How to illuminate the basketball court

2019-08-21

The NBA playoffs have already begun. Although the most popular teams in Los Angeles are not fully promoted, we still support other Los Angeles teams representing our city. With the end of March Madness, it’s time to see when it’s time to light up the basketball court. Most people may not participate in NBA-scale lighting projects. But in any case, the following steps will help you determine the number of fixtures needed to illuminate the basketball court.

There are two steps you must take before purchasing a luminaire to illuminate the basketball court. First, determine if your project is indoors or outdoors. Then find out the site measurements. Our size will be 84 feet long and 50 feet wide. The minimum height of the ceiling must be at least 16 feet so that it does not interfere with the game. The higher the ceiling, the less likely the ball is hit, so we recommend using a 24-foot mounting height whenever possible.

The next step is to measure the amount of light required per square foot (candle feet) to fully illuminate your basketball court. You can use the light meter to find the number of foot candles you need. Because we are using high school tones, we need 75 feet of candlelight.

Now that you have completed the measurements, you can enter them in many of the available online resources. Choose from many modeling software, such as AGi32, a powerful model builder that simulates the built environment. For our purposes, we will use Visual Interior Tool. This is a free modeling tool that helps you understand the number of fixtures you need. It will also tell you the distance to install each commercial light.

After entering the dimensions, choose an LED shed that is very similar to a budget-compliant luminaire. In general, the higher the lumen output, the fewer fixtures that must be used.

Indoor Lights

We recommend using our UFO LED high bay lights. They are made of die-cast aluminum and can be mounted using a yoke to ensure safety. Make sure your LEDs have a diffuser, as glare can also be a problem.

Outdoor Lights

Because the night sky provides contrast, you don't need the same powerful lighting as the outdoor stadium's LED overhead. You can use 2-4 LED shoebox lights or floodlights. It depends on whether your court is half full or full, and how many courts you need to illuminate.