I really would like a 300 to 400 watt florescent work light,
You would probably have to get a bunch of smaller fixtures, probably four four-foot T-8 bulbs to a fixture and set them up in a line.
or a 100+ watt led work light--with (I am guessing from reading here) 30,000 to 40,000 lumens. More compact, the better.
That's a lot of lumens for an LED fixture and I am thinking that the color temperature may be colder than you want, and the CRI not that strong either.
Couple of questions: 1. Can these be purchased at a Brick and mortar store?
Yes. Try someplace that sells serious lights, an electrical supply store or someplace that sells parking lot lights.
could this bulb be put in in a standard clip on relector?
No.
3. Are most metal halide lights xenon? Are all xenon MH or HID?
High Intensity Discharge (HID) is a family of related types of lights. I believe people are suggesting the metal halide type of HID lighting because it will give you the best color rendering.
4. What are things to avoid doing to avoid breakage or burnout of these lights?
Don't turn them on and off carelessly. The startup is a little hard on the components.
(As in, Lighting them in cold temps? How shock proof are they?)
They don't care about temperature. Don't know the shock rating.
5. I saw one light rating brightness lumens vs. optical lumens--what is that?
Lumens is total emitted light. You'd have to ask them what "optical lumens" is. If they said "fixture lumens" I'd take that to mean they measured how much light actually makes it out of the fixure, not just how many the bulb makes.
6. Is a 66 cri in the good range? (Sodium Pressure is out too bad a cri)
No, I think that's be way too low for you. The client will look at the wall by sunlight and see stuff you missed.
7. Why aren't all work lights MH? It seems a no brainer.
High initial cost?
8. Is there a downside other than lower cri to MH?
I believe it is the least efficient of the HID bulbs. Still more efficient than incan though. It should have the best CRI of the HID bulbs.
9. I am assuming the heat byproduct of a 400 watt MH is same as the Halogen. Correct?
Don't know.
I talked to the sales, they claim I need their $200 base/ ballast. But, as I understand the term "ballast" as just an offsetting weight. Is this recommendation just a limitation of their sales knowledge?
This is an electrical ballast, not a mechanical one. It takes the incoming current and fires up a big pulse to start up the bulb, then turns down the power once it's running. Yes, they are expensive. The bulb won't run without one.
I assume HPS high pressure sodiums also need a ballast.
You are correct. All the HID bulbs use ballasts.
http://www.a1b2c3.com/drugs/mj027.htm is one reason the US seems to be in dark ages with MH lamps because they emit enough UV to grow plants, yet not run up the light bill?
You need red and blue to grow plants, don't know about UV. You can find piles of HID growlight vendors on eBay. You could try this guy:
http://cgi.ebay.com/400w-Hydrofarm-...ryZ42225QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
and get one light cheap, try it and see what you think. Remember that he's selling the ballast separately and you'd need both. HID bulbs rule for things like warehouses, malls, and street lights, situations where you need a lot of light and don't turn them on and off every five minutes. They are starting to come into automotive headlights. They haven't really made it down to ordinary consumers and smaller applications yet.
Obviously, I would prefer if this just screwed into a $14 clip on reflector (more portable too, quicker up and running time).
Not a chance. If you take an HID bulb and put it into an ordinary lamp it won't light. It would also be too big and heavy. You will need to come up with your own stands. Music stands might do, or big umbrella bases with a pipe mounted in them. Clamp the new light to the stand. Plug in, let'er rip. Remember that these have a lot of UV inside them and shut them down if the outer glass envelope breaks.
