Telescopic horse arena floodlights

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Kerry99

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Hi, I am new to the forum as was wondering if anyone had come across this type of lighting. I need lights now the nights are drawing in and had a google on horse arena lights. This company came up and they look great but has anyone here had them fitted. The website is http://www.sportslightinguk.co.uk/Lighting-For-Sport/horse-arena-lighting.html. Please let me know if these are worth the extra money as they told me to light a 40 x 20 manege to British Standards would cost £4000 + VAT delivered. I want good lighting as my friend has the cheap floodlights on poles that are very bright and patchy and light the whole area and not just the manege .I don't want to annoy the neighbours. please let me know what you think.
 
Firstly I think these are very expensive, we have three halogen floodlights on tall poles and these flood our 40x20 arena without any dark areas. Halogen aren't cheap to run though. You don't mention whether you have existing lighting but you need to check with your local authority if you need planning for your lighting, if you have neighbours then it's a possibility you will need it (I don't know if generally planning is required), yard I was previously on had absolutely no neighbours but because the arena was situated on the opposite side of a 15acre field to a motorway they were only approved to have lighting that lit the surface only (mounted at the top rail height so illuminated just the horse really which was a bit weird to get used to riding in. I think you would be able to get a very good solution a lot cheaper than this, do you know a good electrician that can recommend suitable lighting and bring you a few lights to have a look at?
 
Thanks for the reply, no we don't have lights at the moment but i have talked with the local planning officer and she said that if I was to stand any chance of getting planning permission then I would need to comply with all sorts of guidelines. The guy I spoke to at Sports Lighting UK said using there telescopic mast will allow a more controlled lighting scheme that does not spill onto the surrounding area. they also retract to just 2.6m when not in use and extend to 6m when extended. The cost seems to be in the telescopic masts. The planning officer said that I would definitely not get planning for halogens on poles affair as the lighting is not controlled and will shine onto the surrounding environment and be to urbanized. My friend has one of these systems and I know what she means about the glare. I don't want to get a cheap system installed that I will not be passed by planning and become a nuisance with the neighbours. I have spoke with my local electrician and he says its best to get a lighting engineer to supply a lighting plot first and he can install the system for me. He did like the look of the telescopic system as is appears to tick lots of boxes in the way of planning.
 
They just cheap lights pushed up on poles again, has anyone seen or got or seen these telescopic masts ? I think they are a new idea. Anyone
 
No idea about brands for arenas etc, but in work I've been working on a project that involves replacing old street lighting with LEDs. One of the big benefits (apart from being much cheaper to run) is you don't get light pollution in the same way as you do with other lights, so there's a big reduction in people complaining about street lights outside their windows lighting up their bedrooms. They only shine in the direction you want them to, the light doesn't 'bleed' in all directions. Not sure if it would be a strong enough light for floodlights but might be worth considering if disturbing your neighbours is a problem?
 
I was advised that LED lights are good if installed on higher poles and directed downwards because if they are installed on lower posts they need to be angled upwards into the arena and that is why they spill the light ? sounds plausible. I telephoned sports lighting uk again and they told me that they only launched the telescopic mast at the start of September and have sold five kits. So it may be a long shot to find someone on here that has one installed.
 
annagain said:
No idea about brands for arenas etc, but in work I've been working on a project that involves replacing old street lighting with LEDs. One of the big benefits (apart from being much cheaper to run) is you don't get light pollution in the same way as you do with other lights, so there's a big reduction in people complaining about street lights outside their windows lighting up their bedrooms. They only shine in the direction you want them to, the light doesn't 'bleed' in all directions. Not sure if it would be a strong enough light for floodlights but might be worth considering if disturbing your neighbours is a problem?
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Surely the amount that a floodlight "bleeds" is down to the angle of the reflector? Most floodlights have a 120 deg angle. I tried to find LED lights with tighter angles, but was not successful. I got my barn LED floodlights from LED Hut.
 
annagain said:
One of the big benefits (apart from being much cheaper to run) is you don't get light pollution in the same way as you do with other lights, so there's a big reduction in people complaining about street lights outside their windows lighting up their bedrooms. They only shine in the direction you want them to, the light doesn't 'bleed' in all directions.
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Afraid it's not seen as a big benefit where we are - we now have a pitch black street with small isolated patches of light :) While this is fantastic if what you need to see is lamp posts, if you were hoping to see anything else (for example, the pavements), it's not been that much of an improvement..!
 
The method is new, but the idea is not, you have been able to get mechanical retractable lighting columns for well over 20 years.

Those look hydraulic, where as the old style had cables and a winch, which was either worked by hand, or using an electric motor.

I've been out of the lighting trade for a long time now, but LED flood lights sound very interesting, as they won't weigh much, they'll be very cheap to run and will last for years.
 
I have decided to order the two mast telescopic system for my 40m x 20m manege. It should be with me in 2 - 3 weeks so I will let everyone know if its any good. I am assured by the company it is a very high quality system an I will not be disappointed.
 
I keep mine at a small private yard and they couldn't get planning for permanent lights. We have one of the generator run lighting rigs that they use when they do road works at night. The yard owners bought it at a dispersal auction and paid less that £500 for it. Its perfect we rig it up when we ride and fold it up when we are done and there is nothing the council can do about it ;)
 
Kerry99 said:
I have decided to order the two mast telescopic system for my 40m x 20m manege. It should be with me in 2 - 3 weeks so I will let everyone know if its any good. I am assured by the company it is a very high quality system an I will not be disappointed.
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Which company did you go with in the end? Have you got a photo of the system?
 
If you were looking for "temporary" lights to avoid planning issues we used scaffold poles attached to fence with a half coupler bolted to fence post and LED lights attached. So we can drop lights down and place on brackets. Really easy to put up and down and cheap to do cost approx £60 a pole including brackets, lights, poles etc. You'd need someone to run armoured cable and wire up but not rocket science...my husband managed! ;-) lights are fab.
 
My friend has that type of lighting and the light very patchy with lots of shadows when riding and not suitable for jumping. Its ok for exercise but the lights shine into the manege and are very bright to look at.
I wanted a professional lighting system that would give me minimal glare with an even light across my arena. Its not cheap but quality never is. I should have it in about two weeks so will post pictures when installed.
 
Hi Kerry99, how did you get on with the telescopic poles? Have you managed to install them yet? I am looking for something similar to light up a 60x20 arena.
 
Hi, the floodlights are fab, i keep meaning to post some pic's. They go up in seconds and light the whole menage but not the surrounding area. They do exactly what the guys at Sports Lighting UK said they would. Big thumbs up.
 
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