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Best LED Floodlights For Indoor And Outdoor In 2020

If you had lived 500 years ago, you probably wouldn’t have this problem. You would have set the fire and enjoy its warm and accommodating light that also protects you from predators. In other cases, you would go to bed with the sunset and sleep until sunrise.

Unfortunately, or shall I say; fortunately, we now live in the age where light is not a luxury anymore. You can stay up late doing your daily duties even after the sunset.

The availability of light has reached its peak with a variety of choices.

Of course, it brings another problem, the problem often called decision paralysis.

If you have found yourself in a situation where you are unable to pick the bulb for your home, don’t you worry.

I got your back.

In this article, I will compare the best LED floodlights head to head and give you a lot of tips to keep in mind when selecting a floodlight.

By the end of this article, you will confidently head to the nearest Lowe’s store and pick the right bulb, or you can simply go with my recommendation.

So let’s get started.

Why Floodlight?

Before we progress any further, let me briefly explain why the bulbs we are about to compare are called floodlights.

Does it have anything to do with real floods?

No, luckily not.

The bulbs are called floodlights because the light they emit floods the room, just like water during real floods.

Although LED lights often emit directional light rather than spreading it, the way the bulb is designed spreads it across the room with high brightness.

Benefits of Using LED Floodlights

So you know why floodlights are called floodlights, but what actual benefits they bring to you?

There are many benefits of floodlights. However, you only need to remember two main advantages of floodlights.

First and probably the most important benefit is that floodlights are designed to cover a large area.

When I say large, I am talking like stadiums.

I will get back to it in a bit, with more practical examples, as I have certain doubts that my readers will want to light a whole stadium or industrial warehouse.

But in a nutshell, this is how large areas floodlights can cover.

The second benefit is the high intensity of light. Thes are very bright.

Now, I need to warn you.

Although there are plenty of activities where bright light is desired, you need to be cautious about its power.

The following benefits I am about to point out are more related to LED technology itself, but because this article is about LED floodlights, I have to mention them here.

This one is a no-brainer. LEDs are very efficient in terms of energy consumption.

Yay to brighter light and smaller energy bill.

LEDs are highly reliable compared to traditional incandescent bulbs.

With it’s 50,000 hours of lifespan LED will last for ages running 24/7.

As you can see, LED checks every box you would expect from a light bulb.

Remember when I said you need to be careful with where you want to use floodlights?

Well, I think it is the right time to talk about it now.

Use of Floodlights

Floodlights have a variety of applications, both indoor and outdoor.

It is quite hard to tell which one is more common, but before LED, floodlighting was more commonly used outdoors.

These are the common applications today.

  • Offices and open space rooms
  • Stage and photographic lighting
  • Security light

Floodlights do very well in offices and rooms with a lot of open space. In fact, very bright light in the room helps you to focus more.

Of course, we shouldn’t forget the professional application of floodlights. Because of their brightness, they serve well as stage lighting.

Also, these are widely used by photographers to light their photoshoot scenes.

If security is your main concern, these are great to light the area you want to always have on the radar.

In various industries, floodlights are used to light yards near warehouses, parking, or factories to support the CCTV during the night.

In your personal case, you can use them to light your backyard, increasing the security of the object.

Maybe you want to use them in your garage to help you to keep an eye on all the details while fixing a car.

The application is extensive, and I am sure most of us will be able to use it one way or another.

So, let’s have a look at how to actually select the right bulb and what you need to consider prior to the purchase.

Things to Consider Before Buying

considerations

Before you rush any decision and buy a light that might not be suitable for you, take your time and read this section.

There are a lot of small details you can focus on, but to make it easier for you, I will cover only the main areas.

If you keep these in mind, I assure you, you won’t make a wrong decision.

1. Position Matters

When deciding on the floodlight, check the area where you want to install it.

A couple of reasons to do so.

Imagine you have bought a floodlight to light up a garage or workshop.

Soon enough, you have realized that the light is shaded by hydraulic lift, so the area you wanted to light up is still shaded. As a result, you cannot fully enjoy the potential of the purchased light.

So make sure you check that the position has enough empty space nearby to spread the light.

Ideally, it should be mounted at the highest point facing down. This way, you will get the maximum use of the light and avoid any hassle with re-installation due to the poorly selected location.

What I have found is that height between 15-20 feet works best for LED floodlights.

2. Power Source Connection

This is related to the first point, in a way.

