Specialty and Architectural Lighting — HID & Metal Halide

Lighting for aquariums is an incredibly complicated task. Too little light can endanger plant and fish life and growth, while too much light can lead to a high rate of algae growth. There is also a heat factor, in too much heat can kill fish and plants. Aquarium owners will often combine several types of light sources to achieve the spectrum and intensity of light they are trying to achieve. Traditionally, fluorescent and metal halide...

The effects of power quality on LED lighting performance generally receive little attention prior to installation for most commercial building applications. Power quality issues such as dips, harmonics, interruptions, transients and surges can result in expensive, early replacement of damaged or failed LED lighting equipment. While facility managers involved with smaller commercial projects may be able to ignore power quality without much consequence, larger industrial LED lighting projects, such as the replacement of existing HID...

The Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has conducted a field research project evaluating installation issues and performance of a high bay retrofit where the existing metal halide bulbs have been changed to LED. High bay fixtures that use metal halide lamps in warehouses, shops, sports facilities and big box retail offer an opportunity for significant energy savings with LED HID replacement lamps. The high wattages for metal halide range from 175 watts...

Learn about the benefits and considerations of switching from metal halide and HID lighting systems to LED. While the energy savings and maintenance costs are better with LED HID replacements, does the technology live up to the promises of LED lighting manufacturers?