12 Types Of Street Light Bulbs, Which is the Best?

led street light bulbs

Several days ago, I got from a new customer an inquiry email enclosing a  government project theme, that requests to provide HPVS in different watts for street lighting.  

Why not convert to LED? 

As LED lighting technology becomes more mature and widely used today, you probably first thought of replacing other street light bulbs with LED.  

After Thomas Edison pioneered electric use and invented Incandescent Bulbs in 1879, There are many other types of street light bulbs that have been invented instead of fire-based lamps and are still used today. 

a lamplighter lighting a gas lamp in a street in glasgow scotland1955
A lamplighter lighting a gas lamp in a street in Glasgow scotland1955. Source: Reddit

 For different types of street light bulbs,   which is the best for your outdoor lighting project? 
What is the best light bulb alternative for your existing fixtures? How many watts of LED is equivalent to previous light bulbs?  

 We are going to give you a breakdown of each road light bulb, from the earliest to the latest. 

Incandescent Light

incandecent lamp bulbs on street lighting
incandescent lamp bulbs on street lighting Source: Pinterest

Incandescent light bulbs refer to electric lighting using tungsten filaments invented by Tomas Edison, the greatest mind in physics in the 19th century. Nowadays, Incandescent lamps are little used as street lighting sources and replaced by more energy-efficient led lamps or converted to other forms of street lighting. 

However, some specific places such as theaters, still use incandescent lamps for street lighting. There are also plenty installed in popular downtown areas of major cities for a nostalgic effect.

The advantage of incandescent lamps is that the color rendering index is high, up to 100, and as the temperature rises, the CRI decreases. The color temperature of incandescent lamps is usually in the 2000-3200K, different styles of bulbs vary in color temperature.  Besides, it’s inexpensive, the price is about $ 1, incandescent lamps are still the main source of lighting in many rural households until 2000. 

The disadvantage is that the life is too short, only 1200 hours, Besides, the efficiency is very low, 10-25lumen/watt only, as the lamps consume plenty of energy for heat generation during working. 

Fluorescent Lamp  

fluorescent lamp
fluorescent lamp bulbs

The fluorescent lamp for street lighting become popular after displaying its commercial uses at the 1939 World’s Fair.  It’s featured a long tube forming with a metal electrode at both ends, and filled with mercury and other gasses inside to glow while an electric current passes between the cathodes.  

Fluorescent lamps quickly fell out of favor for main street lighting but remained popular for parking lots and outside building illumination for roadside establishments.

 Compared with incandescent lamps, fluorescent lamps use less energy to produce the same amount of light(75lumen/watt)  and can last longer (7000-20000hours), but emit strong ultraviolet radiation, and it’s difficult to dispose of the hazardous mercury that filling in tube. So it is not very environment-friendly.  

Mercury Vapor (MV)

mercury vapor mv
Source: Pinterest

As the oldest HID(High-Intensity Discharge) lamp, the initial mercury vapor lamps for street lighting were started at end of the 1940s,It came with a higher brightness than incandescent or fluorescent lights.  But their bluish-green light is repugnant to everyone,  and they emit ultraviolet rays. 

This situation was not improved until the special phosphors material was used to coat the bulb in the mid-1960s, this revolution increased the CRI and produced more white light. So that the 2nd generation Mercury vapor lamp became more acceptable for people. 

 Prior to the introduction of HPS lamps, the Mercury Vapor lamp was the most commonly used light source in highway applications as its power can reach to 500watt or above, that’s not workable for incandescent and fluorescent lights.

The efficiency of the Mercury Vapor lamp is around 30- 65lumen/watt,  and its life span at 2400hours, both are higher than incandescent lamps.  So mercury vapor lamps can provide certain low-cost options for replacing less efficient lamps such as incandescent lamps without changing the fixtures.

Due to their lower efficacy and poor CRI, they are seldom used in new construction.  

High Pressure Sodium Lamp(HPS)

high pressure sodium lamp 1
Source: Istock

 Almost after 20years when the Mercury Vapor lamps were developed for street lighting, High-Pressure Sodium lamps were invented around 1970, and they became the most commonly used street light in the following 4decades even today.   

The High-pressure sodium lamp produces bright light by electricity through a mixture of different gases.   This lamp is very preferable because it requires less maintenance during its service time.

Compared to the earlier street light bulbs, High pressure sodium lamps are relatively efficient.  The glow produced by HPS is typically yellow-orange color, which was disliked by people at the beginning, but when HPS become the dominant type of street lighting, most people became accustomed to the orange/yellow light.  

HPS lamps generally have the same rated lifespan as MV lamps 2400hours, but HPS have higher efficiency reach to 80-100lumen/watt. 

Low Pressure Sodium Lamp(LPS)

low pressure sodium lamps 1
Source: upsplush

The low-pressure sodium lamp is a derivative of  HPS, but the light emitted from the LPS lamp is a warm white or yellow color, while its white light is from HPS.     

Compared with HPS lights, LPS lights are more efficient, have a longer service life, and have less glare. The CRI of yellow light is zero, so colors cannot be discerned.

 The LPS lamp bulb is ideal for positions with low mounting heights, such as lighting under bridges and within tunnels, where the limited light control is not as bad as an intense HPS lamp and where the glare of the lamp isn’t a problem.

Metal Halide Light (MH)

The metal halide light casts a pure white light that’s very bright, as opposed to the old mercury lights which emit bluish-green light.  So Metal halide lamps are preferred over mercury lights and have been popular in commercial lightings such as streets, park lots, schools, hospitals, warehouses, and stadiums.

metal halide light
Source: Shutterstock

Metal halide lights have been used for retrofitting the fixtures that fitted with HPS.  Both types have similar watt sizes (  50, 70, 100, 150, 250,350, 400, 750, and 1,000 watts),  and MH is as efficient as HPS.   

