Free Sample
The Complete Handbook of Lamp Post Mounts
A Practical Reference for Specifiers, Installers, and Property Managers
by Alumigogo Books
Chapter 1: Understanding Lamp Post Mounts
A lamp post mount is the structural assembly that connects a light fixture to its supporting pole. It is not the pole itself, nor the bulb, nor the photocell. It is the bracket, plate, or fitting that transfers the weight of the luminaire and the forces of wind and weather down into the pole and ultimately into the foundation. While it looks like a simple piece of metal, the mount carries the entire mechanical and electrical interface between two manufactured components that are often made by different companies. Choose the wrong one and the fixture will not fit, the electrical connection will be exposed to water, or the assembly will fail under load.
Consider a typical residential streetlight. The pole is an aluminum extrusion with a tenon, which is a short pipe stub welded to the top. The fixture has an arm or a base with a hole that slips over that tenon. The mount, in this case a slip-fit collar with a setscrew, is what locks the two together. Without it, the fixture would sit loosely and likely rotate or lift off in a storm. On a larger scale, a municipal light pole in a parking lot might use a flanged mount: a flat steel plate with a hole pattern that bolts directly to a matching plate at the top of the pole. These are completely different mounting systems, and they are not interchangeable.
The mount also serves a second, less obvious function.