Metal Halide Fixtures

There are many reasons why metal halide fixtures are becoming increasingly popular for residential, commercial, and industrial environments. They produce lots of light and use less energy to do so making them able to last much longer in comparison to conventional types of lighting. They are the most popular member of the high intensity discharge (HID) light group. Metal halide fixtures easily rank among sodium and mercury light bulbs because of their greater life cycle. They are a perfect choice for those of you looking to save money and energy.

Metal halide lamps and metal halide lights are designed with an arc tube placed inside of a larger bulb. The arc tube is where all the magic happens. The light created is very bright and will give off a high lumens per watt ratio. What this all means is that these lights will only need to use a much smaller amount of energy to produce plenty of light. Metal halide grow lights have been gaining in popularity for their ability to produce a strong spectrum that is essential in plant growth.

Metal Halide Fixtures for Security

Metal halide fixtures have the ability to produce not only a brighter light but are also able to emit light over a wider area. They are perfect for use as security lighting on commercial buildings or around your home. Certainly placing the bulbs outside your front door in a motion sensor system will immediately provide deterrence should someone unwanted be lurking around your property at night. Also it provides a solid source of light for when you come home.

Metal Halide Grow Lights

Metal halide grow lights actually cast off a light that is in the blue white spectrum range giving you a far greater range of control in the growing environment. The reason for this is that it helps the plants generate energy for photosynthesis. Metal halide grow lights are favored because they are excellent for helping plants grow nice and big during the all important vegetative stage. They can also be useful when flowering plants. Certainly starting off plants under such lighting before planting them outside can help to give them a good start and make them much stronger and able to cope with the elements outside better.  A single 1000 watt lamp must be placed 2 – 3 feet (60 – 90 cm) above plants where a 400 watt lamp can be placed from 1 – 2 feet (30 – 60 cm) above. For every foot closer light intensity almost doubles.

Metal Halide Aquarium Lighting

Installation of metal halide fixtures in your aquarium will prove extremely beneficial to fish and plants that you are keeping in the tank. As the light that these fixtures emit is very similar to that of natural sunlight so they will help to create a very healthy environment for the marine life and plants in your aquarium. These types of fixtures are especially ideal for people who are looking to set up a reef system in their aquarium.

What differentiates metal halide aquarium lighting from industrial or commercial grade metal halides is the spectrum. Lights designed for freshwater aquariums should range between 5500K-6500K to closely match natural sunlight.

Reef aquarium metal halide bulbs should range between 10,000K-20,000K. Lamps with a higher Kelvin rating will appear more blue in spectrum whereas lamps with a lower kelvin rating will appear more white or yellow.

The typical lifespan of a metal halide aquarium bulb is about 12 months.