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  Discussion on Arena lighting
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Member:
scrupi1

Posted on Tuesday, Oct 16, 2007 - 6:33 am:

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post. I just wanted to get some ideas on lighting for a 125 x 150ft outdoor arena. I had an electrician come out and give me an estimate which ended up being 3,000 to 5,000. I felt that was a bit expensive so am having another electrician come out for a quote. Does anyone have experience with putting up outdoor lights? What would be a reasonable estimate? Are there any ways to minimize costs or put things up in parts to save on cost for this year? I work until 5:30 mon through fri and have 2 horses in work so am trying to figure out how to make it through this winter. does anyone have any ideas for making do? Thanks!! Susanne
Member:
ekaufman

Posted on Tuesday, Oct 16, 2007 - 9:49 am:

Hi Susanne,

Can you say a bit more about what went into the quote, and what your goals are? Is the electrician setting poles, and how tall? What kind of lights? Are you trying to make it bright enough to read or just to avoid collisions or "shadow panthers" in the corners? And do you have any restrictions on night lighting where you live?

- Elizabeth
Member:
scrupi1

Posted on Tuesday, Oct 16, 2007 - 8:51 pm:

Hi Elizabeth, When I spoke to the electrician the quote included setting up a meter box, running electric to four posts (he estimated 16ft in height above ground) with 2 lights on each pole. The meter box will be placed in the center of one of the 125ft sides of the arena and we are planning on placing each pole a 1/3 of the way down each of the 150ft sides. I am not sure what kind of lights we are putting up, he said that he has sent the arena parameters to a lighting specialist and that he will get back to me with their recomendations. I need to research lights further. I do not need it bright enough to read, just enough light to do simple flatwork, no jumping - I can do that on the weekends. We do not have any restrictions on lighting, we are way out in the country and have no restrictions on our land. The quote does include setting the lights and running the wires underground to each pole. Any help is appreciated, thanks!
New Member:
chrisz

Posted on Tuesday, Oct 16, 2007 - 9:24 pm:

We are planning for our barn too. The stable I board at now has an AWESOME arena with great lights. I was there when they put them up. IMO I would have to say that 16 feet might be too low for such a large space. The Boarding Barn arena is about 150 x 100 and the owner purchased 2 telephone poles and 4 railroad ties. He mounted the railroad ties 2 on opposite sides across the top of each pole and put 2 VERY large sodium vapor lights on each pole pointing each light towards opposite ends of the arena. Then each telephone pole with the lights and all the wiring was "planted" just like they would plant a regular telephone pole at the midpoint of the long sides of the arena. It gives great light, we can even jump in it. He was able to hire some guys who worked for the local phone company to put it up after work. I am sure they "borrowed" the equipment they used to put it up, but hey, it works great. Good luck to you!
Member:
dres

Posted on Tuesday, Oct 16, 2007 - 9:33 pm:

Sounds like the right ball park to me.. electric work is expensive specially with the high poles..public park like.. we had our tennis court lit up with only one pole on the side in the center and that was expensive , it took a boom truck to set the pole and to put the lights in..

On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painted them with spots..
Member:
ekaufman

Posted on Tuesday, Oct 16, 2007 - 11:59 pm:

Hi Susanne,

Well, I guess my next step would be to look at the itemized bid and figure out where the big ticket items are. Then check the assumptions behind them.

I would expect electrical wire to be expensive and non-negotiable. Telephone poles used to be free (if you could go get them), but out here not so much anymore. And of course they aren't free to haul and wrangle into place.

If you can, look at some night time lighting in various places, and decide how many lights you need, and of what power. Also consider mercury vapor vs. sodium vapor-- to me the white lights seem brighter

I set 3 light poles (telephone poles) with mercury vapor fixtures around a larger space this summer. It wouldn't be quite enough light to ride comfortably, but it's not that far off. We didn't use a boom truck-- we wrangled the thing with two guys standing on the roof of a panel truck yelling LEFT! NO UP!! and they are mostly straight.

My guess is that there would be savings in fewer fixtures, and possibly fewer poles.
Member:
sswiley

Posted on Wednesday, Oct 17, 2007 - 8:04 pm:

I was wondering if you were planning on jumping at night or just doing flat work.
If jumping is in the plan then I would not skimp on the number and height of the lights. If they are too low they will shine in the horses eyes and interfere with jumping. If there are too few then there will be shadows, which are not as much as a problem, I think most horses can get used to shadows.
Member:
sswiley

Posted on Wednesday, Oct 17, 2007 - 8:06 pm:

OK,duh, I just read the part where you said no jumping. sorry
Member:
scrupi1

Posted on Tuesday, Oct 23, 2007 - 6:47 am:

Hi guys, thanks so much for all of your advice. I spoke to the electrician again and he said the lighting experts he spoke with advised 30ft poles with 1000 W lights, 4 poles with 2 lights on each pole, he said that because of the higher wattage (he was originally thinking 400W would do it) he would need to run a separate circuit to each light which would mean four circuits each side of the arena and increased cost. His estimate is now $6,800. This is definitely out of my price range for this year but I guess I will just have to make do and spend this winter researching. It would definitely be helpful to visit other barns and see how their arenas are set up. Are telephone poles 30ft? One of the workers in town said that they knew of a telephone company in greensboro that sells old telephone poles.
Thanks! Susanne
Member:
ekaufman

Posted on Tuesday, Oct 23, 2007 - 9:40 am:

Hi Susanne,

So wow, your electrician's adviser is planning a *lot* of light, which I think was not your goal. It would be nice if they could tell you what the candlepower of their solution is, but that doesn't seem likely. To be honest their plan sounds like lighting for an outdoor roping arena, or some other sport where the riders need to see each other and a moving target with good clarity.

Consider that the average streetlight is 30-200 watts with a fixture height between 16-30'.

My hunch is that a single fixture on a shorter pole would work just fine for your purposes, but I think research is a good idea, since my idea of enough light may not be yours. My sense that the current plan is overkill might not be right.

Some telephone poles are 30' long, but you are forgetting the 4' or so that needs to be underground. The longer the pole, the harder it is to find (and haul). If you stick with poles this high, you may need to find something else. Anything that tall is going to be expensive-- seems to be one of the economic facts of poles!
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