Mercury Vapour made obsolete…

Need a solution to replace now obsolete mercury vapour lamps?

As expected, traditional technology lamps are being made obsolete with the mercury vapour lamps soon to be no longer available.  Different manufacturers call these by different brand names.  The main ones are listed below:

GE – Kolorlux^TM Mercury

Osram – HQL® Standard

Philips – HPL-N

Radium – HRL

Sylvania – HSL

Venture – MBFU

Mercury Vapour lamps are discharge lamps that can run without an ignitor and are often used in street lighting, flood lighting and open spaces.  Having been made obsolete, once existing stock has gone, they will no longer be available.  Here are three of the easiest solutions to the issue.

LED Luminaires

Of course, LED is very much the main replacement lighting technology of today and if your client is willing for a higher outlay, this is certainly the most attractive solution.  Even if you aren’t keen on spending significantly on new luminaires, it is worth looking at this option as new LED luminaires are not as expensive as you may think.  For maximum effect and ongoing energy saving, LED luminaires is certainly your best option with some of them boasting a life of up to 100,000 hours.

LED Replacement Lamps

LED replacement lamps are available, often known as corn lamps, for a retrofit solution to mercury vapour.  This is a good second best solution although the energy savings are not quite the same as new luminaires.  However, the initial outlay is not going to be as high as replacing the luminaires and you still get the advantage of significant energy savings through the use of LED.  It’s also worth bearing in mind that not all luminaires will be large enough to take a corn lamp as they tend to be bigger than the discharge lamp they replace.  You also have to bear in mind that the optics on a luminaire are designed around traditional technology, not an LED corn lamp.  This means you will still get light loss even with the use of LED.  Be aware of voltage supply of the existing ballast and the voltage range the corn lamp will take.

Metal Halide Lamps

The cheapest solution is to install an ignitor in the control circuit, and use a metal halide lamp of the same wattage instead of mercury.  This solution will give an instant 50 – 60% improvement in light output for the same energy cost.  Lamps of the same wattage don’t need a ballast or capacitor change.  You can even replace 400W mercury with 250W metal halide, and replace 250W mercury with 150W metal halide and get similar light output, if you are prepared to change the ballast and capacitor as well as installing an ignitor.

If you have any queries or questions, feel free to get in touch with one of our team on 0151 480 4000 who will be happy to give you advice.

Have a great day!