Easy way to change bulbs, or new lights

[D.R.HADDOCK]

light bulb changer.jpg

Try one of these,
much easier than ladders.
I have used one in our church,
5m to 7m high our roof.

[D.R.HADDOCK]

We used to have a similair problem too,
Our ceiling was 5 to 7 metres high,
so changing lamps was a pain.
I bought a light bulb changer,
it has an extension pole on it,
so you just extend it out,
the spring loaded end just clips over the light bulb,
and you just unscrew it, lower it,
put new lamp in pole, extend up and insert.
Much easier than planks or ladders.
I bought mine from a large hardware chain.

[smmccotter]

I wish we could do that too, but we have a protective glass cover that goes over the pot. So an extension wouldn't work. We're looking at some scaffolding and 20' step ladders.

[Esoteric]

I have actually done feasibility studies for two churches to switch to all LED house lighting because it was costing them $30000 every 18 months to change their house light lamps.

Neither has followed through, and I can't for the life of me figured out why.

Between discounts, energy savings, and lamp change savings, the $250k installation could be paid for in 3-5 years.

[D.R.HADDOCK]

Originally Posted by smmccotter

I wish we could do that too, but we have a protective glass cover that goes over the pot. So an extension wouldn't work. We're looking at some scaffolding and 20' step ladders.

What about a scissor lift ?
We usually just hire one,
Its about $120.00 a day to hire here,
We usually hire for two days, and do other things as well,
Like cleaning the A/C units,
Moving/installing lighting bars etc etc etc.
Because its only once ever 18 months,
its no too epensive.
And its a safe convenient way to do it.

[smmccotter]

Originally Posted by D.R.HADDOCK

What about a scissor lift ?
We usually just hire one,
Its about $120.00 a day to hire here,
We usually hire for two days, and do other things as well,
Like cleaning the A/C units,
Moving/installing lighting bars etc etc etc.
Because its only once ever 18 months,
its no too epensive.
And its a safe convenient way to do it.

Our pews are in the way, and are bolted to the floor lol. Also, our bulbs only have a life of 2000hrs, and they seem to go way before that.

I talked to them about doing LED lights, but I don't think our church would spend the money for it now unfortunately. I've told them all the benefits, but with a congregation of 300, they don't have the money to spend.

[Esoteric]

Yeah, I understand. These were much larger churches. But they had the EXACT problems you are describing. Lamps going out early, expensive replacement, etc.

[millamber]

Call your local personnel lift rental shop (Sunbelt or similar) and ask them for a Straddle Kit for a personnel lift. It is a device that mounts onto the outriggers of a Genie or JLG lift and has cranks on either end to raise the entire lift off the ground and over the pews.


We use them all of the time in church applications and any rental shop should either have one or will know where you can rent one.

[Steve Vanciel]

Originally Posted by smmccotter

our bulbs only have a life of 2000hrs, and they seem to go way before that.

2ooo hours is long life for a theatrical type lamp. To get even more hours out of your lamps, do not bring the dimmer settings over 90%. This will add many hours to your lamp life without a noticable change in light levels.

Another trick I use for the "daily" users of our sanctuary (not Sunday services) is to have the default power-on submaster page pre-programmed with fewer lights being used and none of them over 80% intensity. This has greatly increased overall lamp life since most "casual" users tend to bring every possible fader to full without any thought as to what they actually need to light at the moment and leave it up for hours. Labels, signs and training to no avail.

SteveV
Orlando, FL

[waynehoskins]

Another option, for daily work, would be to add work lights. Flouro tubes or something similar, where you can see to work without having to turn on the "real" lights.

Brilliant idea with Page 1 being a "for dummies" sub page. I'll have to remember that.

[D.R.HADDOCK]

Thats exactily what we do !
There are floros, which get used during the week.
The dimmable house lights ( 500w T25's ) usually only
get used during the week end,
and occassionily during the week.
So they last on average 18 months.
And I only used top quality long life lamps.
As changing them requires hiring a scissor lift.
But it is only once ever 18 months, so it's not too bad.

[smmccotter]

Thanks guys for all your input! We've taken all your guys' options and are having a meeting Wednesday to talk about it.

If you guys keep think of stuff, keep postin!