We all know or at least heard that converting from Metal Halide (High Intensity Discharge) to LED will save you money.

But how much? Are there any other reasons or difference you should know about?

In this article, we break down all the factors that you should be aware of before making a decision to convert from Metal Halide to LED. Here are the 9 reasons we think LED wins over Metal Halide.

Let’s take a look at the information on a typical 400 watt metal halide bulb. While specifications may vary, a visit to a popular online website that sells Metal Halide bulbs shows that a brand new bulb has the following specifications:

We have just as many customers wanting to convert to LED because of maintenance savings as they do for energy savings. Think about what we discussed, over the life of the LED retrofit kit, a customer would have to do 5-6 Metal Halide replacements. The higher the installation height, the higher the cost of replacement. And if you have a facility loaded with lights, this becomes a significant budget amount every year that you must take into consideration. Now, we know that reduced maintenance time on lights does not translate into dollars saved because it is highly unlikely that people will lose their jobs over the fact there is much less work to do. However, these people will have time to now work on things that matter, like fixing the machines that make the company money instead on replacing lights that cost the company money.

When you take a measurement of light with a light meter, it reads lumens. And this measurement of all the lights that contribute to the light at that location creates a measurement called foot candles. But let’s think about that light that is being measured. Metal Halide creates all sorts of light, in all spectrum’s, visible or otherwise. This includes UV and IR spectrum’s, visible to the measuring device but not visible to the human eye. LED, on the other hand, does not produce UV and IR. Therefore, its readings using the same light meter is only picking up visible spectrum’s.

So there is a fun little test you can do. Have 2 light sources, LED and Metal Halide. And first ask, which one is brighter? And if the right LED source was selected, they should say LED. And then use a light meter, and the light meter may say the Metal Halide area is producing more foot candles. And so now you know part of the reason, but wait, there’s 2 other pieces of information you need to know.

Click here to see our infographic on Retrofitting vs Replacing.

Conclusion

With energy prices on the rise and looking to keep going up, it is time to start considering your future. You can offset the increasing cost of supplying your home with electricity by switching to solar energy. Before you turn up your nose at the thought, you need to understand that solar energy has come a long way in the last ten years. The panels are a lot smaller and aesthetically appealing than they used to be. The solar installation process has been fine-tuned as well. The team at The Electric Connection has the experience you want when you are looking for solar installers.

You don’t have to live in a rural area to take advantage of solar energy. Most home covenants will allow for today’s more modern solar panels. The panels typically mount directly to the home’s roof and do not take up any space in the yard. Many of the panels blend right into the roof and hard to notice unless you look. They are available in a wide range of styles that are sure to fit your home’s design. One of the biggest concerns people have about switching to solar energy is the cost of solar panels. Cost isn’t what it used to be. There are plenty of options available to help make the initial investment a little more affordable and doable for the average family.

Imagine being able to save money every month on your electric bill. If you chose to rely completely on solar energy for your home’s energy needs, you could eliminate that bill from your monthly budget. You wouldn’t have to worry about an unreliable power grid or rapidly increasing rates. You can also take comfort knowing you are doing something great for the environment by switching to a renewable energy source. If you want more information about solar panel installation, give The Electric Connection a call today.