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How many lumens does a 1000 watt metal halide produce?

lumens-of-1000-watt-metal-halide

There is a lot of difference between a metal halide lumen and LED lights. Metal Halide of 1000 watt and 400 watts are quite common these days. So, the question is how many lumens do a 1000 watt MH lamp produce in compared to LED? The quick answer is 50,000 to 100,000 lumens, depending on the type and brand of the metal halide lights according to our 100-hour review & research. The common mistake that everyone makes is, most of them while replacing any metal halide bulb changes it with the same watt LED bulb. This article describes the difference between metal halide flood lamps versus LED lamp’s lumen output. Also, you will get to know how they can be converted to LED lights.

What is the meaning of lumen of a metal halide light?

what-is-metal-halide-lumenBefore going for any conversion, you got to know what lumen is. It is a unit of measurement of light that defines how much light a certain fixture can give off. When you are planning to replace any existing fixture, you got to know the lumen output. Suppose the metal halide fixture you have produces 100,000 lumens per 1000 watt when installed freshly. In that case, you do not need a 1000 Watt LED so as to replace a 1000 watt metal halide, rather you need a LED than produce 100,000 lumens. So, when replacing any metal halide bulb with LED you need to consider the lumen output instead of focusing on the watt.

Comparison between LED and metal halide lumens

If you are looking for a comparison between LED and 1000 watt metal halide lumen, here’s an easy calculation for you. So how many lumens do metal halide produce? For each MH the lumen efficiency is almost 60 to 110 watts. So, a 1000 watt metal halide bulb can produce 50,000 lumens to 100,000 lumens. Similarly, a 400 watt bulb of metal halide produces almost 24,000 lumens to 44,000 lumens. Now, what about LED lights? An LED light has an efficiency of 140 lm per watt which is about 130% more than metal halide lumens if you make a comparison.

What makes this difference?

If you are wondering what brings this number difference between the two lights, here’s an explanation for you.

This happens because ballast of the metal halide can transfer energy to almost 60% to 80%. As a result, a good amount of energy gets wasted right inside the ballast. To calculate lumen efficiency, you need to divide the total lumen by total watts consumed. In the initial stage, the ballast can consume up to 15% of more energy.

Now if you want to produce an equal amount of lumen out from a 1000 watt bulb of metal halide you need to have a total of 1200 to 1400 watt power input in it. It will result in decreasing of the light efficiency to about 36 to 88lm per watt. This can be a crucial factor to be considered. So rather than going for a 1000 watt metal halide replacement or retrofit it would be better if you go for a 400 watt metal replacement.

High power LED has short development time which is of 10 years. Whereas 1000 watt LED can offer 130 to 200 lumen per watt. Also, the LED power supply driver has a high conversion rate that is it has almost 95% transferring rate. The normal lumen for LED is 95 to 190 lm per watt that is almost 200 to 300% higher than metal halides.

Where are metal halide lamps used?

The famous metal halide lamps came into the market from the 60s. Metal halide lights are one of the oldest inventions. It is the highest power and high illumination light source used around the world. Mostly these lamps are designed to illuminate larger areas like airports, warehouse, parking lot, stadiums, football field, hangar, tennis court, bill board and etc. These are also used as street lights and in construction sites depending on how much light you need.

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Why should you replace your metal halide bulb with LED?

LED wins over metal halide bulbs in several ways. Metal halide bulbs lose a lot of lumens within the first 6 months whereas LED tends to maintain the lumens for a quite a long period of time. Though metal halide bulbs seem to have 15,000 hours to 20,000 hours operating life, it uses half of its lumens within the initial period. Also, LEDs have greater energy efficiency in compared to metal halide bulbs, so a lot of money gets saved!

So if you want to replace your metal halide bulb with a LED light always consider the lumens and not the watts.