Site Lighting

If you are an electrician, you understand the importance of sight lighting. It is impossible to do a thorough electrical job without proper site lights. Site lighting is not only important for your safety, but it also makes it easy for you to work effectively. 

Since there are so many different types of site lights, it might be difficult to know which site lighting works best for your job. Here is a helpful guide for understanding site lighting and effectively using them for your work process.

What is site lighting?

If you are unsure of what site lights are, they're also referred to as construction site lighting. This form of lighting is typically used on construction sites and electrical jobs. You need highly bright lighting to make the work progress easier during these work processes. If you are operating at night, you need proper lighting to conduct your work without any safety hazards; this is where site lighting comes in.

Since electrical jobs involve high risk, you must have a properly lit area to conduct your work. Site lights enable you to establish effective safety procedures, and with site lights, you and your crew can easily use any safety exits. 

When natural lighting does not work well enough, that’s when you need artificial lighting in the form of site lighting. Site lights are most commonly used as building site lights for construction purposes. If you work an electrical job underground, you might need to use festoon site lights. 

How are Site Lights Positioned?

Most sight lights are mounted on the ground or the site walls. These two are the most common positions for site lights as it allows the site lights to illuminate a wide work area. You must direct your site lights toward the ground and not the building, as this is not the best use of this piece of equipment. 

What are the Features of Site Lights?

The best site lights provide multiple features that make your job safe and effective. Some of these features are explained below.

• The main thing to look for in the best site lighting is that they provide high-quality lighting when your work goes beyond daylight hours or if you are working in an enclosed structure or building. 
• Good site lights should not change the colour and visibility of any safety signs or other safety-related items at your work site. 
• Sometimes daylight casts shadows on your equipment which might reduce the visibility of your tools and increase the risk factor such as the blade of a drill bit or a cutting disc. A good site light should be able to illuminate any and all areas at your work site to reduce equipment-related accidents. 
• Site lights are important when your primary lighting source increases your health and safety risk while working. If your job is in a basement or a tower scaffolding, you need ample lighting to descend in the dark and finish your work efficiently. 
• Due to certain circumstances, your primary lighting might fail, and in this situation, you need automatic lighting. Site lights are great at providing the necessary illumination in this scenario. 
• Site lights are important for keeping energy routes well-lit. While some workplaces have designated emergency lighting, their lights often don’t provide enough illumination for safe access. You must use site lights to ensure proper safety procedures. If you need to follow certain passageways or corridors, you must install site lights as an appropriate safety measure.

What factors should you consider when purchasing site lights? 

To ensure your work is safe and efficient, purchase the best possible site lights. Here are some factors you should consider when purchasing site lights.

Look for Variety

If you want portable lighting for your work site, you should consider all the available options. Since portable lighting is so versatile, you can use it in several ways, so make sure you purchase multiple types of lighting to fit different work areas. You can buy a small and lightweight flood lamp or a light with 360-degree illumination for over 100 feet.

Consider LEDs

LED site lights are the best option for construction and electrical work. These lights are high-performing, and they work extremely well in terms of lumen output for energy consumption. LED site lights operate at a much lower temperature than other fluorescent lights or equipment with metal halide options. These materials lead to burns or increased heat in the workplace. For a smoother work environment, you should use LED site lights. 

Check the Rating

It is incredibly important that you check the ratings of your lights. Every light is given a rating by its manufacturers to certify that your lighting will work in any weather condition. With this in mind, you should light ratings such as IP, UL, or NEMA to ensure that your equipment will hold up to unwanted elements. Look for lighting options that are waterproof, dustproof, shatterproof, and vapour tight to make sure they will last long without taking any damage. 

Shop for Quality Products

If your lighting equipment lasts long, you must purchase quality site lighting. Look for equipment with strong materials and lenses with shatterproof polycarbonate. You should also look for caged designs that add extra protection to your lighting. Strong metal and reinforced plastics are just a few materials that signify high-quality manufacturing. 

