Doing some reading, it appears that the United States Federal goverment wants us to all do away with all incandesent lighting starting in 2012, with total phase out by 2014. Europe seems to be a big more aggressive in their schedule.
Many of you who read my threads know how down to the watt and volt and amp I am about current draws and lighting. It's hard to run decent lighting rigs with 15-amp circuit or two, plus run full mains and backline. It ain't fun.
This is where it seems that the future for lighting is still bright. Lighting isn't going anywhere except continuing to go up on trusses suspended above audiences. I just can't see that changed. I can see more footlight applications but again, that doesn't lead to a decrease in lighting.
Note how ADJ seems to be migrating their lines off of traditional lighting and onto LED technology. At this point, what I'm seeing is not a gradual change, but rather a rapid movement. Of course, I bet companies such as ADJ knew about these law changes long before most of us since not all of us actually build lighting fixtures.
Now, on the one hand, I'm rather pleased. What does the LED technology mean? It means several things that work in favor for most of us. The LED technology seems to produce equal lighting than their traditional incandescent counterparts. The upsides to this are two-fold: less power draw and less heat. I want more light with less power draw, and LED does that fine for me. However, I'm not the one under the stage lights, but hey, if my performers aren't getting sweaty up on stage from my lights, then I'm all for that as well. It appears LED's are extremely long lasting, which means that you may never need to change bulbs. And doing some quick memory comparisons, it appears that in many cases, the new LED fixtures are coming in at prices equivalent to the incandescent fixtures they are replacing. There are of course exceptions, but you'll see why those make sense.
Take for example the new LED Electra with a MSRP price of $159.95. It ain't gonna sell for that much. Compare that with the Electra I bought in 2002 for $100 for a 50-watt fixture, which was then improved with a new stylish case for the same retail price, and then upgraded to a 200-watt fixture, all without a price change. Now, they've moved it to a LED fixture. This isn't a simple "swap out the bulb and put it in the catalog", it's a lot more electrically complicated than that. Chances are, this will retail for around $119-$130. Now, there is a DMX version as well for MSRP of $200. I bet that will retail for $160 street, and considering less dimmer and power packs to lug around, you can see where money savings really start kicking in.
Now, then again, some fixtures don't quite add up the same way. Take the LED Par64's. Granted, the $300 price tag might be a big much to eat, but considering a street price of around $60 for a traditional Par64 and you'd need at least 3, that's up to $180, and you need a DP-DMX20L dimmer, and those tend to demand around $180 new retail. Are you really saving now? Not by going the old way you aren't. You're coming out ahead going LED. Get color mixing, less fixtures and no color gelling Having said that, I'm budgetting for 8 Pro LED Par64's this year. I can phase out my 32 Par38s at last!
I'm only mentioning specific fixtures, but ADJ has replaced many of my other fixtures with LED equivalents, some also with DMX. My complaint is that "I put all this money into these other fixtures, now I have to replace them". What do I get? I get a figure that should last longer, run all night, less draw and same light output. On top of that, I might spend a bit more and get the DMX versions when available. I only lose because I bought before this stuff was available. But if I buy the LED replacements, I win in areas that count(current draw, less heat, same brightness) and only lose because I have to buy new fixtures.
The writing is on the wall, or at least printed in some snotty law books. ADJ has seen it, as has their Elation counterparts. Other companies have seen it too.
Now is the time to stop thinking with your wallet for immediate short term issues. Sure, a incandescent Par64 will cost you less, but if you use a bank of 3 to do RGB color mixing, that's BIG draw, 1500-1800 watts for 3 fixtures. You can run more than 12 LED Par64s off that, but you won't need that many. How does the economics pan out now?
My suggestion: Many LED fixtures aren't costing that much more than their incandescent counterparts. And it seems ADJ is cramming DMX into more and more fixtures for just a bit more. I would suggest that all of you start looking at the big picture and project 3-5 years down the road. Get a DMX cnotroller, get DMX fixtures whenever possible. Minimize your purchase of dimmer packs. You're gonna save time in the long run, but spend more money in the short term. But you should get an ROI of less than 24 months if you're busy.
It's time to remember Rule #1: Get paid.
You want to get paid? Buy smart. It's great that so many of you want to get into this business because you love music. I do to, probably more than most of you. But do I want to break my back loading in and out 2 tons of gear(yes, it's more than that at last count) which includes mains, monitors, backline, lighting, video and recording for free? Hell no. I ain't moving squat unless money is hitting my wallet. I ain't stupid. Rule #1 always applies.
My lights need upgrades. ADJ will get me to where I need to be. By phasing out my incandescent fixtures and going LED, I get what I want: more lights, less draw, fewer circuits. This means more gigs. This means more money. I can still use some of my previous investments, I just have to mind the draw.
Getting paid is good. Gotta spend money to make money. Of course, I got to replace the $10,000 in gear that was stolen from me last year too. It's gonna be a rough 2008, but I'm sticking in there. LED is the way to go. I am interested to see what else ADJ comes out with. Since I check here frequently, I'll know as soon as everyone else does.
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