3 Benefits Of Replacing Your Football Field's Metal-Halide Lights With LED Lighting

Metal-halide lights have traditionally been a popular choice for lighting a school football field. They produce a bright white light that makes sure players can see the ball and the spectators don't miss any of the action on the field. However, many schools are choosing to retrofit their football field lighting with LED lights instead, as they have a number of benefits over older metal-halide lighting and can still easily keep a football field well-lit. To learn three benefits of replacing metal-halide lighting on a football field with LED lighting, read on.

1. LED Lights Are Less Expensive to Use and Maintain

One of the best reasons to retrofit your school's football field to LED lighting is that it will lower operating costs. LED lights are much more efficient than metal-halide lights, so you'll spend less of your school budget on energy costs keeping the field lit for practice and football games.

LED lights also last longer than metal-halide lights, which reduces the amount of money you'll spend maintaining them. Replacing sports field lights that have burned out is an expensive job because it requires a technician to use a crane to access the light bays. Reducing how often you'll need to replace your football field's lights will keep operating costs low.

2. LED Lights Produce Bright Light Just Like Metal-Halide Lights

Football fields need bright lighting so receivers don't have difficulty seeing the ball and spectators in the stands can see all of the action. Metal-halide lights are very bright, which is why they were often used to illuminate sporting arenas. However, you don't have to compromise on quality when you retrofit your school's football field to use LED lighting. LED lights can produce just as much light as metal-halide lights, keeping the field fully illuminated while students are using it for practice or for a game.

3. LED Lights Offer Even Lighting With Less Glare

LED lights don't produce as much glare as metal-halide lights, and the light that they produce is also spread out more evenly across the field. This eliminates one of the main problems with metal-halide lights — they produce a very bright beam of light that's blinding for anyone who looks directly at the light bay. The glare can be a major nuisance for the players on the field and the spectators watching the game.

LED lights are constructed with multiple reflectors that diffuse light evenly from the bay, so they produce light in a wider area and don't produce the same blinding glare that metal-halide lights do. Retrofitting your football field with LED lighting will ensure that the entire field is well-lit because of the way that LED lights diffuse their light over a wider area.

Ultimately, the main reason why schools choose to retrofit their football fields with LED lighting is that LED lights draw much less power than metal-halide lights. Illuminating the field during football season is significantly less expensive with LED lights. However, they also have the additional bonus of providing better quality light compared to metal-halide lights — the light is spread out over a larger area with less glare. If you think it's time to upgrade to LED lighting, call a school lighting system contractor in your area and ask about replacing the metal-halide lights on your football field with LED ones.