portable floodlights are often the first option that community Sports clubs think of when starting to look at the possibilities for lighting their pitches. There are benefits to having temporary sports field lighting but there are also downsides and on the other side of this, there are significant advantages to having a fixed floodlighting system. In this article, we’ll outline the pros and cons of both options to help you decide what might be best for your club.
For a lot of clubs, the main benefit of choosing mobile sports floodlights is that no planning permission is needed. A club can simply purchase a portable LED flood light and start using it right away.
Particularly for clubs with grass pitches, portable lighting can be seen as a useful solution for rotating training areas in the winter to preserve the grass without having to have lights for each area or pitch.
There is a large initial expense to purchase mobile sports floodlights as well as ongoing costs for fuel, servicing of petrol engines and maintenance of the lights. At present, with fuel costs reaching record-high values, the cost to run portable sports floodlights can be expensive.
There are important health and safety considerations due to risks involved with having people move and set up portable floodlight towers and, of course, there is always the possibility of causing damage to the floodlight unit whilst it is being moved. Portable lighting can also be a magnet for theft so a lockable container or other storage solution would be needed as a further expense. In addition, the coverage of portable lights may mean that you either need a lot of units to light your playing area or you’ll have areas that aren’t as well-lit which isn’t ideal for player safety and experience.
For battery-powered portable floodlights, you are limited to a few hours of usage before charging is required and you are also relying on people to keep the lights charged and ready to be used for the next session.
Portable Sports floodlights are only suitable for training and not for competitive play. If you are looking to increase the playing hours available at your club to include afternoon and evening fixtures all year round, then a fixed sports lighting system will be needed.
The installation of fixed sports lighting is carefully designed and constructed to ensure correct coverage of playing areas and to deliver light levels which meet relevant sports standards. This allows for training and competitive fixtures to take place, creating a large number of additional playing hours available each year, which can be especially beneficial if you are looking to hire out the pitch to generate revenue for the club.
Ongoing expenses for fixed floodlights include maintenance, which is required less frequently than would be needed for portable lights, and also the energy costs to run the lights. With a fixed system, it is however easy to include controls for managing which flood lights are on at any time and also the output levels for each lamp fitting. Not only are modern LED floodlight systems more energy efficient than previous solutions but with the use of controls, you can manage your energy use with even greater consideration.
When it comes to health and safety, as long as you have used a reputable contractor and there is a warranty in place, the potential risks with a fixed lighting system are minimised for the club.
The main hurdle to getting a fixed sports lighting installation is the planning process. However, Halliday Lighting offers full turnkey solutions for sports lighting with our experienced team also available to support you through the design and planning stages of your project.
For over 60 years, we have worked with clients across the UK and internationally to create lighting designs and deliver floodlighting systems that will meet planning conditions in even some of the strictest and most challenging locations. Alongside the experience and knowledge of our team, we have a comprehensive range of LED floodlights and lighting masts which allows us to select the right product solutions to meet your project requirements.