# outdoor floodlight vs. mh?



## morris (Apr 13, 2009)

Hey all.
I hope there's somebody that can explain this to me.
wanted to know, what is the deffirence between outdoor floodlights and metal halides?
Isn't it possible to use floodlightd instead of mh?


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## TAB (Feb 7, 2009)

there is a huge diffrence. they are not interchangeable. You won't get the spectrum you need from a flood light.


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## gpodio (Feb 4, 2004)

A flood light is still incandescent or halogen based, it just has a reflector on it... A compact fluorescent flood can be used, but available wattages are well below those we can obtain with metal halide. So in the end, same reasons why we don't use traditional light bulbs... too much heat output (inefficient) and poor spectrum for the most part.


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## Mowze (Nov 12, 2008)

You can get MH outdoor floodlights...


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## Markw78 (May 6, 2004)

It depends on the flood lights.

Some are even giant compact flourescents now. Some are High Pressure Sodium, some are Metal Halide, and some may even still be mercury vapor. all are capable of growing plants, all look a little different.

The CF isn't going to give you the penetrating ripple sun effect a high intensity bulb will.

HPS are pretty common in those lights, they are a lot more red... think 3000k. Good for plants, not so pretty to look at.

You can find halide ones too, they will likely also be a warmer temp, maybe 4-5000k, or maybe even 6000 if your lucky.


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## gpodio (Feb 4, 2004)

Mowze said:


> You can get MH outdoor floodlights...


They are not common but yes some HQI floodlights do exist (Coralife for example makes one) and they are made to look like a standard PAR38 bulb. But usually we see regular MH bulbs in housings that make the whole thing a "floodlight". Obviously they all need special ballasts, would be nice if they came out with a PAR38 MH bulb with self-contained ballast!

CF Floods can work well if the intensity is sufficient for your needs... Spectrum is all there if you choose the right bulb.

Giancarlo


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