Church Parish Hall Lighting Project

Our client was a Catholic church in Louisiana that had an adjoining parish hall.

The hall was used for a variety of church activities, chief among which was bingo on Tuesday nights. The lighting system in the church was very old and somewhat dim. Because many who attended these events were elderly people, the church decided to invest in new fluorescent lighting to improve visibility and comfort for its parishioners.

The current lighting system was failing in a number of respects. The parish hall had originally been lit with 1X4 fluorescent lighting panels. The original builder had installed these because he felt that this was the most economical method of lighting the 10’ ceiling. There were also several windows along the west wall, so on Southern summer evenings when daylight lasted longer, there was quite a bit of natural light coming in that added to the room’s illumination. However, over time these fluorescent lights had faded and begun to flicker, and some had even burned out, leaving dark patches in the room. It was also difficult to see colors under these older lights. The white tile floor and the light blue color of the wall seemed to bleed together into a passé washout. Attendance began to dwindle at church events, and many remarked that the lighting was part of the reason they no longer wanted to come.

Photometric design helped us develop two options to accommodate the church’s budget. After looking at the dimensions of the facility and the general lighting requirements for the room, we determined that the current fluorescent lights were only producing 60% of the f/c necessary for satisfactory lighting levels in the room. We also ran several test scenarios in our 3D photometric software program to see what type of energy efficient lights could do the job better and bring the room’s lighting up to satisfactory levels. We came up with two different options to present to the church, giving them an either/or scenario so they could choose which option worked best for their budget.

Option One:

The first option involved converting from surface mounted 1X4 fluorescent panel lights to recessed fluorescent down lights. They featured a superior CRI rating, which our photometric analysis indicated would make it easier to differentiate between the white tile floor and the blue of the wall. The recessed down lighting also offered a more low-profile fixture layout and more precise lighting along tabletops where people would be playing bingo. Our software allowed us to create min-max ratios between the pools of lighting that would blend the illumination evenly over the table surfaces and create a warm, comfortable setting for parishioners.

Option Two:

The second option we offered the church was a series of 2X4 lay-in T8 fluorescent light fixtures. These fixtures featured energy efficient electronic intended to further reduce the cost of lighting with superior regulation of current. They also were considerably brighter than both the older panel lights and the proposed recessed lighting fixtures. Additionally, their CRI rating was even higher than that of the recessed fluorescents, but the front-end cost would be higher as well. Nevertheless, the T8 fluorescent lights represented the best long-term return on investment through power savings, and the most attractive setting for guests.

Energy savings won out over front-end cost.

The church decided to go with Option Two based on the best color rendering it provided and the guaranteed reduction of energy costs that would accompany its use. After installation, the church has subsequently reported compliments on the new lighting system from a majority of parishioners and a visible increase in attendance.