Netball Court Lighting Upgrade at Mount Gambier Netball Association

For this netball lighting court project we were approached by Mount Gambier Netball Association as part of the redevelopment of their netball courts and sporting centre. Mount Gambier Netball Association has a very long history having started back in 1944 and is located on Margaret St Mount Gambier. It comprises of 12 netball courts and club rooms, although these will be reduced to 7 netball courts and 1 warmup court as part of the redevelopment.

Mount Gambier Netball Association have 8 clubs with over 80 teams making it important for evening play with good quality netball court lights that provide good visibility for players, competition judges, umpires and team officials so that they can clearly see everything that is going on in a fast moving game or training area, and so that the athletes can produce their best possible results. 

Lighting Requirements 

The relevant Australian Standards for netball and basketball lighting are “AS 2560.2.4 – 1986 Specific Recommendations – Lighting for outdoor netball and basketball.”

The Australian Standards (series 2560.4) contain the minimum recommended illuminance levels measured in lux for the lighting of outdoor netball and basketball courts according to whether the court is to be used for training versus competition levels of play or both. The minimum light level required for each standard of play measured as horizontal illuminance in lux is as follows:

Netball Training Light Level            100 lux

Club Competition Light Level          200 lux

For this project the goal was to replace 19 x 2000W Metal Halide Netball Court Lights across 8 courts with energy saving LED Netball Court High Output Flood Lights. The brief was to maintain original light levels as specified in the original metal halide lighting design whilst improving energy efficiency. As summerised in the Table below the original metal halide netball court lighting levels only just meet Club Competition Netball Light Levels with many results in the range of 201-202 lux. These netball court light levels would have decreased immediately after installation down to approximately 50 to 60% of the original netball court lighting levels given the expected steady decay of the metal halide netball court lights. 

With our professional sports netball court LED lights we were able to achieve a range of 229 to 283 lux using a light loss factor of 88% meaning these levels allow for a 12% loss in light over the life span of the system which is very conservitive. In reality, the netball court light levels will read higher after installation and will remain above the netball club competition light level of 200 lux for the life time of the system which is theoretically many generations of netball players. 

Netball Court Light Simulation Results

We tested three different LED Netball Court Flood Lights, LITE-BR-FL2, LITE-SK-FL and LITE-EL-XX-FL. Whilst all of these LED Sports Flood Lights can do a very good job we found that the layout of the netball courts and current pole hights were best suited to the LITE-EL-XX-FL Professional Series LED Sports Flood Lights, which have multiple power levels and optics/beam angle options:

20 x LITE-EL-XX-FL Professional Series LED Flood Lights ranging from 150 to 155 lm/W 

It is the high number of beam optics and power levels of our Professional Series LED Flood Lights that enables us to produce such a good netball court lighting result whilst maximising energy savings. These netball court flood lights are also a very light weight deisgn weighing in at approximately 12.5kg for the 600W Netball Court Light, 17.5kg for the 800W Netball Court Light, and 20.3kg for the 960W Netball Court Light. This weight range is compariable to the original metal halide netball court lights Mundial MBIL-H 2000 made by Thorn Lighting which weigh 16.5kg. Our Professional Sports LED lights are also a slim narrow design at approximately 41 cm making them narrower than the Thorn netball court lights at 64cm. One of the netball court light poles have four netball court lights mounted so the narrow design of our Professional Sports LED lights makes them an ideal replacement making installation and fitting of the lights easy for the installer. 

Using specialised lens/optics we were able to use a combination of 9 x 600W, 8 x 800W and 3 x 960W LITE-EL-XX-FL LED Sports Flood Lights to project more light on the Netball courts and less outside leading to a high level of electricity and $ savings. With the more focused beam pattern we also expect the light spill and light glare outside of the netball courts to be lower thereby improving both spectator and playing comfort, and reducing light polution and obstrusive lighting effects in the neighbouring areas. 

Netball Court LED Lighting Render:

Overall 33% Lighting Increase across all Netball Courts with Improved Uniformity:

Based on the current lighting measurements (200-244 lux) we estimated a lighting increase of:

-          ~ 33% increase in light levels (229-283 lux).[1] See comparison table below.

-          Improved uniformity (evenness) of light across netball courts.[2]

65% Energy Savings:

-          65% electricity savings.

-          16.5 tonnes per year reduction in Green House Emissions =.[3]

Total Estimated Savings:

-          $5,789 per year based on current electricity prices.[4]^,[5]

-          $463,000 + life time saving.[6]

New Edge LED Flood Light Average Cost per unit & details

-          ~ $1367 each inclusive of shipping (excluding labour).

-          5 Year manufacturer warranty.

-          Proven track record as per reviews and references.

-          High quality componentry including Philips LUXEON LEDs and Mean Well ELG series drivers (Optional HLG).

LED LIGHTING ADVANTAGES

-          Instant turn on (metal halides can take 15- 20 min to reach their normal operating temperature and light output).

-          MaintaiXX-FL light level within ~ 10% over life of the system (the metal halide loses up to 50%).

-          Longer Lifer span >50,000 hours (ELG) or >62,000 hours (HLG)[7] with no noticeable light loss.

-          5-year manufacturer warranty.

-          Estimated theoretical system life time of greater than 80-100 years.

-          10 KV SPD Power surge Protection for lightning strikes and other power surges.

-          Greater reliability and zero maintenance for potentially greater than 40,000 hours.

-          Precise colour temperature selection enhances playing environment and broadcast.

LIGHTING SIMULATION RESULTS

The lighting simulation results for the LITE-EL-XX-FL flood lights exceeds the recommended Australian Standards for Competition Netball Lighting (see attached lighting simulation report for full details). A comparison with the old metal halide result is shown.

Conclusion

The NEW EDGE LED Sporting oval flood lights improves on the old metal halide lighting technology by providing electricity savings, reduced maintenance costs, and improved lighting and uniformity. One can see that the maintenance and energy savings alone will eventually pay for this LED lighting Upgrade with the savings estimated as up to $5,789 per year.

Netball Court LED Lighting Simulation Results - Court 5

Netball Court 5 - LED Lighting Levels - Average Illumination = 250 lux, Uniformity = 0.78, Min/Max = 0.59

Netball Court LED Lighting Simulation Results - Court 7

Netball Court 7 - LED Lighting Levels - Average Illumination = 238 lux, Uniformity = 0.79, Min/Max = 0.62

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