I have been on CPF for a while, but I have never posted here before. I have a small horse barn that is not well lit. I am wondering if I want to go with incandescent, fluorescent, or maybe both. It gets cold in Minnesota, so do I have to have cold start fluorescent or will cool start work, but just take longer to come on during the coldest nights?
Lights For Inside My Horse Barn
- Thread starter JAS
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deadrx7conv
Enlightened
How will you power them? Does the barn have AC or will you use battery/solar?
How much light are you looking for?
LED is an option. Plenty of AC and DC LED bulbs online to choose from.
How much light are you looking for?
LED is an option. Plenty of AC and DC LED bulbs online to choose from.
fyrstormer
Banned
LEDs will be slightly dimmer in cold temperatures, because their electrical resistance increases as their temperature drops, but it won't be as much of a problem as getting fluorescents to start outside in the winter.
I'd probably just put in two sets of fixtures, fluorescent for summer and halogen for winter. (halogens are the most efficient incandescents available.) Put them on separate switches. LEDs are nice, but unless you're going to be leaving the lights on for thousands of hours a year or your mounting points are too small for fluorescent tubes, the extra cost of LEDs will take forever to recoup. And if you're concerned about mercury in the fluorescent bulbs, don't be -- the amount of mercury not released into the environment by not burning the extra coal needed to run incandescents over the lifetime of the fluorescent bulbs will more than make up for the mercury inside the fluorescent bulbs.
I'd probably just put in two sets of fixtures, fluorescent for summer and halogen for winter. (halogens are the most efficient incandescents available.) Put them on separate switches. LEDs are nice, but unless you're going to be leaving the lights on for thousands of hours a year or your mounting points are too small for fluorescent tubes, the extra cost of LEDs will take forever to recoup. And if you're concerned about mercury in the fluorescent bulbs, don't be -- the amount of mercury not released into the environment by not burning the extra coal needed to run incandescents over the lifetime of the fluorescent bulbs will more than make up for the mercury inside the fluorescent bulbs.
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deadrx7conv
Enlightened
Solar powered outdoor lights don't work too well when cold. Not enough sunlight during short days to charge them. And, the motion sensors and electronics are useless when too cold out. So, they never turn on during the winter, but work great for warmer climates. Need to find a manufacturer that actually tests their lights below 45F.
If you have ac, then just go with any fixture you want. When the incan's that come with them burn out, replace them with LED, LVD, or CFL bulbs. CFL will take a while to warm up when cold. LED replacement bulb choices are plentiful.
Do you need/want motion sensor lights or switched lights?
Just about all the motion sensor(above garage/yard...) 'ac' lights work great even when cold. Not sure why the solar/battery ones can't detect motion or turn on when too cold out.
I've given away 3 of the #33056 Westinghouse $60 lights from Samsclub to my friends. Just weren't reliable enough for me. And, were not really that bright. The batteries that they came with were dead quick (as are most solar yard/garden/lawn lights from any dept store). Reasonably good light for 6 warmer months of the year. Kinda like having a cheapo incan 2-D flashlight level of brightness.
Also have a harborfreight #98085 ($20) which makes a good shed light hanging from the ceiling. Open the shed door and most of the time it comes on and provides enough light. Batteries aren't easily replaced but will need to be within 6 months or so. Like the Westinghouse, doesn't work when cold out. And, you don't want to keep triggering the lights. All solar motion lights are best when rarely used.
I've bought/returned/gifted just about every solar light out there. I'm at the point where I have to make my own to make sure it works right.
And, if you get solar lights, the panel needs to be aimed like any solar panel. You'll have to research your location and adjust the panel for best charging. Not too critical if light is rarely used as its just topping off the battery. Solar panel location is very important if the light is triggered on 10-20x a night. Most who complain about solar lights don't know how to aim the panel, and refuse to understand that the cheapo nicad's need to be replaced within a few months of usage.
If you have ac, then just go with any fixture you want. When the incan's that come with them burn out, replace them with LED, LVD, or CFL bulbs. CFL will take a while to warm up when cold. LED replacement bulb choices are plentiful.
Do you need/want motion sensor lights or switched lights?
Just about all the motion sensor(above garage/yard...) 'ac' lights work great even when cold. Not sure why the solar/battery ones can't detect motion or turn on when too cold out.
I've given away 3 of the #33056 Westinghouse $60 lights from Samsclub to my friends. Just weren't reliable enough for me. And, were not really that bright. The batteries that they came with were dead quick (as are most solar yard/garden/lawn lights from any dept store). Reasonably good light for 6 warmer months of the year. Kinda like having a cheapo incan 2-D flashlight level of brightness.
Also have a harborfreight #98085 ($20) which makes a good shed light hanging from the ceiling. Open the shed door and most of the time it comes on and provides enough light. Batteries aren't easily replaced but will need to be within 6 months or so. Like the Westinghouse, doesn't work when cold out. And, you don't want to keep triggering the lights. All solar motion lights are best when rarely used.
I've bought/returned/gifted just about every solar light out there. I'm at the point where I have to make my own to make sure it works right.
And, if you get solar lights, the panel needs to be aimed like any solar panel. You'll have to research your location and adjust the panel for best charging. Not too critical if light is rarely used as its just topping off the battery. Solar panel location is very important if the light is triggered on 10-20x a night. Most who complain about solar lights don't know how to aim the panel, and refuse to understand that the cheapo nicad's need to be replaced within a few months of usage.
Living here in the northwest where it doesn't really get that cold and having a horse barn, I would recommend cold start floresent from experience. If it get's cold enough non-cold start floresents will not even light. I started seeing problems at about 20 degrees and got worse as it got colder. Also need to make sure your lighting is high enough so that a rearing horse can't hit them. I've tried halogen but they just didn't seem to last that long and I got tired of replacing them. I just have them in a couple places now. My power isn't the greatest where I live, but I replace my floresents (can't remember the last time) very rarely and I'm on my second replacements of my halogens this year.
I ended up going with both incandescent and fluorescent after all. I don't have full blown cold start lights, but I am not in the barn that much in the winter, so I figure the incandescent will get me by if the fluorescent won't power on.
deadrx7conv
Enlightened
I still have a few ceiling lights with 'mixed' bulbs in them that work fine.
I don't replace incan's until they burn out. There is no point in wasting them. My lights aren't on long enough yearly to make a difference on my electric bill. My thought is that 100w incan's when off pollute less then 25w CFL's when on.
As the bulbs burn out and need replacing, you can pick and choose at that time whats best for your usage. In some situations, incan's are best especially if not used much. My LED and LVD bulbs also work well when cold and pair up well with CFLs or incans in my multi-bulb fixtures.
I don't replace incan's until they burn out. There is no point in wasting them. My lights aren't on long enough yearly to make a difference on my electric bill. My thought is that 100w incan's when off pollute less then 25w CFL's when on.
As the bulbs burn out and need replacing, you can pick and choose at that time whats best for your usage. In some situations, incan's are best especially if not used much. My LED and LVD bulbs also work well when cold and pair up well with CFLs or incans in my multi-bulb fixtures.
