{"id":378,"date":"2026-01-06T09:02:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T09:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.lyco.co.uk\/blog\/?p=378"},"modified":"2026-01-23T17:24:47","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T17:24:47","slug":"choosing-a-floodlight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lyco.co.uk\/blog\/choosing-a-floodlight\/","title":{"rendered":"Choosing A Floodlight"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Posted on 28 August 2018<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author: Andrew Evangelidis<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last updated on 9 August 2024<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Floodlights are useful for many purposes, whether lighting a building, car park, driveway, garden, fountain, patio, tennis court, tree, or yard. They can be used in accent, task, or security lighting. You\u2019ll want to choose the best\u00a0floodlight<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0for the purpose you have in mind; this article will look at various floodlight specifications and steer you towards the correct choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Equivalent wattages<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

With filament lighting (i.e. incandescent), bulb wattage and the amount of light produced are directly related. LED technology is not like that. Two\u00a0LED products<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0of equal wattage can emit different amounts of light, depending on energy efficiency. Comparing LED products by actual wattage is therefore meaningless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Equivalent wattage addresses this problem by translating the amount of light produced by an LED (or fluorescent) product into the wattage of an equivalent filament lamp (in this case halogen). You can use the table below to choose floodlights by their equivalent wattage for various applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Application<\/strong><\/td>Equivalent (standard halogen) wattage<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Small patio (9m\u00b2)<\/td>80W<\/td><\/tr>
Back yard of house<\/td>80W<\/td><\/tr>
Small garden (50m\u00b2)<\/td>150W<\/td><\/tr>
Driveway (10m)<\/td>150W<\/td><\/tr>
Medium patio (25m\u00b2)<\/td>300W<\/td><\/tr>
Building fa\u00e7ade<\/td>300W<\/td><\/tr>
Medium garden (200m\u00b2)<\/td>500W<\/td><\/tr>
Large patio (100m\u00b2)<\/td>500W<\/td><\/tr>
Car park<\/td>1000W<\/td><\/tr>
Industrial loading bay<\/td>1000W<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

These are estimations only and may not be applicable on every occasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Controlling light<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One aspect of floodlighting that needs attention is containment of light. If you have neighbours a short distance away, chances are they won\u2019t appreciate their property being blasted by escaped floodlighting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most floodlights, as their name suggests, produce a wide beam of light. The beam angles do vary, but you can also control light by ensuring it\u2019s only as powerful as necessary and with careful positioning. The naturally directional output of an LED floodlight helps to cut out stray light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Choosing a colour temperature<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One important specification in floodlighting is its colour temperature. If you\u2019re looking to highlight architecture,\u00a0warm white floodlights<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0help create a cosy, welcoming atmosphere. They\u2019re ideal for many home or hospitality applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A\u00a0cool white or daylight floodlight<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0is arguably a better choice for security purposes. This is because cool white light appears brighter to our eyes and hence starker and more of a deterrent. This is even more the case when it is suddenly activated by a PIR sensor (see below).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A cooler colour temperature is wise if you\u2019re looking to buy a floodlight for working under. Not only does it look more natural, but it also stimulates alertness and concentration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You might choose a colour temperature to emphasise garden hues. Cool white is good for water features or silvery metallic surfaces while warm white does well with brick or wooden structures, plants and shrubs. Colourful autumn and winter growth benefits from warm white light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PIR and dusk to dawn sensors<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A\u00a0PIR sensor<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0triggers light automatically when it senses movement within a given range, making it especially useful in security lighting. The duration of light can often be set by the user.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A\u00a0dusk to dawn sensor<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0is slightly less economical than a PIR sensor, because it automatically keeps light switched on for the duration of the night. This is useful if you want to create the illusion of a property being occupied and\/or to enhance surveillance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Solar floodlights<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A solar floodlight is costlier than a standard luminaire to buy, but is subsequently free to run. The Lutec Sunshine Solar 8W LED Floodlight with PIR Sensor<\/a><\/strong> combines a solar panel with a PIR sensor. It charges by day and delivers up to a 500 lumen output for up to 120 seconds when movement is detected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Floodlighting versatility<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Floodlights brighten up an exterior for aesthetic or security purposes, and they\u2019re available these days with sleeker, more attractive, less conspicuous designs. Check out Lyco\u2019s extensive\u00a0floodlight range<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and discover how you and your property or business can benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more useful information and guidance see our\u00a0Lighting Blog<\/a>\u00a0section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posted on 28 August 2018 Author: Andrew Evangelidis Last updated on 9 August 2024 Floodlights are useful for many purposes, whether lighting a building, car park, driveway, garden, fountain, patio, tennis court, tree, or yard. They can be used in accent, task, or security lighting. You\u2019ll want to choose the best\u00a0floodlight\u00a0for the purpose you have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":381,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sin-categoria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lyco.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lyco.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lyco.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lyco.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lyco.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lyco.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":567,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lyco.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378\/revisions\/567"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lyco.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lyco.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lyco.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lyco.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}