luminaire.

So how many watts of LED light can replace a 1000W metal halide lamp?

Taking our customer case as an example, the customer replaced the original 1000W metal halide lamp with our 480W LED High Mast Light, where we will simply calculate the operating costs before and after replacement. A total of 20 480W LED High Mast Lights have been used, with a total power of approximately 9600 and a luminous efficiency of 155 LM/W, which is sufficient to provide sufficient illumination for the stadium and the audience. In order to achieve the same illumination, the total metal power required for the metal halide lamp is 20,000 W or higher. Therefore, LED lighting can save a lot of energy costs.

Take the above conditions as an example. If you need lamps to work 30 days a month, 8 hours a day. Because the average electricity cost in the United States in 2019 is about 0.13 kW / hr, the operating cost of LED lighting at the site is about 9600 * 0.13 / 1000 = $1.25/hour, which costs about $10 a day and costs $300 a month. The operating cost of using metal halides is about 20,000 * 0.13 / 1000 = 2.6 US dollars / hour, which costs about 21 dollars per day and costs about 620 dollars per month. Obviously, if you are using a metal halide lamp, you will save $320 a month after replacing it with an LED. Of course, this is only a reference. The efficacy of LED lamps is very high, and the lifetime is several times higher than that of metal halides. The longer the time is used, the more energy is saved, and the return on investment can be recovered quickly.

Here is a summary of some comparisons between LED lamps and metal halides.

1.Lumen depreciation

Due to the high lumen depreciation rate of metal halides, bulbs are designed for high initial output. The half-life of metal halide bulbs can lose 50% of lumens. The LED lamp keeps its lumens very good and the lumen loss will not exceed 30% throughout its lifetime;

2. Metal halides waste light source due to reflection

Metal halides are omnidirectional and discharge in all directions. To avoid a small amount of waste, a reflector is used to redirect and focus the light to a specific area. Since the reflector is never 100% effective, it leads to lumen loss. Studies have shown that it is possible to lose up to 30% of lumens.

So, in fact, a 10,000 lumen metal halide bulb can only emit 7,000 lumens. The light from the LED lights is directional. This means that they discharge in a specific direction. There is no reflection causing light loss, so a 10,000 lumen LED lamp can emit 10,000 lumens of light;

3. Lumen quality

There are three factors that determine light quality: lumens, Kelvin, and CRI (Color Rendering Index). Now that we have discussed lumens and Kelvin, let's talk about CRI. The CRI measuring light can display the true color of the object. LEDs typically have a high CRI rating and can achieve CRI >90;

4. Healthy and safe light source

Metal halide lamps contain mercury, which have long been harmful to the human body and have been harmful to the environment. LEDs do not have this substance and are free of UV pollution;

The above content mainly includes three aspects:

1. The metal halide bulb is very bright when it is newly purchased, but its brightness is reduced by 50% after 6 months of use;

2. LED lights produce directional light and are very effective. No lumen waste;

3. LED lights are of high quality and you need less lumens for optimum brightness;

What are the ways to replace? When replacing metal halides, there are two options:

1. Modify or replace the complete unit. Replacing the entire unit means replacing the bulb and the casing. We have led stadium light, led high mast light, led high bay light, led flood light, etc;

2. Just replace the metal halide bulb with an LED bulb. Our LED corn bulb and LED Retrofit Kit can meet this requirement;

What is the effect of the lights in the retrofit kit?

Depending on the quality of the bulb, our LED corn bulbs and LED retrofit kits are capable of achieving 130-145LM/W efficacy. If you need to be brighter, you can choose to replace the complete set, our high lumen led stadium light, led high mast light, led high bay light, led flood light can reach 150-160LM/W. If you need it, please leave a message, we will contact you as soon as possible.

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