When deciding on the floodlight, you need to understand how you will wire it.

Here are the questions you should ask yourself.

How much of the work will it take me to connect the light? I don’t want you to disassemble half of the wall to wire one light.

What is the voltage of the light? Most of these operate at 120V.

3. Light Output Efficiency

If you have noticed, the previous two points didn’t cover the light at all.

Now once you are happy with where you will install it, it is the time to talk about the light itself.

These come in all different shapes and sizes, so I won’t be talking about it at all. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so no point in spending time on it.

However, what I want to talk about is lighting efficiency.

Often manufacturers will have something like that to describe efficiency: 13W = 60W

What it essentially means is that the 13W LED bulb provides the same output as the 60W incandescent bulb.

Sounds great, right?

So much energy savings there. True but still not exactly right.

I find that this is a bit of a dodgy practice to compare new technology such as LED lighting with something really really old, like incandescent.

It’s like comparing Tesla with the 1985 Ford Sierra.

I know right, how you can do it, those two cars are totally different.

Because the way how light is emitted is different, you shouldn’t ever pay attention to this claim. Only if you know what wattage of the bulb you want to be replaced.

I am going to share with you a much better way to compare the efficiency of the light bulb.

I was told this method by a lighting expert when I was on the hunt for kitchen ceiling light.

Here is what to do.

To truly determine the efficiency of the LED bulb, you should use the following formula and compare the number amongst other LED bulbs.

Light efficiency = Lumens / Watts

The formula above tells you how many lumens the bulb generates per one watt.

The watt is the measure of energy consumption, so the more light it generates per watt, the better the efficiency.

Let me give an example based on two bulbs.

The first bulb.

The 13W LED bulb with the output of 1050 lumens (often referred to as LM).

Light efficiency = 1050/13 = 80.77

Another bulb is 14W with the 1100 lumens.

Efficiency for this bulb is 78.58

As you can see, the first bulb has a bigger output per watt. Therefore it is more efficient than the first one.

The bottom line is:

You should only compare LED lights efficiency with other LED lights and don’t compare them with incandescent.

4. Cooling for Powerful Light

If you are on the hunt for some more powerful floodlights, you need to consider how you are going to cool them.

Like all electronics, LED floodlights hate high temperatures. Because of their power they can also heat quite a lot.

As you can imagine, it comes with another challenge. How to heat them down?

Well, luckily, you don’t have to worry about it when the light is outside, and it’s winter. However, there is also a summer.

What you should do is to check whether the lighting you have selected has the aluminum heatsink.

Usually, there will be some sort of the cooling grille behind the light to take heat away, but ensure that it is aluminum.

5. Weatherproof

If you plan to install the light outside where it will be exposed to dust and rain, make sure it has the IP certification.

Ideally, you will be looking at IP65 certification and above. IP65 rated light is protected against rain and dust-tight.

Drawbacks of Floodlights

Before we get into my pick list, let me quickly talk about some of the floodlights’ drawbacks.

In particular, I have two on my mind.

The first disadvantage is heating.

As I said before, because of their power, floodlights can heat quite a lot.

Now, it won’t be a case of small indoor floodlights type BR30 or 40, but it will undoubtedly be a problem for more powerful models.

Although manufacturers do address this issue with heatsinks, I think I just need to remind you of that.

I said it before, but let me elaborate more on the second potential issue.

The second disadvantage I have in mind is that floodlight can be simply overkill for some people.

I know what you think.

Eugen, isn’t it a point of floodlights?

You are right; it is a point, but what I really want you to keep in mind is that they can produce A LOT of light.

The reason I am saying that is that when I first came across these lights, I knew that they are bright, but oh, very little did I know how bright they could be.

I purchased a 70W floodlight for our cottage house garden. Well, I ended up returning it after a week purely because it was too much.

I just wanted to share this story with you because you might end up in a similar position.

Be especially careful with indoor floodlights.

Think about the brightness you want, unless having a hospital-bright light in the living room is what you want.

As I believe I have covered everything, you need to know about the lights, so let’s move to my selection.

I have divided products into two categories, for indoor and outdoor use, but here is the table in case you need a quick summary.