The lifetime of metal halide light is about 10000-12000hours, and their improved CRI reaches 85.  

But metal halide lights have no chance to become the popular lighting source for municipal project due to their high cost and low service life, only used for high-end street lighting in some cities. 

Ceramic Metal Halide Lamp (CMH)

mercury vapor 600x900 1
source: ilikewallpaper

As an enhancement of metal halide lamps, Ceramic metal halide comes with high efficiency (80-117lumen/W), which is almost five times what tungsten filament incandescent lamps can get.  

Their crisp clear light with better CRI (78-96) makes it possible to replace HPS and the old mercury vapor lamps.  Despite this, continual improvement in LED technology has now made LEDs more efficient than most other lighting types. 

Induction Lamp 

 The induction lamp, also known as the electrodeless lamp,  was developed by Nikola Tesla in the 1890s, it comes with higher CRI and CCT than the incandescent lamps. 

induction lamp
Source:

One of the advantages of an induction lamp is its long life(100000hours) and energy efficiency.  Such a long life can be compared to the latest led lights.  Unfortunately, the life of induction light is negatively affected by heat, particularly as the temperature exceeds 35degrees Celsius.

But its larger size inhibits it from effective light control of the light they emit and limits its use to lower mounting applications.

Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL)  

CFL is typically shaped as helical tubes, which is easy for us to distinguish it from traditional fluorescent light bulbs.  The helical CFL solved the issue of “how to make the fluorescent lamp fit in the same size as comparable incandescent lamps?”  Then CFL becomes an ideal replacement for the incandescent lamp without changing fixtures.

street light bulbs
source: Shutterstock

Compared with incandescent bulbs, CFLs have higher efficacy (60lm/w), and a longer service lifetime (8000-12000hours). That means that using CFL can save two-thirds of the power of equivalent incandescent lamps use. 

 CFLs are commonly used for indoor lighting and garden lighting, because of their higher efficacy, they consume less power than traditional fluorescent lamps while getting the same brightness.

Light Emitting Diodes(LED)

installation of slx 120w solar street lights in opol misamis oriental 9
installation of slx 120w solar street lights in opol misamis oriental

The LED street light bulb is the latest and most energy-efficient option available in the market for outdoor lighting solutions.  They are rapidly developing in light output, color rendering, and efficiency, and low prices are still high and the upfront cost is expensive compared to other types of street light bulbs,

An led street light bulb produces less gare and can reduce visual fatigue for drivers and pedestrians. It has an extremely long lifetime (50000-100000hours) and a variety of color temperatures ( 2000K-7000K).

Due to its high lighting efficiency(100-180lm/W), LED street light is the preferred type of lighting source for solar led street light than CFL light. 

Compared with the other types of street light bulbs, there are lots of benefits to using LED. It neither produces ultraviolet rays nor produces toxic chemicals like mercury vapor lamps. What’s more, it is fairly easy to turn on as warm-up is not needed. Led lights require less maintenance and are more cost-effective in the long run. 

LED lights can also be used with the lens to direct light. Different from CFL, LED lights can be controlled by a dimmer so that to reduce output and save more energy.

Phosphor-Converted Amber (PCA) 

traditional street lighting
Source: Upsplush

Phosphor-converted amber or PCA LED lights are a new type of light source on the market, it’s not more than 5years since its release.  The PCA LED uses very less energy to get the same amount of light and has good color rendering. At present, its price is still at a high level that inhabits to be widely used. 

Like traditional LED, PCA LED has a long lifespan and is energy-efficient.  The yellowish glow amber light produced by PCA LED is very soft and pleasing to the eyes, so the PCA LED generally can be used for decoration purposes. 

Narrow-Band Amber (NBA) 

nba led street light
Source: Upsplush

Narrow-Band Amber (NBA) LED street light bulb is a new LED innovation. Different from traditional LED, NBA LED emits yellow or warm yellow color, not blueish-white.  

NBA LED still have good color rendering, meaning that they do not make objects look grey like LPS lamps can do.  At present, its price is at a very high level but is very energy efficient.

 

How to convert street light bulbs to LED? 

You might remember that we used to choose light bulbs according to their wattage. More wattage means more light. As LEDs were invented, this measurement method became meaningless. 

Nowadays, you should refer to the lumens of a bulb when thinking about its brightness. In fact, lumens are the standard measurement of a bulb’s brightness. Unlike how we talk about watts in relation to old lamps, it does not refer to how much energy it consumes. 

What you paying for is “Lumen”, Not “Watt”.  

Followingly, Please find the below table to get an idea of how to convert regular street light bulbs to LED.  

street light led replacement bulbs
Street light-led replacement bulbs.

For example, if you want to replace a 250 Watts  HPS Bulb with an LED light, you need to look for 12000 lumens LED with 75 to 80 Watts.

In A Conclusion

The purpose of this article was to give you a basic understanding of street light bulbs and how to choose them for your outdoor lighting project, or, at least, to give some basic guidance on where to find street lights.

Generally, LED lights are the best option when it comes to general-purpose street lighting. Their long lifespan,s and lack of harmful carbon emissions make them the most energy-efficient. They are an ideal light source for solar street lighting.

If you are considering converting street light bulbs to LED, but don’t know how to do it, we recommend How Many Lumens Do You Need For Outdoor Lights?. You can also contact SLD Solar Lighting for more information if you’re interested in solar LED lighting.

best solar street light manufacturer in china 3

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