Metal Halide

These are wall mounted uplighters designed to look OK in a hall. Not warehouse lighting. Although there may well be suitable LED units. At a price.

The lighting level from them, bounced off a white arched roof, is just fine for everything the hall is used for including as a nursery during the day. It's a large hall, and overhead lighting would mean getting an electrician in for any replacements or servicing, as was the case with the previous fluorescent lighting. The existing units are at a height where a medium ladder suffices.

(I'm merely repeating what my brother has said about alternatives)

There seem to be several makers of replacement lamps. My brother found a local wholesaler with lots in stock. They may be slightly less efficient than LED, but still way better than many tungsten which are still being made.

You've been there and assessed it then? Odd, given I've not said anything really about it. Perhaps you think they are all identical.

Don?t need to. There is no church hall that needs anything like that level of output in the individual lights.

couple of grand?

Dave Plowman (News) expressed precisely :

If the fitting you have are what you like, then I would be looking at re-engineering the fittings to accept LED.

Most grounds have wheeled frames with lots of lamps about 6' above the grass. Not seen them on but I wouldn't expect the amount of "leakage" as reported by that article.

Sorry to all our readers. Hadn't noticed Ray is Wodney. My wanker sensor has let me down.

I possibly might too. But not really something my brother would do. So they'd have to raise the budget to have it done by a pro. Possibly they'll look at it when the hall next need decoration, etc.

FWIW some ballasts run HID or sodium, and there is also white sodium.

NT

Indeed. Snag is these fittings are designed for tubular lamps. The most common oval HPS wouldn't fit.

Not seen HID. They might also be available in a less cold colour temperature?

Never seen that! All the ones I see are on huge pylon towers.

Tim

These lights on frames are grow lights for the grass not match time pitch illumination. By the time the punters are in they have all been wheeled off somewhere. Most of the Premier League grounds don't have the tall pylons in each corner for the pitch illumination. It would be very difficult to achive the require specification for level, eveness and minimal shadows from such an arrangement.

Seems quite reasonable: say 30m x 10m = 300 m^2 allowing for using light reflected off ceiling say 1000 lumen per m^2 to give 200-500 lumen per m^2 on the floor. = 300,000 lumen ~~ 10 x 20,000 lumen fittings Right ballpark and as the OP says current light levels are correct for the diverse range of activities in the hall.