Best Indoor LED Floodlights

Image Product Product

Sunco BR30 11W Dimmable

  • Dimmable
  • Energy Star Certified
  • 5-Year Warranty
  • Great color
  • No buzzing
  • Can be used in enclosed fixtures

Check Out on Amazon

Sunco BR30 11W Dimmable

  • Dimmable
  • Energy Star Certified
  • 5-Year Warranty
  • Great color
  • No buzzing
  • Can be used in enclosed fixtures

Check Out on Amazon

Feit BR40 11.8W

  • Dimmable
  • High Efficiency
  • 5-Years Warranty

Check Out on Amazon

Feit BR40 11.8W

  • Dimmable
  • High Efficiency
  • 5-Years Warranty

Check Out on Amazon

Philips BR40 9W

  • High efficiency
  • Warm Glow effect
  • Energy Star certified

Check Out on Amazon

Philips BR40 9W

  • High efficiency
  • Warm Glow effect
  • Energy Star certified

Check Out on Amazon

Best Security Pick

Amico Motion Sensor 3 Heads

  • High efficiency
  • Adjustable angles
  • IP65 Certified
  • Motion sensor with timing and high sensing angles
  • Easy to install

Check Out on Amazon

Best Security Pick

Amico Motion Sensor 3 Heads

  • High efficiency
  • Adjustable angles
  • IP65 Certified
  • Motion sensor with timing and high sensing angles
  • Easy to install

Check Out on Amazon

Powerful Light

Onforu 100W Flood Light

  • Aluminum and tempered glass materials
  • Robust build
  • Outstanding performance and brightness
  • IP66 Weatherproof
  • Great heat dissipation

Check Out on Amazon

Powerful Light

Onforu 100W Flood Light

  • Aluminum and tempered glass materials
  • Robust build
  • Outstanding performance and brightness
  • IP66 Weatherproof
  • Great heat dissipation

Check Out on Amazon

Best Party Lighting

ILC Color Changing 15W

  • 16 million colors
  • IP66 certification
  • Timer
  • Light grouping option
  • Music Rhythm to light up your favourite song

Check Out on Amazon

Best Party Lighting

ILC Color Changing 15W

  • 16 million colors
  • IP66 certification
  • Timer
  • Light grouping option
  • Music Rhythm to light up your favourite song

Check Out on Amazon

Let’s talk about indoor floodlights.

I will be talking about BR30 and BR40 floodlights and review three major brands.

If you are unsure which, BR type is the right one for you, feel free to read my other article where I talk about all the differences.

And for now let’s start with the first brand.

Sunco BR30

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Sunco is certainly one of the more popular and quality brands when it comes to LED lighting. The quality is backed by a fantastic 5-years warranty and the fact that Sunco is based in the USA.

Now, the bulb is the BR30 category, which I won’t get into too many details, but what it means for you is, the bulb has a beam angle of 110° degrees.

Also, it sits on the E26 base, which is the standard base for the US.

Where I would be careful, however, is the head of the bulb with a diameter of 3.74,” so make sure you can fit it into your socket. The size of 5″ and 6″ cans should be perfect.

Let’s have a look at the efficiency of the bulb. The bulb consumes 11W and generates 850 lumens.

Going back to my formula, the bulb has an efficiency of 77.27 lumens per watt. This is certainly not the highest number, but also it is not the lowest one.

I would say it is a better average.

Although the color temperature of 3000K should not be very white, some people have reported it to be very bright anyway.

Note that the overall color scheme of the room also plays a significant role in how you will perceive the brightness.

This particular model has the “Instant On” switch, which means that the light turns the full brightness as soon as you flip the switch.

Some other manufacturers do come with “Soft Start” technology, which turns the light to full power after a few seconds.

This increases the lifespan of the bulbs as it takes the initial “shock” away from the circuit.

Let me also point out that this bulb is not designed to be used outdoors as it is not weatherproof.

Pros
  • Dimmable
  • Energy Star Certified
  • 5-Year Warranty
  • Great color
  • No buzzing
  • Can be used in enclosed fixtures
Cons
  • Can make “popping” click at the start (Could be a due to a socket issue)

Feit BR40

Feit BR 40 Dimmable LED Floodlight Soft White 2-Pack (75W Replacement)...
18 Reviews
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Last update on 2024-03-18 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Feit is another brand that produces high-quality bulbs. Probably not as popular as Sunco or Philips, but it has made it to this list, and here is why.

The main reason why I have decided to include it here is the efficiency of the bulb.

The option that replaces the 75W incandescent bulb only consumes 11.8W of energy.

