So let's talk high pressure sodium bulbs
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I need to replace the failed bulb in the outdoor fixture next to the service door that goes from the garage to the backyard. it started cycling yesterday so it's at end of life. Fifteen years isn't a bad run.
The fixture is old (the tag inside said "warranty expires by end of 12/94") but it is still working like a champ. And I know I can buy a replacement ballast if that fails at some point.
Anyway...the bulb is a high pressure sodium made by Sylvania, and it says HPS35/MED and S76. From what I can tell the S76 seems to be the number of the ANSI standard for the ballast.
I'm not sure if the HPS35/MED is a model number or if it is more descriptive of some other characteristic.
It's an ED17 shape and an E26 base. Clear glass. All of these pups seem to be 2100K color. A nice warm orange that's not annoying to the eyes at night.
I think there are some companies that still make these bulbs but I think they also have an ECO designation because they have less or no mercury in them. I'm guessing they may use a different ballast?
Menards doesn't carry the bulbs anymore. I'm looking at new old stock via Ebay for now. The amount of information available in listings is all over the map. I am seeing a lot of bulbs that are LU35/MED rather than HPS35/MED like mine. I don't know if that is meaningful, or if it's like those coin batteries where they can have different identifiers depending on who makes them. (BTW, why can't they standardize those like "AA", "AAA", "C", etc.?)
Anyway, if you could help me fill in the blanks so I can find the right bulb, I would really appreciate it!
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LU35 is for “Lucalox” the trade name GE used for HPS lamps when they came out in the early 60’s. The name survives even though GE has been out of the light bulb business for decades. An HPS 35 is going to be the same thing. 35 refers to the wattage and your bulb has a medium base.
Nowadays the trend is to remove the ballast and install a direct wire LED equivalent. Your ballast is still working so you don’t need to do that, but if the ballast goes out you may wish you had. A 10 or 15 watt LED would be about right, and although you’re not going to get the yellow 2100K light color you can probably get 2700K which is close.
Let me know if you want to do that and I’ll walk you through the wiring.
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Thanks, @Steve-Miller . The bulbs aren't all that expensive, so I'll just pick up one from eBay.
My neighbor had the identical fixture. She bought one because she loved ours so much. It lights up the entire yard with a warm wash of light and without shining directly into your eyes. The ballast on hers failed maybe a month or two ago and she ended up replacing the fixture entirely. She didn't think to save her bulb and give it to me.
I hate her new fixture because it's one of the spotlight-style ones. Even though she tried to aim the two lights somewhat downwards, it still shines directly into my eyes when I'm at the kitchen sink. And it doesn't wash the entire yard the way the HPS does, nor is the color very pleasing, though I think that was just her error when choosing a replacement fixture. I'm glad to hear that I might be able to keep my fixture and replace the ballast with something that will come closer to replicating what I have now.
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The way the light is distributed has nothing to do with the lamp and everything to do with the fixture.
There's a fixture for every purpose, but they’re not always easy to find.
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An unassuming but highly functional fixture.
There's a fixture for every purpose, but they’re not always easy to find.
No kidding. The ubiquitous floodlight style (with two adjustable heads on the fixture) is not useful when you're trying to illuminate a broad area. If you point the lights outward, they'll shine into the windows of adjoining homes. If you point them downward, they don't illuminate enough of the yard.
The one we have was especially useful when we let the dogs out at night. That lens diffuses the light in all the right directions. We could see them anywhere in the yard. And could check for wildlife like skunks before letting our girls loose.
Of course no pups here anymore, so if this light fails, I have a lot more options available to replace it. I wonder how long that light sensor will last....
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We installed hundreds of fixtures like that back in the day.
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Since you found a HPS bulb that fits your fixture, you're set for the moment. Down the road, you might want to consider replacing the entire fixture with a LED version. Those "Wallpaks" are very common in commercial work and you should be able to get one with the sort of light distribution that you like.
Big Al
Money seems to buy the most happiness when you give it away.
Why does everything have to be so complicated, all in the name of convenience. -ShiroKuro
A lifetime of experience will change a person. If it doesn't, then you're already dead inside. -MarkJ
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HPS lights like that have fallen out of favor because LEDs are so much cheaper to operate. It’s not much of a consideration for a household porch light but for parking lot and street lighting it’s a big deal.
You can tell how much electricity costs in a particular area by what color the street lights are. In my town power is dirt cheap and the light in front of my house is a warm yellow HPS lamp. When the crew came out to replace it I asked why they weren’t installing a modern LED and was told that my municipality scored a deal on thousands of HPS lamps on closeout (likely because no one wants them anymore) and would be using HPS far out in to the future.
Fly in to LA and it’s a completely different story. Power in LA is fabulously expensive and pretty much every light in town has been changed out. We did a pretty good business changing them out before I retired.
