11-20 I E S LIGHTING HANDBOOK

Color in floodlighting. Colored light may be obtained by passing a

floodlight beam through a glass, plastic, or gelatin filter. Glass and plastic
filters are more stable and thus are better suited for permanent installation
than gelatin filters. Gelatin filters are useful for short-term or temporary
installations.
The transmittance of color filters usually falls within the following ranges:
amber, 40 to 60 per cent; red, 15 to 20 per cent; green, 5 to 10 per cent; and
blue 3 to 5 per cent. Table 11-11 indicates the factors by which incandes-
cent lamp wattage must be increased when it is desired to provide equal
illumination in white and color. Relatively less colored light than white light
is needed
for
equal advertising or decorative effect. The second line of Table
11-11 gives factors by which clear-bulb incandescent lamp wattage must
be multiplied in order to achieve an advertising or decorative effect in
color equal to that obtained with a given wattage emitting white light.
Table 11-11. Approximate Factors by which Clear Bulb Incan-
descent Lamp Wattage Must Be Multiplied to Compensate
for the Absorptance of Various Color Filters
DESIRED EFFECT RELATIVE TO
CLEAR BULB
APPROXIMATE MULTIPLYING FACTOR
Amber Red Green Blue
Equal illumination
Equal advertising or decoration
2
1.5
6
2
15
4
25
6
Floodlight cover glasses. A cover glass keeps dust, dirt, and moisture
away from a floodlight reflector and lamp. Therefore, floodlights equipped
with cover glasses need less frequent cleaning and the necessary
maintenance is simplified. Figured cover glasses are available that modify
the beam characteristics of a floodlight.
Floodlight lamps. Two types of incandescent lamps are used in flood-
lighting equipment, general service and floodlight lamps. Floodlight
lamps that have concentrated filaments are used where narrow beams are
desired. Hard glass lamps are recommended for open-type outdoor flood-
lights, and for other installations in which lamps may be exposed to water
or moisture (a potential cause of breakage). Also, in enclosures where
excessive temperatures prevail, hard glass bulbs will tend less to blister.
Mercury- and sodium-vapor lamps are limited to those installations
in which color is not important. In some instances, mercury lamps may
be used to advantage because of their distinctive bluish-green color; or
used in combination with incandescent lamps since the average lumen-per-
watt rating of a combination will be higher than that of incandescent lamps
alone.
Because of their large size, light from fluorescent lamps can be projected
only by very large reflectors. However, for floodlighting at close range,
a fluorescent lamp can be used successfully. It is an efficient source of
colored light.