When should a sports club survey its floodlight electrical supplies?

With the floodlights on. Floodlight circuits at sports clubs, community pitches, tennis and padel courts and driving ranges carry heavy load for a few hours on training and match nights, and very little during the day. A daytime survey sees cold connections. Plan the visit for a session when the lights are running, and record the load against each image.

Why daytime surveys miss floodlights

Thermography shows a poor connection by the heat it gives off when current flows through it. A floodlight distribution board that is switched off, or only feeding the clubhouse, carries no floodlight current at all. Many clubs book their electrical survey for a weekday morning, when the clubhouse is quiet and staff are free. That suits the building, but it means the circuits that run the hardest for the shortest time are seen at rest.

What to include

The incoming supply and main switchboard, with the floodlights running
The floodlight distribution board and its outgoing ways to each mast
Lighting contactor and control panels, including timer or booking-system switching
Isolators and supply cabinets at the mast bases that can be safely opened from the ground
Clubhouse boards, bar and kitchen supplies, and any pitch or court heating

Luminaires and drivers at the top of the masts are outside a ground-level survey unless the club arranges safe access.

Timing the visit

Agree a session with the club when the lights will be on for at least the time it takes to walk the route, usually a training evening. Lighting is often switched in banks or by pitch, so the club’s contact switches on every bank on the route, or the report lists any that were not seen under load. Out-of-season clubs can run the lights for the survey rather than waiting for a fixture.

Outdoor conditions

Mast-base cabinets and feeder pillars sit outdoors. Rain, wind and low evening temperatures all affect what the camera sees on outdoor equipment, so readings are taken with covers open where it is safe, the conditions are recorded, and each connection is compared with a matching one under the same load. See outdoor equipment in UK weather.

What the report gives you

Each finding carries the location, the measured temperature, the reference it was compared with, the difference in °C and the load at the time. Ti Thermal Imaging issues the report the same day. Ti inspects and reports; the club’s electrical contractor investigates and carries out any work.

Why load matters

On a London data centre build, commissioning thermography by our team found 16 busbar sections reading above 80 °C under test load, the highest 103.5 °C at a tap-off unit. They showed because the system was carrying load when it was imaged. A floodlight circuit is no different: image it with the lights on.

Frequently asked questions

Do the floodlights need to be on for the whole survey?

Only while the floodlight boards, panels and mast-base cabinets are being imaged. The clubhouse can be surveyed before or after.

Can it be done during a match?

Often a training session is easier, with fewer people around the pitch and easier access to the mast bases. The club decides what suits it.

How often should floodlight supplies be surveyed?

Most clubs include them in an annual electrical thermography survey, timed for the season when the lights are used most.