Tennis Court Lighting Guide

LED lamps have become the mainstream choice for tennis court lighting due to their energy efficiency, excellent light quality, fast start-up, no flicker, etc. LED lamps can significantly reduce energy consumption, provide a light quality closer to natural light, adapt to complex environmental conditions, and are environmentally friendly and non-polluting. With the progress of technology, the LED lighting system will be further optimized to enhance the overall effect of tennis court lighting and user experience.

Each sport has distinct lighting needs. This is the reason why there are so many possibilities for field lighting. Tennis is one of the most popular and widely played sports. The sport is played on tennis courts. There are several sorts of courts, including outdoor and indoor, as well as small, medium, and large.

If the outdoor/underground parking lot architectural lighting and tennis court lights are not built appropriately, it may result in a negative user experience and high energy costs. This is why you must invest in appropriate and high-quality tennis court lighting. To have the optimal lighting solution for a tennis court, you must have an extensive understanding of tennis court lighting.

This article explains all there is to know about tennis court lighting. Have a look!

1. What is Tennis Court Lighting?

Tennis court lighting consists of lights that provide enough illumination and evenly disperse light throughout the court. Lamp-side lateral illumination is present on both sides of the tennis court. In addition, two or three light poles are put on each side along the long axis.

The tennis court must have the appropriate illumination regardless of the event or audience size. This is to ensure that everyone has a clear perspective of what is occurring. The ball should be plainly visible regardless of its speed or location.

The tennis field lights will enhance the spectator experience and increase safety. It improves the performance of gamers by enhancing their eyesight.

Good outdoor/underground parking lot and architectural lighting design also improve the lighting experience for walkers.

2. What Lights Are Used For Tennis Court Lighting?

Tennis is a ball sport that is often played between two singles or two couples. On the tennis court, the player strikes the tennis ball with a racket over the net. Tennis requires considerable strength and quickness. Some elite tennis players can serve at speeds above 200 km/h. Because tennis is played at such a rapid pace, it is quite difficult to gauge its effect! This also significantly increases the challenge of tennis competition and imposes tougher and more professional lighting standards.

3. What kind of lighting is utilized to illuminate sports stadiums?

As we see Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Li Na, and other elite sportsmen play magnificently on the court, we too are ecstatic. On the tennis court, we will experience a variety of emotions. However, it will sometimes offer us a negative experience. For instance, if you go to particular courts at night to play, you will often be blinded by the lights, or there will be dark parts where you cannot see the course, which has a significant impact on your mood and condition.

Why? Due to poor tennis court illumination.

So, what kind of lighting should be used for the tennis court? With so many tennis court lighting options available, which should I select? Today, we will compare different lights typically used to illuminate tennis courts.

3.1 Metal halide lamp

The metal halide lamp as a tennis court lighting fixture not only uses power but also has a fatal weakness in its delayed start-up. It takes 15 minutes to reach maximum brightness, and the start-up speed is really sluggish. Imagine that while your consumers are perspiring on the sports field, the lights restart due to a trip or accidental touch. The metal halide light is restarted after fifteen minutes. Do you believe it's possible for consumers to wait fifteen minutes? If this continues, your business hours will be delayed and your clients will be unsatisfied, resulting in customer loss and decreased operational earnings.

3.2 LED Tennis Court Light

MK LED tennis court lighting is customized according to the unique features of the court, with an anti-glare design and anti-glare lampshade, high uniformity, low glare, comfort, and zero light pollution. The lamp body is built of high-quality aircraft aluminum profiles, and it employs phase change heat dissipation technology and air circulation design to assure heat dispersion. The light source utilizes imported LED chips of the highest quality, with great brightness, light color integration with the stadium, a long lifespan, and softer light.

However, the quality of LED bulbs now available on the market ranges from decent to poor. For instance, 100W tennis court lights might cost anything from dozens to hundreds of dollars. As a customer, you must be vigilant. In terms of manufacturing methods and components, lights are comparable to many other commodities at that time. The variation in materials determines the pricing of items such as three, six, and nine. As with chips, it is believed that they all utilize a major brand, although there is a distinction between 3030 and 5050.

