What to buy

How to Choose Spotlights For Your Home or Garden

When choosing a spotlight, many people are lost and cannot decipher its characteristics. All these W, IP, Ra only confuse us. Therefore, people buy the first equipment that comes across. As a result, they overpay for unnecessary functions or the spotlight breaks after a couple of months. In case of a breakdown, do not hesitate to call an Electrician Guelph professional.

Power

Power affects what area you can illuminate with a spotlight. The more power, the larger the area of ​​illumination. If you need to illuminate the path to the house, take a 10 watt spotlight. On verandas or small parking lots – 30–50 W. And in large premises such as warehouses, floodlights from 100 watts are needed.

Colorful temperature

The color temperature indicates the shade with which the spotlight will shine. It is measured in Kelvin (K). The temperature is divided into warm light, daylight and cold.

  • Warm white light (up to 3500 K). Soft and warm light with an amber sheen. Does not blind your eyes, even if you are near the source. Suitable for places of rest: verandas or arbors.
  • Daylight (3500-5000 K). Creates lighting close to sunlight. Usually used in working areas: in offices, warehouses. In daylight, the eyes do not get tired during work.
  • Cool white (above 5000K). Cold and bright light. They are used to illuminate large areas: courtyards, parking lots, sports grounds, warehouses.

If you like cold light, it can be used in small spaces as well. But the light source should be far from the eyes and have a power of up to 50 watts.

What determines the durability of the spotlights

The work of the spotlight is affected by the external environment. It can fail due to rain, freeze in the cold or melt in the heat. The spotlight may get dusty and stop working. So that the equipment does not break down ahead of time, look at two indicators of protection from the external environment.

  1. The temperature at which the spotlight can operate. Specified in degrees. If you live in a hot region, and in summer you get +40, then choose a spotlight that can withstand such a temperature. And if you, for example, are from a cold area, and -30 is normal for you, then the spotlight must be resistant to such frost.
  2. Class of dust and moisture protection. It is referred to as IP. For example, IP40. The higher the number, the higher the protection against moisture and dust. For street spotlights, it is better to take equipment with IP65. It is also worth choosing for industries where there is a lot of construction dust. If the IP is less, then the spotlight will quickly break.

Color rendering index

The color rendering index indicates how accurately the projector reproduces the colors of objects. For example, a green apple will have different hues under different lighting conditions. This indicator is designated Ra. Ra1 is the worst color rendering, Ra 100 is the best. The optimal indicator for our vision is from 70 to 100.

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