Metal halide to CFL conversion chart?

[Mel(NC)]

Does anyone have a chart comparing CFL to Metal Halide output? I see a lot of these for CFL vs. incandescent but I can't find one for MH. I have some 100W and 250W MH wall packs I would like to convert if it makes financial sense.

Also, most of the MH bulbs are in 4000 color range. The big CFL bulbs I have seen are 5000 or 6500. Is this close enough or is there a noticeable difference?

 

[Indiana Wash]

There are charts if you search. I don't place much stock in them. I converted my 250w wallpacks to T5HO 2 bulb 4'. I should have done it sooner. I am saving $200-250 per month. Best cost savings I have done. The project cost me $4000 minus a rebate I may get from my energy company minus whatever I sell the wallpacks for. My wash is a lot brighter and I installed all of the lights myself. In a few years when the bulbs go bad, I replace them for $3.50 each. They do not get dimmer like MH's do. I have heard some people say that the ballasts go bad and need replaced. I will wait and see. I have had the ones in my automatics for 1 year so far.

 

[Baywash]

There are charts if you search. I don't place much stock in them. I converted my 250w wallpacks to T5HO 2 bulb 4'. I should have done it sooner. I am saving $200-250 per month. Best cost savings I have done. The project cost me $4000 minus a rebate I may get from my energy company minus whatever I sell the wallpacks for. My wash is a lot brighter and I installed all of the lights myself. In a few years when the bulbs go bad, I replace them for $3.50 each. They do not get dimmer like MH's do. I have heard some people say that the ballasts go bad and need replaced. I will wait and see. I have had the ones in my automatics for 1 year so far.

I interested in doing something like this. Could you be a little more specific in what you mean "converted". Did you replace, or convert? Is this the light you installed? http://www.bulbamerica.com/osram-54w-120v-t5-ho-2-lamp-quicktronic-professional-ballast.html

thanks

 

[MEP001]

Could you be a little more specific in what you mean "converted".

He meant replacing the wall-pack fixtures with 4' T5 HO fluorescent fixtures. You can't exactly fit a 4-foot bulb in a wallpack.

A metal halide conversion chart will be limited because there's such a narrow crossover. Likely the best you'll get for light output will be putting the physically largest bulb that will fit in your wallpack. There aren't any CFL's meant to directly replace a 250W metal halide as far as overall light output.

 

[soapy]

1000lights.com will have the specs you are looking for on each light but not in a comparison chart. I pulled out the following info on the 250 W MH, 200 watt CFL and T5HO bulbs. A 250 watt MH initial lumens is 20,000 but will loose about 25% of the lumens very quickly and loose 40% by the end of its life. Light color of 4200 Kelvin with a bulb life of 7500 hours. CRI index of 65.
Converting a MH fixture to accept a 200 watt CFL mogul based bulb will yield a initial Lumen output 12,000 with only a light lose of 10% over its life. A 5,000 Kelvin color with a life of 10,000 hours. A CRI of 84.
Replacing the MH fixture with a T5 HO 4 tube fixture yeilds 20,000 lumens initial with a retention of 90% of output over its 24,000 hour expected life. The color of 5000 and a CRI of 85.
A 200 watt CFL bulb is around $90 and will need to be replaced at twice before the T5 bulbs. A complete water tight T5 4 bulb fixture with lights is $160 so it is a cost savings to put the T5 fixture in compared to the CFL conversion. YOu also end up with 40% more light. A 2 bulb T5 HO fixture is $90 and while its lumens is a little less than a 250 MH its CRI index is much higher meaning it has more usable light for the human eye. In my experience replacing a 250 watt with a 2 tube T5 yields a very similar light but costs less than 50% to operate and bulb life is over 3 times as long. My T5 fixtures are figured buying from Kleenrite.

 

[Mel(NC)]

Soapy, that was a great comparison of the different options. If you have the option, I agree T5HO lighting appears to be the most efficient choice. My vac island lighting and exterior wall packs are all 250MH and would be difficult to convert over to linear fluorescent. As you pointed out, the MH bulbs lose ~40% of their initial lumens over time so you can get by with a slightly smaller CFL. That is assuming that you are just matching lumens. I wonder if the higher CRI and color temperature of the CFL may also allow you to use a smaller watt bulb and still perceive the same amount of light. I have a 65W, 6500K color temperature area light at my house that puts out an amazing amount of light. However, the light is too blue for my taste to use at the car wash.

 

[Indiana Wash]

Sorry, I was out of town. Anyway, changing the wallpacks to 4' T5HO's took 1 hour each. Granted, a few of them took more than an hour but a few of them took less. They mount on the wall with two screws so it is an easy process.

Really, I can't say enough about how happy I am.

 

[soapy]

If you have wall packs in the bay it is a very easy conversion to mount the new T5 fixture in its place. On some of my Vac islands I replaced a 250 watt MH with 2-42 watt CFL fixtures purchased at home depot for $40 each. They are providing plenty of light.