What makes floodlights so bright?

Most floodlights use powerful gas-discharge bulbs. The same as fluorescent strip lights, these generate light by sending an electrical discharge through ionised gas.

Selected for their high luminosity, metal halide floodlights produce up to 100 lumens per watt – five times as much as a traditional incandescent bulb.

To illuminate a football pitch, about 200 of these lamps are mounted on columns. Floodlights require a great deal of energy; during a match, the average stadium lighting use roughly 1,350 kilowatt-hours – as much as the average UK household uses in 100 days!