Take Control of your Environmental Impact

When speaking with my esteemed colleague, John McKissock of Clearlight Shows in Melbourne, we often bring up the same topic; the environmental benefits of upgrading lighting rigs from traditional fixtures to LED, and the shocking environmental impact of buying, then disposing of, inferior products. We’re like broken records.

So, we thought we’d take this opportunity in the ‘Control’ issue to bring a bit of data to the argument, along with our strong opinions.

The fact is, there is a cost as well as an environmental benefit to finally getting around to upgrading your community theatre or school hall.

Power management systems like LSC Control Systems’ APS ensure power up and power down of an entire rig can be automated, and nothing is drawing current when not in use.

There are a range of movement sensors, timers, and control systems that can also be deployed to manage and analyse fixture and room usage.

It’s well-known that LED lighting fixtures use a fraction of the power of traditional discharge fixtures, but there’s also the cost savings of reduced maintenance, and quite surprising amounts to be saved in air conditioning.

All of this helps reduce carbon emissions if your electricity is being generated from fossil fuels.

When planning a transition to LED, there’s the trap of the many, many extremely cheap but ultimately poorly made and disposable LED fixtures available in the market, particularly online.

Like everything else in life, you get what you pay for. What’s even more of a concern than money wasted when these unrepairable fixtures end up in the bin is that cheap electronics and plastics often contain particularly nasty metals and chemicals.

What goes into landfill ultimately ends up in the water table and our soil.

“I personally have an issue with customers wanting to buy cheap Chinese fixtures that I know will become landfill in a couple of years,” emphasises John McKissock.

“At Clearlight, we work with our customers to budget for a sustainable, longer term option of affordable, quality product. We have products that are competitive in quality to the top-end offerings on the market at very competitive prices.

“We’re also able to offer our second-tier of theatre LED products suitable for school and community theatre projects that have tighter budgets.

“There’s no logical reason to buy a $500 fixture three times over six years and dispose of them in landfill when you can buy a $1,200 fixture that will last for 10 years. We have never compromised on the quality of the product that we offer to our customers and never will.”

But don’t let the rantings of an inner-northern latte-sipping Melbournian Leftie (me) and an aging Hippy (John) put you off – we have data!

The following measurements were taken by Clearlight in their warehouse at 5 metres, and show examples of typical savings when comparing fixture wattage and output.

TRADITIONAL FRESNELS
Selecon Acclaim 650w Fresnel (reading taken at 6°): Lux 115
Selecon HP 1200w Fresnel (reading taken at 7°): Lux 435
Selecon HP 2000W Fresnel (reading taken at 7°): Lux 325

LED FRESNELS
Showtec Performer 1500 Tungsten 100w LED Fresnel (reading taken at 10°): Lux 306
Showtec Performer 1500 RGBALC 100w LED Fresnel (reading taken at 10°): Lux 235
Showtec Performer 2500 Tungsten 250w LED Fresnel (reading taken at 10°): Lux 610

TRADITIONAL PROFILES
Selecon Acclaim Axial 18/34 600w Profile (reading taken at 26°): Lux 200
Selecon Pacific 14/35 1k Profile (reading taken at 26°): Lux 140

LED PROFILES
Showtec Performer 3200K 250w WW DDT Profile (reading taken S4 26°): Lux 390
Showtec Performer RGBAL 270w Profile (reading taken S4 26°): Lux 260


Using these measurements and manufacturer data, this would be the cost savings for a small lighting rig:

TRADITIONAL FIXTURES
20 x Selecon Pacific 1k Profiles = 20,000 Watts per hour
20 x Selecon 2k Fresnels = 40,000 Watts per hour
Total: 60,000 Watts per hour

LED FIXTURES
20 x LED Performer RGBAL 270w = 5400 Watts per hour
20 x LED Performer 250 Fresnel 250w = 5000 Watts per hour
Total: 10,400 Watts per hour

Total saving of 49,600 Watts per hour

As with most environmental issues, it’s cheaper and better for the bottom line to go Green.

So even if the accountant holding your venue’s purse strings thinks climate change is a fairy tale invented by George Soros so Bill Gates can implant us all with subcutaneous microchips, a massive reduction in costs is usually enough to make them sign off with a big, satisfied grin on their face.

So go to it, eco-warriors!

CX Magazine – February 2021   

LIGHTING  |  AUDIO  |  VIDEO  |  STAGING  |  INTEGRATION

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