But here is the best thing:

It generates 1065 Lumens of light, giving us the efficiency of 90.25 Lumens per Watt.

This is certainly an excellent efficiency.

The downside of it is that the manufacturer reports the lifespan of 15,000 hours, unlike Sunco, which indicates 25,0000 hours.

It is a bit tricky with lifespans, though.

Because the given number is not a guarantee that your bulb will serve you that long, I tend to ignore this number and instead look at the warranty provided by the manufacturer.

In this case, Feit gives you a 5-years warranty, which is the same as Sunco.

The Feit has an even softer light temperature of 2700K and is also Energy Star certified.

The bulb also uses the base E26.

Some people had issues with flickering. I just want to quickly address this with a comment that sometimes the problem is not in the bulb itself.

Often you will find that dimmable bulbs can flicker on non-dimmable switches.

Pros
  • Dimmable
  • High Efficiency
  • 5-Years Warranty
Cons
  • Some users had problems with flickering

Philips BR40

Philips LED 457010 BR40 Dimmable 800-Lumen, 2700-2200-Kelvin, 10 (65...
2,902 Reviews
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I don’t think I need to introduce the company, Philips. It is undoubtedly a market leader with their lighting technologies, so it’s not a surprise that it is listed here.

Unlike the other two bulbs, Philips comes only with a 9W bulb, but how does it affect its efficiency?

Let’s have a look.

Philips reports that their BR40 bulb produces 800 Lumens. This gives us a performance of 88.89 lumens per watt, which is a high number.

The standard temperature of the bulb is 2700K.

Philips bulb is like the other two dimmable, but here is also the catch.

When you usually dim the bulb, it often just reduces its brightness, but not Philips.

When you dim Philips bulb, you will fully experience the “Warm Glow” dimming effect.

In essence, what the effect does is, as it dims the bulb, it also changes the color temperature and makes the light even warmer.

As a result, you will get a very accomodating (2200K) warm light comparable to incandescent light.

With this, you will enjoy everything from a romantic evening with your partner to reading a bedtime story with your kids. The effect is truly fabulous.

Now, let me talk about a bit disappointing bit.

Unlike the other two manufacturers, Philips only gives you a 3-year warranty.

Now, it doesn’t mean that the bulb is worse than the other two, and will definitely last for ages.

Don’t get me wrong, 3-years is still reasonable compared to standard 1-year.

If Philips had given you 5-years as the other two manufacturers, I believe there won’t be a competition at all.

Pros
  • High efficiency
  • Warm Glow effect
  • Energy Star certified
Cons
  • Not usable in fully enclosed fixtures
  • I would love to see longer warranty

Best Outdoor LED Floodlights

Now, let’s have a look at the outdoor LED floodlights. These are much more powerful than indoor bulbs, and the bulb is designed to light up a large area.

Of course, this comes with the earlier mentioned cost of higher temperature and energy consumption, which is still small compared to incandescent lights.

So let’s have a look at the three best outdoor floodlights.

Amico Motion Sensor 3 Heads

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I didn’t select Amico floodlight randomly for this list. It comes with some great features if you are looking to increase the security of the property.

It will do a favor, especially for those of you who live in rural areas without street lighting or if you want to keep wild animals away from your home.

So let’s have a look at the necessary specifications.

The first thing you will notice is that the light comes with three flexible heads. This is great if you want to install the light on the corner of the wall.

You will be able to simply adjust each head to emit light in a direction you need.

In terms of performance, there is certainly not a lack of it. Despite its relatively low wattage of only 40W, the bulb emits 3500 lumens at a temperature of 5000K.

This gives us an efficiency of 87.5, which is really good.

The light comes with a motion sensor that captures movement at the angle of 180° degrees and can capture movement up to a maximum of 49 ft from the light.

Such an impressive range is ideal for open space areas and big backyards. No worries about it working during the daytime wasting your energy.

The light doesn’t light up during the day time and only lights up with the dusk.

I feel it is important to mention that the range also depends on where and how you will place the motion sensor. You will have to play with it a little to find the right position to suit you.

Now, the light comes with the timer, so you can set up how long you want the light to be turned on for.

You can pick from either one, five, or ten minutes. With time you can also adjust the range of the motion sensor.

Essentially, how picky you want it to be.

Pros
  • High efficiency
  • Adjustable angles
  • IP65 Certified
  • Motion sensor with timing and high sensing angles
  • Easy to install
Cons
  • Some people face issues with the motion sensor. Make sure you check whether or not it’s upside down, this can cause problems.

