Metal halide lights are some of the brightest lights that money can buy. Like other high intensity discharge bulbs, they rely on high pressure and high heat to convey a highly intense, blue-oriented white light that is perfect for illuminating sports or aquariums and is ideal for indoor growing applications. Like other HID bulbs, metal halide bulbs contain a mixture of gasses and metal halides that expand inside their envelope to create a high pressure environment. The result is a highly intense light.

Metal halid lamps have a number of common applications. If you’ve ever been to the stadium and wondered how on earth those bulb sets are able to illuminate an enormous field to the point of daylight, it’s because of metal halide bulbs. Their small small size and bright white/blue light is ideal for illuminating the field not only for players but for spectators: like tiny suns clustered to watch the game.

Aquariums also frequently employ metal halide lights for the same reason. While a blue-heavy spectrum gets filtered out by water and the surrounding environment, what’s left of the spectrum is still intense enough to reflect well on colorful species without blinding them: the perfect light for aquariums.

Indoor growers also find metal halide bulbs to be useful, especially in the vegetative stages of growing. While their intense light does not come without significant heat emission, many growers aspire to a warmer growing environment that the bulbs are able to provide at a lower temperature and higher output than a yellow-heavy halogen lamp.

Although they’re ideal for a number of applications, the bulbs are much more expensive than fluorescent, halogen, or incandescent lamps – but then so are all HID bulbs. Since they’re application-specific, most users would agree that they’re worth the cost.

One word of advice: know that it takes awhile for the bulbs to reach full output. The insides of the bulbs need to warm to create optimal pressure for light emission. And remember, as with all HID lights, output wanes over time, even though it doesn’t necessarily stop completely. Follow the manufacturer’s guidelines for replacement, and choose a bulb with the lowest cost per hour.

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