Understanding the Metal Halide Floodlight

What is a metal halide floodlight? I hear you ask, and that’s a good question. Metal halide floodlights are broad beamed (the light produced from the lamps is designed to cover a wide area and project out and onto this area) and the light is produced from the lamps at a very high intensity so as to maintain the constant level of lighting required. The light itself is bright white. Metal halide floodlights are actually the most common type of floodlight used today.

Lets look at the science behind these lamps to see how they work, don’t worry, I will keep it as simple as possible! Metal halide floodlights contain a number of lamps which produce the beam of light; these lamps are made of what is known as an arc tube which resides within an outer envelope (much like a foot in a sock). This outer envelope is known as the bulb and should be familiar enough. The arc tube itself can be made of either a ceramic (like your mugs) or quartz. Both materials have very high tolerance to temperature and are therefore ideal for use in a lamp.

Within this arc a starter gas will be present. This is most likely to be argon, in addition to the argon you will find mercury and metal halide salts. So now we understand what the lamps are made up of, how do they produce light? Well, as you know they are connected to an electrical supply, this electricity passes into the lamp via a device known as a ballast (the ballast is designed to control the flow of electricity into a circuit or device), when the ballast supplies a high enough starting voltage (the amount of juice it takes to fire up the lamps) the lamp will start.

This means as the electrical supply to the lamp increases so does its effect on the gases present, electricity has a way of exciting the particles that make up the gas which in turn increases their speed and the number of times they bounce of each other and the container they are in. Now, every time the particles bounce off something they increase in temperature and the pressure in the lamp increases, finally the materials present vaporise and as a result of all this energy, temperature and pressure, they emit light and ultraviolet radiation.

Now in order to illuminate a large area it is wise to have a number of powerful lamps and access to them in order to carry out maintenance. That said metal halide lamps are extremely reliable and tend to have a long lifespan if operated correctly.

Metal halide floodlights provide a long lasting and effective way of illuminating working environments, car parks, construction work sites and other open areas. If you require any advice with regards to floodlighting in general, many suppliers are happy to assist and can suggest the best lighting solution for your circumstances. It is worthwhile doing thorough research in order to find the very best lighting in order to maintain safety and efficiency on outdoor sites.