posted
I would be leery of that model Wayne. It says it is equivalent to a 150 watt light bulb. That might be enough BUT I see no information on the spread angle. My billboard company is selling LED replacements for billboards but they are quite a bit more expensive, but also light up a much bigger area than you require. My thought would be if you have an alternate use use for the lights if they don't work out for the sign I would go for it. But, at $115 I'd hate to spend that much only to find out it didn't work. Maybe look for the same brand on Amazon to see if there are reviews to go on.
[ November 20, 2016, 01:00 PM: Message edited by: Dave Sherby ]
-------------------- Dave Sherby "Sandman" SherWood Sign & Graphic Design Crystal Falls, MI 49920 906-875-6201 sherwoodsign@sbcglobal.net Posts: 5396 | From: Crystal Falls, MI USA | Registered: Apr 1999
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The company I currently work for has tried solar powered lighting, but we have been disappointed. My employer is the type that tries something once and if it doesn't work, he rarely tries again.
Yet it seems very likely that many of the bugs inherent in this kind of lighting have been worked out by more than one manufacturer.
I would not hesitate to use solar. But I would ask around and talk to others who have done it (like you're obviously doing on this forum), and even try to see some installations in action. Or do as Dave S. suggests and use the lights for something else if they don't work out for the sign.
150 watts is not much. 500 would be better.
The best lighting I have ever achieved was when I used six-foot exterior grade fluorescents on a 6x24 painted sign that I mounted to a mansard roof. The illumination rivaled internally-lit. The fixtures had covers and gaskets. They were not meant to be up-facing, though I did it anyway just to see how long they would last. I found that mounting them a minimum of six feet from the face of the sign, about three inches below the base of the face, gave beautiful, even illumination. The colors looked great, with no washout of the yellow background.
I used four fixtures, so the light spread was across the entire length of the sign. I mounted the fixtures to intermediate conduit which seemed to support the weight just fine. I tried EMT conduit but it was too flexible and bouncy. The lamps burned till the (Chinese) restaurant closed, about three years.
The food there wasn't that great, which probably explains the short life of the restaurant. It was called the Dragon Inn, though it came to be known locally as the "Drag'em In."
Your original subject line was "floodlights or spotlight?" I can't imagine getting acceptable sign lighting from spotlights. You want the light to "wash" rather than concentrate.
I would be interested in knowing what you use in the end and how well it worked.
-------------------- Brad Ferguson See More Signs 7931 Wornall Rd Kansas City, MO 64111 signbrad@yahoo.com 816-739-7316 Posts: 1230 | From: Kansas City, MO, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
Brad is spot on. I mentioned the billboard type and they do work very well but like I said they would be massive overkill for your sign and if I remember right they were in the $500 range for the smallest size. I inquired for a customer with a 5 x 10 sign and my billboard accessory supplier said their smallest model was way to big for a sign that small.
-------------------- Dave Sherby "Sandman" SherWood Sign & Graphic Design Crystal Falls, MI 49920 906-875-6201 sherwoodsign@sbcglobal.net Posts: 5396 | From: Crystal Falls, MI USA | Registered: Apr 1999
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