What is the requirement for site lights?

Before using your sight lights, you must consider a few requirements. Your lighting equipment must fulfill these requirements to ensure work efficiency and safety.

Static or Flexible?

There are multiple ways to position your lighting for the most efficient use. Every work site has its lighting arrangement requirements. Consider whether you want fixed lighting with support poles, tower cranes, and scaffolding or if you want to put your light on movable supports. 

For most work sites, you need flexible lighting equipment to arrange your lighting locally and move it around as your work progresses. In this situation, festoon site lights will come in handy. Festoon site lights are easy to use in multiple ways and are also great at temporarily lighting up large work areas. 

Static lighting is better suited for illuminating scaffolding or shadow areas that can obscure machinery and equipment hazards. You can easily disconnect festoon lights once you are finished and reconnect them when you resume work. There is no system rewiring required. 

Exterior Lighting Sites

When lighting any work site, it’s important to keep light spillage minimum, especially if it’s close to busy roads and residential properties. It’s also recommended to provide appropriate lighting around site boundaries with heavy footfall.

Floodlights are ideal for external work sites as they cover wide areas and come with various options suitable for any work environment. For example, 110V yellow floodlights are optimal for illuminating large areas safely.

Floodlights are powerful and hardwearing. They also provide stable directional lights and security lighting for your work perimeter. You can use rechargeable flood lights or portable torches for enclosed workspaces. 

Safety

Safety is one of the most important things to remember when working with electrical components. Safety is an essential requirement for any work equipment, especially lighting. An unsafe work environment is of the biggest reasons for low productivity and poor worker health. Therefore you must purchase lighting equipment that ensures your safety in the workplace. 

What are Building Site Lights?

You must use site lights when doing electrical or construction work at a large workspace. Building site lights are the most commonly used for these working conditions. Many workers use building site lights because they are best at illuminating a large workspace, and they help create a safer work environment. To follow safety guidelines, you must use building site lights. 

There are several types of building site lights that are used for large electrical and construction workspaces. Let’s take a look at the four types of building site lights.

Light Towers

Lighting towers are one of the most commonly used forms of building site lights as they provide ample illumination for a large area. These building site lights are equipped with a generator, a retractable mast, and content between two to six lighting fixtures. These lighting fixtures are attached at the top of the mast structure. 

The light tower usually has over 30 feet and can be rotated at 360 degrees for maximum light coverage and versatility. Since these building site lights are bigger than your average site lighting, they work much better for large work projects. 

There have been several recent developments in the building sites, and they come with solar-powered bulbs as well. So not only do you ensure your workplace safety, but you also use up less electricity for higher efficiency. Solar building site light does not require generators, and it also makes it easy for you to move this light source quickly and easily. 

Another great feature of solar lights is that they offer up to 36 hours of continuous use and keep gasoline fumes away from your workplace. This feature ensures the good health and safety of your and your work crew.  

If you want to use a light tower for smaller work areas, you can also use portable light towers. These mobile light towers allow easy movement, and they have enough illumination. The word portable might make it seem as though they don’t give much lighting, but that’s not true. While it does have a smaller illumination range, the lighting effect is just as strong as a proper lighting tower. 

Balloon Lighting

Ballon lighting is great if you want stationery building site lights. This is one of the main features that differentiate ballon lighting from a light tower. If you work at a flagger location, a ballon light will work best for you as this type of lighting will illuminate all the people working. This light feature ensures safety for everyone and ensures that your work is done efficiently. 

A ballon light has fabric covers that are inflated with air or helium, and this inflated fabric is mounted on the light stand giving it balloon-like quality. This site light provides a diffused and glare-free illumination, so you don’t have to worry about the light getting in your way. Even though balloon lighting is stationery, its shape provides 360 degrees of working light on your job site and reduces shadow lighting. 

