Phillips SL PAR 150 Zoom Luminaires

In Lighting, Product Reviewsby tfwm

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Phillips SL PAR 150 Zoom Luminaires

By Jaron Barrington

Our need for lighting updates and upgrades came to a head this past spring when our lighting console that used a floppy disc began to fail.  We knew we needed a new lighting board and we knew we needed some new lights.  Little did I know at the time how all the puzzle pieces would come together to craft what I think is one of the better outcomes in church lighting industry around.  We have colorful vibrant lights and optimal control in every element of worship.  Our congregants feel more involved and active in the worship experience.

Lighting plays a pivotal role in all elements or acts in worship and it can enhance them all.  And so for our church where we have six different generations at worship in six separate, different styled and adapted services, lighting is critical.  I didn’t really know how critical lighting would be until we began to develop a new lighting system.  Afterwards, I realize how helpful lighting can be.  Here are some examples:  a couple of our services are smaller so we have the capability to darken different areas of the room and rope off sections.  A couple of our services like to be immersed and experience worship, let it surround them and that’s when we get real creative and use color in the house to make people feel like they are participants on stage.  Still yet another demographic prefers the familiar and enjoys the standard, warm white lighting with stained glass and minimal changes. How did we achieve these different looks and feels in our South Sanctuary?  We called on Gemini Lighting of Dallas, TX to help us figure it all out and they introduced us to Phillips Showline SL PAR 150 ZOOM Luminaires.

Less Watts = Greater Savings

This Showline fixture is a game changer.  The Showline SL PAR 150 ZOOM is a die-cast aluminum LED Par can that utilizes nine high-powered and homogenized 15 watt RGBW LED’s to produce over 3200 lumens of output.  The manual zoom provides a beam angle range from 15°-70° and the split yoke bracket allows for easy hanging or floor mounting.  The rugged construction, internal power supply, and ease of use make the SL PAR 150 ZOOM a natural replacement for conventional theatrical PAR fixtures by providing designers with the highest output and best color uniformity. We were using a lot of Par 64s and Source 4 Pars which eat up a lot of electricity compared to these Showlines.  We went from about 750watts per fixture to 150watts at max output.  Therefore the savings in electricity costs alone is worth it.  The A/C doesn’t run as much and the lights burn less electricity per fixture.  They are cooler, brighter at 3200 lumens and capable of producing any color you want to use.  There are no hot spots and it gives a beautiful even wash of color or bright white.

Fewer, Brighter Fixtures

We had originally thought to just replace some of our theatrical stage lighting with these Showlines, but when Pat Lee from Gemini started mentioning energy savings and how he was trying to get at least one of his customers to use these fixtures as house lights to show the endless possibilities of a room, I began to realize these would be perfect for us and the different services we offer.  We can control the entire room back to front and create a myriad of looks.  Our volunteer light board operators love having the flexibility and capability these lights offer.  They are easy to install, easy to use and great for church applications.  We still have a few movers and some incandescents in the air, but the beauty and astounding colors and looks come from the Phillips Showline SL PAR 150 ZOOM.  We don’t need as many fixtures because they are so much brighter.  Both the lumen output and the beam angle make this fixture ideal for a worship room application and we are absolutely thrilled with the performance of the SL PAR 150 ZOOM.  We can be extremely creative and color change the entire sanctuary and really create a service and atmosphere to appeal to the audience who is attending a particular service.  The colors are extremely vibrant, rich and consistent between all fixtures and the possibilities are endless. February 2015- 1 reviewIf you are looking to immerse your people in worship or if you are wanting to keep with the traditional looks and feels in worship, the Phillips Showline SL PAR 150 ZOOM is versatile enough to help you achieve any style or combination of styles you are after.  I couldn’t be more pleased with the choice. We have the capability to really enhance any worship experience to its’ fullest.  Lighting and putting on a big show isn’t the final objective in worship, but like music, lighting can stir the emotions and help focus people on the elements at play and hopefully help them achieve the ultimate objective of connecting and communing with God.

Jaron Barrington is in charge of Music at Walnut Ridge Baptist Church. You can email him at jaron.barrington@walnutridge.cc