The Advantages of Metal Halide Lights

Light Output

• Metal halide lights can produce enormous light output, as measured in lumens. Some lamps can reach 40,000 lumens, roughly the equivalent of 100 car headlights. The tremendous light output makes metal halide lights great for illuminating large areas such as stadiums and warehouses, and for producing high-intensity light over a small area, such as in aquariums and for hydroponic plants.

Spectrum

• By altering the mixture of the gasses in a metal halide light, manufacturers can produce lights with different spectra. The spectrum of a light measures the intensity of light at different frequencies (colors). One way to measure the spectrum is to quote the temperature in Kelvins. The higher the temperature, the bluer the light; thus, a 20,000 Kelvin metal halide light casts a bluer light than a 10,000K light.

Efficiency

• Although some metal halide lights can use 1,200 watts of energy, the light output they produce from this energy makes them very efficient. Metal halides can produce up to 115 lumens per watt of electricity used. Compare this to 35 lumens per watt for an incandescent bulb and 98 lumens per watt for a fluorescent bulb.

Bulb Life

• Metal halide bulbs can last 20 times longer than an incandescent bulb. This makes them an excellent lighting choice for applications where frequent bulb changes are impractical, such as stadium lighting. However, the spectrum of the bulbs tend to change the longer the bulbs are used. Because of this, applications where precise spectrum is important, such as growing plants or corals, may see more frequent bulb changes.