These types of lights come as stand-alone units, or they can be mounted onto mobile construction equipment such as milling machines and pavers to move the light along the tool operator. Since balloon lights are smaller, they can be easily stored and transported between multiple areas. 

One downside of balloon lighting is that it can take some damage from stress and wind speed. If you are working in unstable weather, this light source might not be ideal for you. Balloon lights require some component assembly and support setup. Therefore, you must consider the spare setup time in your work schedule. 

High-Mast Lighting

High-mast lighting is a semi-permanent building site light; therefore, this is not temporary work equipment. High-mast lighting fixtures have luminaries mounted on high-mast poles, which provide an excellent light source for construction and electrical workers. This lighting equipment offers enough illumination to fit multiple work safety requirements. 

Since high-mast lighting towers are built as a semi-permanent light source, they are constructed with a high-quality design to withstand several obstacles such as tower weight, lighting load, variable wind speeds, and local soil conditions. 

Night Lights

Night lights are the new form of building site lights. These construction lights have only been recently approved for work use and are designed as portable lighting equipment. A night light has a 400-watt metal halide lamp which is covered with a light-diffusing material. 

This mechanical composition gives a softer light to the worksites. If you want to work in enclosed spaces but are worried about glares or harsh lighting, you will greatly benefit from a night light.

This list contains a mix of permanent and portable lights because they are both used in an electrical workspace. It is important to have a variety of lighting options to make your work much more efficient. 

What are Festoon Site Lights?

Festoon site lights come in the form of a long string or cord with heavy-duty bulb attachments to help light up large areas of land. Festoon site lights often look like garlands or banners, and the reason for such an arrangement comes from the word “festoon.” 

Festoon comes from the Latin word festum, which translates to feast. These types of lighting were originally used to illuminate outdoor dining spaces. However, the lights are more evolved to work well with construction and electrical workspaces. 

Festoon site lights are a piece of great lighting equipment for construction as they are versatile and portable. This means that you can easily transport lighting equipment from location to location. 

Festoon site lights are best used in enclosed workspaces or to light up rigs and walkways. If you are working in an enclosed space, you will benefit from a festoon light as it will illuminate every surface area without any harsh glare. If you want to highlight a safety pathway or a walkway to your working area, you can use festoon site lights as a directional and a lighting tool. 

Most festoon site lights are not very heavy, so they can be easily transported and don’t weigh down your work equipment. These lights are also created with high-quality materials that make them withstand almost any weather condition. 

LED festoon site lights are a great way to illuminate large works areas without worrying about operation costs or heat emissions. The early festoon lighting was made with regular glass filament bulbs, which would get extremely hot during operation. These types of bulbs also cost a lot to run and were too fragile. Engineers redeveloped this lighting style with energy-efficient LEDs and translucent plastic casing for better safety and functionality. 

What to look for when purchasing festoon site lights?

When purchasing festoon site lights, you must consider a few things. Here is the main feature to look for when checking the market for festoon site lights. 

What is the IP Rating?

An IP rating measures your light’s resistance to outside elements such as dirt, water, and dust. A good festoon light should have a minimum IP rating of 44, maximizing your light usage. IP44 festoon lights will last longer and have a robust seal that prevents unwanted materials from seeping into the equipment. 

Energy

Another important feature to consider when purchasing a festoon light is the type of energy it emits. For an electrical or construction worksite, you must look for festoon site lights with 1000 watts of power. This energy will provide enough illumination for your workspace, and you won’t have to worry about shadow lighting.

Light Length

Since festoon site lights are in the form of a string or a cord, you must look at how long you want your lights to be. You don’t want to end up with a short length of festoon lighting as this will not provide enough illumination and ultimately hinder your work performance. 

Site lighting: Key takeaway

Site lights are a piece of incredibly important equipment for electrical and construction work. There are several things to consider before purchasing site lighting, and you must figure out how to best use this lighting equipment.