Tungsten Quartz to LED conversion?

[bassbone52]

Here's the deal. The architect and/or building committee for our new church building spec'd cylindrical pendant lights for the sanctuary which have the candelabra-base 400w tungsten Quartz bulbs. We've been in this building six months and already three bulbs are burned out. These fixtures are either 21' or 25' off the floor (depending on the row) with no way to get to them except by renting an articulated boom lift. The question is what's involved in switching to an LED light source? They must be dimmable. Is a new light fixture required? The bulbs are located about 10" up from the bottom of the fixture itself. I'm just trying to eliminate all the time and expense of changing bulbs every year.

 

[cybrdyke]

400w with a candelabra base? Are you sure that's correct? That would be really odd.

For whatever reason, cylinders are popular in churches. There are LED screw base products (probably not candelabra) for high lumen lamps. They'll be made by 3rd or 4th tier manufacturers, none of the big manufacturers make them. I'm sure you can find them via google. There are also lots of new fixture possibilities at a significantly high price. You're not alone with this issue. Many churches struggle with it. Maybe ask other churches what they are doing?
What we have done that sometimes works and sometimes doesn't, is use an LED PAR38 lamp. They are fairly common and not too expensive. The advantage of them is that the light they deliver is in a fairly tight beam. This mimics the beam of the light that the cylinder produces. Ask a local electrical supplier to come out and show some samples to you. They will.
CD

 

[Rookie2]

I can't even guess at what a 400 watt LED package would look like. I installed a 30 and a 50 watt dusk to dawn light and they have huge heat sinks plus they require a driver (ballast size box). You may be looking at around a 100 watt LED to replace the 400W. The electrical contractor and supplier are your best route to find options.

 

[Norcal]

You will not get the light from a LED retrofit, my suggestion would be replace/redesign the fixtures as LED, but that is not a inexpensive option & have seen some cobbled "improvements" on church lighting fixtures that left much to be desired, or make sure the halogen lamps are not a off breed brand, like Feit, or Westinghouse, for a couple of examples & use 130 volt lamps.

LED still has a long way to go.

 

[bassbone52]

I appreciate all the replies. This is not going to be an easy (or cheap) fix.

 

[Stuart in MN]

If the church is only six months old, there should be some sort of record showing the make and model of the light fixtures that were installed. If you can find that info, call the manufacturer and ask them if there's an LED retrofit (or they also may be able to comment on why the existing lamps are burning out so fast.)