How-To Articles

Tune Up Your Existing Lighting To Improve Performance By As Much As 50%

If you are like most people, you probably do the latter. Did you know that the intensity of your lamps will degrade by 25% to 50% within two years of installation? Add to that the loss of lighting output caused by dirty or dusty reflectors and lenses, and it’s easy to understand why your court’s lighting system is not performing up to it’s potential.

Most tennis court contractors offer a comprehensive lighting service, a “Lighting Tune-Up” as we like to call it. Unlike the typical “wait till it breaks” approach, our service is proactive, keeping your system running at peak performance, not just running. Lights will run poorly for a long time before they die.

The cost of a Lighting Tune-Up averages around $150.00 per fixture for a twelve fixture system and should be done every other year. Many contractors will cover your new lamps with a one or two year parts and labor warranty, reducing the chance of unexpected repair costs between Tune-Ups.

Most Lighting Tune-ups are a five point process. The first stem is a meeting with you to determine how well your lights are performing. If they find the lights are performing well and are not in need of a tune-up they will tell you so and there is usually only a nominal charge for the analysis. If a tune-up will substantially improve performance, ask them to provide a written estimate to perform the following tasks:

Check the system voltage and wiring to determine if lights are getting the proper supply of power and notify you if a problem is found

Clean fixture lenses and reflectors

Replace all lamps

Replace check ballasts and capacitors, and notify you if any need replacing

Set ballast taps to correct voltage

Back to Articles