3.3 Tennis Court Professional High Bay Lighting

LED high bay lighting is often used to illuminate indoor tennis courts. MK LED High Bay light takes pride in the straightforward installation and purchasing of its products. LED High Bay BD installation choices are adaptable to any application. Additionally, it is appropriate for ceiling heights between 15 and 40 feet.

In conclusion, for the selection of tennis court lighting fixtures, varied venue settings and positions will need distinct illumination requirements. The following are worldwide lighting regulations for tennis courts for your reference:

Remark:

PPA-main competition area, TPA-total competition area;

For the tennis semi-finals broadcast on TV, the illuminance level of the semi-final total competition area should be based on the value of the main competition area.

4. What is the size of the Tennis Court?

International Tennis Federation regulates the dimensions of tennis courts (ITF). Typically, the court is 78 feet long, 27 feet broad, and 36 feet wide for singles matches and doubles matches, respectively. When it comes to installation, it is advised that the poles be at least 8 meters tall. In the case of official competitions, the height of the poles must be at least 12m.

5. Lux Requirements for Tennis Court Lighting

The illumination of the tennis court depends on the court's characteristics. Class I, Class II, and Class III are the different levels of competition.

5.1  Class I: National and International

For such contests, 450 lux is necessary because of the high level of play.

5.2 Class II- Club Competition and Commercial

Illumination for commercial and club tournaments should be around 350 lux.

5.3 Class III- Residential and Recreational Properties

It requires a low level of play, so 250 lux is more than enough.

ZC Lighting provides an extensive selection of tennis court lights for installation. Regardless of the type of your court, you can discover the ideal tennis court lighting.

6. Lighting design of Tennis Court

6.1 Best Solution 2022 for Tennis Court Lighting

According to our years of expertise in lighting design, the typical height of tennis court light poles is between 6 and 8 meters (20 ft -26.7 ft). Depending on the stadium's lighting needs, the wattage of court lights is typically between 300 and 500W. The following solution is provided for reference purposes.

8 poles (6m/20ft) 

Standard tennis court (36*18m/120*60ft), installed 8PCS MK LED 400W to achieve average lux 783lux.

6 poles (8.7m/29ft)

Standard tennis court, put 6PCS MK LED 300W to achieve average lumen 500lux.

Standard tennis court, put 6PCS MK LED 200W to achieve average lumen 300lux.

4 poles (12m/40ft)

Standard tennis court, installed 4PCS MK LED 500W to achieve average lux 419lux.

Standard tennis court, installed 8PCS MK LED 300W to achieve average lux 489lux.

6.2 Brightness of Tennis Court Light

Brightness is the fundamental need for tennis court lighting. The court must be well illuminated so that players and spectators can see clearly. Numerous courts use HID floodlights to illuminate the whole area. They may be affordable, but additional lighting must be added.

The LED lights are superior to HID lights because they provide more degrees of brightness. Technically, the maximum power of LED lights is 10,000 watts, but the maximum power of metal halide lamps is just 1,500 to 2,000 watts.

6.3 Efficiency of Tennis Court Ligwell-illuminatedht

Another requirement for tennis court lighting is its efficiency. Since the light will be on for most of the day, the energy bills will be rather high. This is where LED lights are useful; they are noted for being energy efficient.

Luminous efficacy is used to determine the effectiveness of a light source. Lm / W is the unit used to assess effectiveness, where lm represents lumen. Remember that the higher the lumen, the greater the brightness.

The luminous efficacy of LED lights is between 130 and 160 lm/W, whereas metal halide has between 75 and 100 lm/W, HPS has between 90 and 100 lm/W, and halogen has between 10 and 20 lm/W. This indicates that for every watt of power used, an LED light will output 150 lumens. Therefore, LED lighting will save more power than any other lighting technology.

6.4 Life Span of Tennis Court Light

The lifespan of the light is one of the most significant things you must consider. Because the courts are open until late at night, the lights must have a lengthy lifespan. If a light has a limited lifespan, it will need to be replaced regularly. This not only raises maintenance and replacement costs but also operating expenses. Outdoor/underground architectural and tennis court lighting installation is expensive.

LED lighting has a long lifespan, since it may last up to 100,000 hours. Halogen light, on the other hand, will only last for 2000 hours, but metal halide may survive for up to 10,000 hours. Consequently, LED lights provide the highest performance.

