News - LED High Mast Lighting VS Flood Lighting

E-LITE LED High Mast Lighting can be seen everywhere such as seaport, airport, highway area, outdoor parking lot, apron airport, football stadium, cricket court etc. E-LITE manufactures the LED high mast with high power & high lumens 100-1200W@160LM/W, up to 192000lm+. Because of waterproof and dust-proof IP66 IP rating, our standard high mast lighting is very powerful to light up no matter how large areas based on energy saving purpose.

What is the main difference between high mast lighting VS flood lighting?

High-mast lights are similar to flood lights in that both have the capability of illuminating large areas. However, there are also many differences in terms of light distribution patterns, mounting, vibration resistance, surge protection, Dark Sky Compliance, and more.

One of the most noticeable differences is that the poles for high mast lights are often much taller than flood lights. The larger area that you want to illuminate, the higher up your lights will need to be mounted. Therefore, high mast lights are often the go-to option when illuminating large areas.

When in reality, they are two different applications and provide solutions for different problems.

High Mast Lights VS Flood Lights

LED high mast lights are the most cost effective for controlled illumination of large outdoor areas due to the high mounting height and multiple luminaire configuration. Others recognizable aspects that separate LED High Mast Lights from Flood Lights include:

· Light Distribution Patterns

· Mounting

· IDA Dark Sky Compliance

· Vibration Resistance & Surge Protection

E-LITE High Mast Lighting VS Flood Lighting
Specification:	NED High Mast Lighting	EDGE Flood Lighting
Lumen Output	19,200lm to 192,000lm	10,275lm to 63,000lm
Mounting	Each pole 3 to 12 fixtures or more	Each pole less quantity or Building
Vibration Resistance	3G & 5G Vibration Rating	Unknown
Lighting Distribution Patterns	IESNA Light Distribution Patterns	NEMA Beam Spreads
Surge Protection	20KV/10KA per ANSI/IEEE C64.41	4KV, 10KV/5KA per ANSI C136.2
IDAA Dark Sky Compliance	IDAA Dark Sky Compliant	Unknown

Light Distribution Patterns:

Most High Mast Light fixtures utilize IESNA Light Distribution Patterns. IESNA distribution patterns produce an overlapping light pattern resulting in high application efficacy, and excellent uniformity and glare control, that all result in outstanding visibility for large outdoor spaces. Translation: High Mast Lights utilize light distribution patterns that provide EVEN lighting WHERE YOU NEED IT. When functional visibility is a priority at the site, high mast lighting is often chosen over floodlights. Zero up light optics also reduce sky glow and usually meet Dark Sky requirements.

Mounting Types:

High mast lighting is commonly used to illuminate large areas from a very high mounting height, typically on poles ranging in height from 50ft to 150ft and are mounted to those poles by Fixed Rings or Lowering Devices. Each pole with 3 to 12 fixtures or more, High mast lights are the ideal option when you want to illuminate a large area with less poles.

IDA Dark Sky Compliance and BUG Rating：

High mast lighting will always be mounted via a Horizontal Tenon (so that the fixtures’ optics are facing downward), ensuring that any IDA compliance rating is maintained. Keep in mind that you may see images of extremely tall poles that look like high mast lights, however, when high mast fixtures’ optics are not pointed downward, they are not mounted properly and much of the light is wasted.

BUG stands for Backlight (light directed behind a fixture), Uplight (light directed upward above the horizontal plane of the luminaire), and Glare (amount of light emitted from the luminaire at high angles) – fixtures that minimize all three of these improve light quality, decrease light harshness, and are often Dark Sky Compliant.

Vibration Resistance & Surge Protection:

Because light fixtures mounted on tall poles have an increased exposure to wind and vibration (due to the higher mounting heights), light fixtures often need to be designed to operate in hostile environments that can withstand vibration and shock better than other “everyday” exterior light fixture options. High mast lighting is specifically designed for security and stability of components within the fixtures to withstand vibrations.

Higher poles increase exposure to lighting strikes and because they’re mounted so high, the cost to replace the fixture (labor-wise) is much higher therefor you want to reduce the likelihood that a fixture will fail. Therefore, the higher 20kv is more standard to high mast lights.