Liberty (Kansas City), Missouri

Replace Tungsten House Lighting Fixtures with Dimmable LED Fixtures, Update Architectural Control & Expand Theatrical Control Capacity

Location: Liberty (Kansas City), Missouri

The primary goal for Pleasant Valley in replacing their house lighting fixtures was to save on energy expenses. 120 500w fixtures were replaced, for a maximum wattage consumption of 60,000w. The original fixtures were installed in 1997.

The Chroma Q Inspire RGBW LED fixture was chosen as the replacement, and the wattage per fixture is 120w maximum, for a maximum wattage consumption of 14,400w @ 120 fixtures (a 1-to-1 replacement). The energy saving is at one-quarter or better, depending on how the fixture is used. For standard every-day white use at 50% brightness, only 1,800w can illuminate the room at a useable level – this is less than 3% of the original energy used with the previous tungsten fixtures.

Based on third-party calculations, the project should pay for itself through energy savings in only 1.5 years, and the savings over 10 years is near $1M. A rebate plan with the local power company was a major incentive for Pleasant Valley to move forward with the project, and a major portion of the cost was subsidized. The LED lamp life is rated at 50,000 hours. Pleasant Valley will never have to buy a tungsten 500w lamp ever again. A fully dimmable LED fixture was another reason for choosing the Chroma Q Inspire. The ability to dim smoothly from 100% to 0% is a very important benefit in a theatrical environment.

The Chroma Q Inspire is also a full RGBW color lighting fixture, which can colorize the room to any hue desired. This creates an immersive color experience that engages the congregation at a greater level and sets a mood that could never be attained prior. Each fixture is individually addresses and controlled, and with the control software, the ceiling can be “mapped” with gradients, images, patterns or sequences to support the creative experience.

To control the new LED house fixtures, significant upgrades to the architectural control system were addressed. ETC Paradigm was chosen for control and all user control stations, 7 in all, were upgraded for compatibility. The majority of the DMX information that controls the LED house fixtures via the ETC Paradigm, or Jands Vista controller is distributed via a Streaming ACN (sACN) protocol over cat5 cabling – this is a complete shift from the previous cabling and protocol that connected the system since 1997. The Jands Vista theatrical lighting control system DMX channel output needed to be expanded from 2048ch to 4096ch (8 universes) to fully support the additional channels required by the 120 Chroma Q Inspire fixtures for individual control.

Installation for the project was completed in 3 weeks with only 4 days of total system downtime during the final week.

With the continued benefits of significant energy savings, creative color control, updated infrastructure, and nearly limitless control, Stark Raving Solutions is blessed to be a continual parter with Pleasant Valley Baptist Church.