7. What Should I Pay Attention to Before Buying Tennis Court Lights?

When purchasing tennis court lights, how to buy the best tennis court lights, and what issues you need to pay attention to, here are the factors you need to consider.

7.1 Waterproof

The waterproof characteristics of the lamp should be one of your first considerations. It is essential that the lamp has at least IP64 water resistance. Thus, these lights may be used anyplace. Due to the absence of gas discharge, brittle glass, and filament, LED lighting may be made to be waterproof without any difficulty.

7.2 Superior Luminous Efficiency

To save maintenance costs, you must choose a long-lasting and high-quality LED light. To choose an efficient LED light, you must choose a luminaire with a high-efficiency rating. This implies it will use less energy and emit less light.

7.3 Variable Color Temperature

In order to get the appropriate LED light, you must examine the color temperature. The suggested color temperature range for cool white is 5000 to 6000K. Some tennis courts need a light with a color temperature between 2800 and 3500K.

7.4 Anti-glare Feature

The anti-glare function is one of the most essential aspects of the LED light. The strong light that causes annoyance or pain is the glare. The anti-glare lens of the LED Lucky lights lessens the dazzling impact and facilitates visibility.

7.5 Heat Dissipation

Heat dissipation is a further crucial component. It is essential for indoor tennis courts since the light's lifespan might be diminished if heat is trapped within.

7.6 High Light Uniformity

In order to brighten the tennis court, it is essential to have a high degree of light homogeneity. This indicates the ratio of lowest to highest lux. Generally, 0.6 to 0.7 light uniformity is sufficient.

7.7 Easy to Install

LED lights are simple to install, requiring neither expert assistance nor specialized tools.

7.8 Modularization Design

LED lights have to have a modular design since it facilitates maintenance. You will not have to remove the whole fixture to make repairs.

7.9 Warranty

Few individuals consider the warranty of LED lights. This is a huge mistake. Before purchasing, it is recommended to investigate the manufacturer's warranty. MKLIGHTS provides (insert year) a warranty on every tennis court lighting.

8. What is the price of tennis court lights?

Let us take the FE series tennis court as an example, the approximate price is as follows:

Different configurations have different prices, if you need to know the exact price, please contact the MK sales team.

9. What is the Cost of Installing LED Lights in a Tennis Court？

9.1 Tennis court lights installation cost

In recent years, several tennis facility operators have installed contemporary LED systems. The cost of installing LED tennis court lighting varies from $30,200 to $233,200 per court, depending on product quality, the required brightness of the floodlights, and regional variations. The factors that affect the ultimate pricing of a tennis lighting installation project are explained in full below.

9.2 LED retrofit cost for tennis court lighting

Since you may utilize part of the existing lighting infrastructure, upgrading to LED lighting by converting your current HID lighting system is a simpler and less expensive undertaking. The conversion to LEDs is accomplished either by replacing existing lighting fixtures with LED fixtures or by installing solely LED lights. The cost per court to upgrade a HID tennis lighting system with LEDs varies from $16,400 to $44,600.

Whether you are renovating an existing facility or constructing a brand-new one, the purchase price is not the only factor to consider. The true economic worth of LED tennis lighting systems is seen in their running expenses: cheaper power bills, less frequent bulb replacement, less maintenance and upkeep, fewer repairs, and fixture replacement. Ultimately, the cost to run an LED tennis lighting system is determined by the level of competitiveness, the efficacy of the lighting fixtures (lumens per watt), and the price of power in your state.

Are you planning to install or enhance your sports facility's LED lighting? Utilize our tennis court lighting cost calculator to get a personalized estimate of costs:

a. Installation of a LED lighting system for a new tennis court

b. Upgrade existing tennis court lights to LED

10. Conclusion

Therefore, lighting is a crucial aspect of a tennis court since the ability of the players, the quality of the experience, and everyone's safety rely on it. When it comes to selecting the optimal lighting solution, LED light is the superior alternative. It provides the ideal amount of luminosity, homogeneity, energy efficiency, and longevity. ZC lighting provides superior LED lights to illuminate the tennis court. We have an assortment of LED lights that are appropriate for all sorts of tennis courts. For further details, please visit our website.