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For any contractor who works after dark, auxiliary lighting can increase safety and productivity. But the best results require a little research. There is a wide variety of lighting products on the market that offer varying degrees of illumination.

Consider the case of spotlights. "To get the illumination you want may [require] a bit of trial and error," says Chuck Bunstock, Golight Inc. "To compare lights' performance without testing them side by side can be difficult since there are no standards in place for evaluating light output. That should change in the near future. Recently, a group of flashlight and spotlight manufacturers have joined together to develop ANSI standards that the consumer can use to compare light performance."

The difficulty in comparing auxiliary lights is partially due to the number of variables that affect performance. This includes the design of the reflector, as well as the brightness and efficiency of the bulb. But you must be careful not to confuse the wattage of the light with the light intensity produced. Different light sources may have the same power requirements but not produce the same light output.

Understand lighting requirements
With any auxiliary lighting, you must ensure that the electrical system is up to the task. Consider that wattage is actually a measure of current draw, while amperage is the rate that electricity flows through a wire. The standard equation relating wattage and amperage is: wattage = voltage x amperage. This means a light that draws 5 amps in a 12-volt system has 60 watts.

For example, the Golight auxiliary lamp needs power for both the positioning motor and the lamp. "That maximum amp draw for one Golight is 5.5 amps with the lamp running and motor operating," says Bunstock.