Poll light

[harley1782000]

Has anyone ever converted a poll light into something else that doesn't suck so much juice.  I have to keep it cuz we have people that have sticky fingers.  I have tried other lights out side but do not give as much light.  I was wondering if it could be converted to a crap load of LED's.?  It is a mercury light, so it takes time to warm up and throws alot of light.  I do believe it is a 100 watt.

Jim

Oh crap just realized I put it the wrong section, Don't scald me too bad.....

[wooferhound]

I have converted some lights but I changed them from incandescent bulbs to CFL bulbs. I am very happy with the results.

[Basil]

I Have / Had 2 mercury out side. Guted them out and use CF blubs also.
Bright enough for the cam to record good.
I have one of the HF dc light bulbs in a brass fixture
mounted on my deck that runs off my solar.

Hay woofhound
It's the HF Light I replaced the bulb with from a 15 watt ac bulb.
Still works great.

[harley1782000]

I was thinking of doing that.  Guess I will.  I just enough light so I keep the people with the sticky figures at bay.  Really said...

Jim

[dnix71]

Mercury is about the most efficient light you an use that is sort of close to white and has a long life. A 100 watt mercury arc lamp puts out five times as many lumens as an incadescent bulb that size.

Linear flourescent is the most efficient but not really suited for use on a pole. You might try the compact flourescent bulbs Home Depot sells. They are not as efficient as linear flourescent but use maybe 1/3 less power than a mercury lamp does.

http://www.homedepot.com/Lighting-Fans-Light-Bulbs/TCP/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xr5Zas2zZ32z/R-100676712/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

This bulb here puts out the same as the merc you use, but uses 32 less watts and doesn't need a ballast or long warm up times. It's bright enough to light a suburban yard like it was daylight. It's way too bright to use indoors.

[Madscientist267]

Damn, that thing's a monster. Wish I had seen that a little while ago, been looking for a replacement for the floods for my back deck... with a little 'engineering', that might just fit the bill perfectly.

From the specs it looks like it throws some serious light. Wonder if heat starts to become an issue for CFL of that size (ie problems with recessed base sockets, etc)...?

Steve

[harley1782000]

I bought that bulb and gutted my pole light and put that in there. Works great and I seen a 11 dollar decrease in my electric bill. So it is nice. Not as bright but works great.

Jim

Forgot to mention its been in there since July and its December and no problems yet.