 

TIP: Do not look directly into these powerful lights, it can damage your vision.


Onforu 100W Floodlight

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4,107 Reviews
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It might be that you have a big backyard, or you own a shop that needs to light up a parking area for your customers.

Whatever reason you have, Onforu will be a great shout.

The floodlight generates 10,000 lumens and consumes 100W of energy.

This gives us the efficiency output of 100 lumens per watt, which is an outstanding performance.

The color temperature is 5000K, so very close to the daylight.

Getting performance out of the way, I would like to pause on the materials used in this floodlight.

The light is made of aluminum and tempered glass for extra protection.

This gives you ultimate protection in case you plan to install the light near trees or bushes, where potentially the branch can damage the light during the windy weather.

Remember when earlier I said that cooling is vital for high output lights?

This is the type of light where you need to pay extra attention to cooling it.

Because the whole construction is made of aluminum, you will get excellent heat dissipation, so the light stays cool no matter what.

Aluminum is one of the best heat dissipator materials. On top of that, the grille behind the light is facing in various directions, which helps to dissipate heat even more efficiently.

Because these lights will be primarily used outside, Onforu has also thought about the weather.

The light comes with IP66 certification to ensure your light works no matter rain or snow.

Although I need to mention that some users had issues when water managed to get in and burn the inside circuit of the light.

I believe those will be rare faulty pieces, but I needed to ensure you have this information available.

Pros
  • Aluminum and tempered glass materials
  • Robust build
  • Outstanding performance and brightness
  • IP66 Weatherproof
  • Great heat dissipation
Cons
  • Some users reported that light is not properly sealed

ILC Color Changing 15W

ILC LED Flood Light 30W Outdoor RGB Color Changing, Smart Floodlights...
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To close the circle, I will introduce the last floodlight.

This particular one is not as powerful as the previous two and comes with the power of 15W and output of 1,200 lumens.

This gives us the efficiency of 80 lumens per watt, which is not bad, but at the same time not as high as Onforu.

Yet, this floodlight is on this list.

Here are my two main reasons why.

First of all, this is not a traditional floodlight. This particular set is color changing, and you can pick any shade of 16 million colors, which is impressive.

From a romantic mood to a wild rave at home, it is an easy thing with ILC.

Here is the second thing I love about this floodlight.

It comes with the Bluetooth smart app controller that brings a lot of extra functionality to it.

Just to name a few:

The app has an option called “Music Rhythm,” which syncs light to the music that you are playing. It is almost like a lighting equalizer that enhances the party.

The second set of functionality is the lighting grouping and timer.

Now, you can use these two separately, but the real fun begins when you have multiple sets connected via the app.

Essentially, you can add lights into groups and set up each of the groups to turn on at different times and have different colors.

With this, you can light up your house when you want and how you want it.

The light is also safe to use outside as it is IP66 certified waterproof. Yay to Halloween spooky or festive Christmas lighting.

I suppose the biggest problem with this light is to pick the right color :).

Pros
  • 16 million colors
  • IP66 certification
  • Timer
  • Light grouping option
  • Music Rhythm to light up your favourite song
Cons
  • App is pretty raw
  • Bluetooth module sometimes doesn’t work as intended (You need toget closer to the light)

Frequently Asked Question

Q: Can you install floodlights on the truck?

A: Note that floodlights are not designed to be used as headlights on trucks.

Most of the floodlights work on 110-120 volts. However, batteries in vehicles only provide 12V. To install the floodlight on your truck, you would need to get a power inverter.

Q: Do these floodlights work in winter?

A: Although LEDs love cold weather, most of these lights have the lowest operational temperature at about -25°C (-13°F). The temperature lower than that can damage the circuit of the lighting.

Q: Are floodlights dimmable?

A: Floodlights in the first part of the article are dimmable. However, most of the more powerful floodlights are not dimmable.

Q: Is there a switch on floodlights?

A: Most of the floodlights won’t have a switch, but either the photo element that triggers them to turn on in the evening or you will need to switch them manually.

Final Words

I know that this was a big guide and if you have read to this point, a big shout out to you.

I believe you shouldn’t have any questions left by now, but in case you do, feel free to reach out to me in the comments below.

  • What do you want to use floodlight for?
  • Which one did you select and why?

Share your thoughts below.

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