How to calculate your budget to install a pickleball light system?
Definitely, The LED light is the best choice, but we have to consider the brightness level for different competition, the power of the LED light, and distribution methods of pickleball court. normally the total cost of the pickleball court would be around $ 20,000 to $ 100,000.
If you have a budget of more than $30,000 per field, then you can try to replace all existing lights with LED lights. If you have a limited budget, you can upgrade your pickleball field to improve the overall brightness level according to your needs, during which a professional lighting design company will play a very important role.
We provide you with an estimate of the cost of a pickleball court lighting system as a reference.
| The Components | Expanses Estimation |
| LED lights for the Pickleball Court | $8,000 – $70,000 |
| Pickleball Lighting – Pole Mounting | $4,000 – $25,000 |
| Pickleball Lighting – Placing Lights | $3,000 – $15,000 |
| Pickleball Lighting – wiring from shooter to steel pole | $1,000 – $8,000 |
| Total | $16,000 – $118,000 |
Optimized pickleball court illumination
You need to consider many factors such as court materials, colors, and spectator seating before doing a pickleball lamp design. These details are so tedious that they are often forgotten in simulations, but they are the key to determining the success of a venue lighting design.
The lighting at Pickleball, like any other stadium, is difficult to find a standard and perfect solution, so the design must balance the pros and cons of each solution and make compromises, resulting in a result that may not be perfect, but is the best match for the needs of all combinations.
The quality of lighting in a Pickleball venue greatly affects the quality of the players and the quality of the game, poor lighting also limits the television broadcast and reduces the viewer’s sense of good experience, so only solutions designed according to the characteristics and needs of Pickleball should be used.
Lighting designers need to design the lighting of the course according to the actual needs and conditions, including but not limited to.
- Pickleball ball field is new or old field upgrade?
- What kind of light source is used now, LED or others?
- What is the purpose of the Pickleball court, is it for training/amateur/professional play?
HID/Metal Halide Lighting VS. LED Cost Savings
HID as a mature technology is used for many years, but the efficiency of HID lights compared to LED lights is much lower, in other words, to achieve the same brightness HID lights need more power than LED, so the operating costs of HID will be much higher than LED lights. In addition in the later maintenance costs, LED lights will also be lower than HID light source.
However, LED lights start at a higher investment cost than HID lights, so a professional and reliable lamp design is needed to reduce unnecessary extra spending. In fact, more customers prefer to raise their budgets at the beginning to choose LED lights, because the labor costs of post-maintenance and operation are still skyrocketing.
- LED lamps have a longer life span
- The efficiency of LEDs is about 150 lumens per watt, compared to 100 lumens per watt for HIDs (which depreciate over time)
- LED lamps require less parts and labor time to maintain
As you can see from the table above, the advantages of LEDs in terms of operating costs will increase over time gone.
Pickleball Court Lighting Standards and Requirements
Light distribution has an enormous impact on Pickleball court lighting. 150 to 300 lux is able to reach the standard of lighting the stadium. In order to achieve this target, 200W-400W LED light source is usually used according to the lighting height. In the case of multiple stadiums, the coverage area of the lights will be more important and complex than the single stadium setup. On the one hand, it is the control of the total cost, and on the other hand, the mutual influence of the light may cause glare.
Two methods are commonly used to design Pickleball field lighting schemes:
1. Horizontal Illumination
Light sources are installed around the pitch to provide a transparent background. In order to pursue the effect of TV broadcast and the viewing comfort of the audience, the lumens value of pickleball court is usually considered to be the best level between 350-700. If the level of the game and broadcast requirements increase, this value also needs to be adjusted accordingly.
2. Vertical Illumination
The vertical illuminance is fixed by placing the LED light source on the column or pillar, and the light is illuminated downward to evenly illuminate the pickleball field of the game, but this method has higher requirements on the field.
| Level of Competition | Professional/College | Club/Hight School | Recreational |
| Average Brightness | 750 lux | 500 lux | 300 lux |
| Minmum Brightness | 600 lux | 400 lux | 200 lux |
| Uniformity | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.67 |
LED retrofit for a pickleball courtroom docket lighting fixtures system
LED lights are a relatively new technology and offer significant advantages over HID systems. For example, better color rendering, lower heat generation and more precise light control. You can adjust the color frame according to your lighting needs to meet the needs of special situations. For example, adding yellow to a pickleball game improves visibility for bystanders on the field.
The dimming function is very suitable for pickleball games at night to meet the lighting requirements of the venue, avoid creating glare and reduce the impact of the light source on the surroundings. Besides providing a great field experience, LEDs offer incredible long-term cost savings. They last longer, use less power, and require less maintenance than older systems.
Cost to replace old LED pickleball court lights
If your pickleball court already has LEDs installed, you will need to check the LEDs. If the brightness decreases after 50,000 hours of use, the light source should be replaced.
The overall cost of upgrades has a lot to do with the size and number of pitches. New LED lights for pickleball courts typically cost between $1,000 and $4,000 each, depending on the quality of the LED lights and the level of lighting you need.
The final price depends on the desired quality of light, wattage required, lumen output required, and quantity purchased. A professional lighting design solution can estimate these parameters more accurately and receive more discounts from suppliers through long-term cooperation agreements.
