Are Inductive Fluorescents Better Than 400 Watt Metal Halide?

Yes, we think so, and here's why:

Reason #1 50% Less Wattage

You can replace a 400 Watt Metal Halide with a 200 Watt Inductive Fluorescent fixture.  By doing this you reduce your total fixture wattage by over 50% which in turn reduces your utility bill 50% for your lighting.  Doesn't seem possible?

At Crippen Automall in Lansing Michigan, we went even further.  We replaced 1000 Watt Metal Halide fixtures with 250 Watt Inductive Fluorescent.  We utilized lights from Everlast Lighting located in Jackson Michigan.  In this application, we actually reduced the wattage by more than 75% making Crippen more energy efficient. 

You are likely still thinking that is not possible.   The next 3 reasons explain why this IS possible.

Reason #2 Consistent Lumen Output

What is Lumen Output?

Lumens is a measurement of light perceived by the eye. In effect, this is an indication of the level of brightness of a particular type of lighting.

Lumen Output declines over time. This means that the bulb you put in 3 years ago will not be producing the same Lumen rating as when it was installed.

Older bulbs, especially Metal Halide lose 70% of their Lumen output in a 3 year period.

An Inductive Fluorescent fixture on the other hand, only loses 10% of the output over the life of the system.

10% may still sound significant, but the life of a typical 400 Watt Metal Halide Bulb is 20,000 hours and the life of an inductive bulb is 100,000 hours.  A 10% degradation over a period of 20 years will hardly be noticeable. 

You will notice that the inductive fixture seems brighter and the next couple of reasons show you why.

Reason #3 Higher Kelvin Value 

The Everlast fixtures have a high Kelvin value.  Kelvin is used to compare the quality of indoor light to light experienced outdoors.  In normal daylight conditions, typical Kelvin values are between 5000 and 6000.  The inductive lamp is very close to true, natural daylight as the bulbs have a Kelvin value of 5000K.

Reason #4 Higher Color Rendering Index

The color rendering index (CRI) (sometimes called color rendition index), is a quantitative measure of the ability of a light source to reproduce the colors of various objects faithfully in comparison with an ideal or natural light source. 

100 is natural daylight, so the higher the CRI index, the closer the light source is to natural light. 

Standard 400 Watt Metal halide lamps have a CRI of 65. The Inductive bulbs have a CRI rating of 90+ making it one of the closest light sources to natural light.

Interested in Making Your Facility More Energy Efficient?

Still not sure if energy efficiency is right for your business?  Download our FREE e-book, Business Owners Guide to Energy Efficiency.  The 36 page e-book looks at the 5 benefits of energy efficiency and shows you the 7 steps to calculate your energy savings for any type of energy efficiency upgrade you are considering.

Have more questions regarding inductive fluorescent lighting?  Just leave us your question in the comment section below.