Venue ban on "hot" up lighters

[MarkA74]

Note to mods, may be in wrong section, wasn't sure whether to post in here or under Safety.

 

Anyway.....

 

Did an event recently in the Lancaster London Hotel (first time I'd worked there for several years) & they now have within their T&C's a venue wide ban on "hot up lighters" ie;- par cans. Quote from their T&C's "only LED lights to be used for up lighting".

 

Just wondered if anyone else had come across this type of equipment specific ban in this venue or others around the world?

[David Lee]

I think the Hilton Park Lane have the same ban.

[paulears]

To be honest, we all spend far too much time 'policing' these damn things to stop them singeing (bad) or burning(worse) the cloths and drapes. I've always found them an accident in the making!

[David Lee]

In the old days we had no choice but to stick conventional lights on the floor. Nowadays LED kit is so cheap and common place we would be stupid not to use them. Seriously hot lights on the floor with public near by, as Paul saysm is an accident in the making.

[MarkA74]

In the old days we had no choice but to stick conventional lights on the floor. Nowadays LED kit is so cheap and common place we would be stupid not to use them. Seriously hot lights on the floor with public near by, as Paul says is an accident in the making.

 

I hate to tempt fate, but in 14 years of working in the AV industry I've never had, nor seen anyone have an issue with them!

 

 

I know that LED is the way to go, but when you work for somewhere that doesn't have any LED stock & is working it's way out of the recession, kit investment is way down the list, so you have to work with what you have!

[David Lee]

Had a curtain burnt last year when somebody kicked a Par56 Floor can into it. Was a avery nice thick curtain. Now has an added scorch mark. really not worth it.

[KevinE]

You wont forgive yourself if a little kiddie is attracted to one and burns the palm of their hand!

[Jivemaster]

Worked at a venue with "Winter" themeing to find 32 x 1k PAR64s used as uplighters in a room with white ceiling for 300 covers The steel blue gel was ineffective when the lamps were dimmed down to almost nothing but otherwise it was drastically OTT for brightness. LEDs could be a good idea.

[StevieR]

Are the hotels actually 'banning' these units on safety grounds or are they just trying to cut down their electricity bill a little?

 

Steve

[Stuart91]

Are the hotels actually 'banning' these units on safety grounds or are they just trying to cut down their electricity bill a little?

 

The way some venues charge for use of heavy duty power supplies, I think it would be in their financial interest to encourage people to bring as many parcans as possible...

[mac.calder]

The company I work for has implemented the nothing-but-leds to uplight policy. It is one of those sorts of things that a risk assessment when combined with a Cost-Benefit analysis illustrates that NOT going to LED is a silly idea.

 

Risk: Joe public being an idiot (or a drunken idiot) and playing with uplights and getting burnt. Risk: moderate Hazard: moderate. Solution - either bollard off the drape lines (I am sure clients would love to loose an extra 3 feet of floor space) or use LED.

 

Then you look at the costs - Purchase 40 LED PAR Cans. Mid-range Chinese LED PARs for uplights cost less than $80 each. Compared to a S4 par which costs $180ish. Then consider that you can charge more in some situations because we now have the ability to change the colours during the event. Next consider the labor savings. You can very easily run 10-15 of them from a single 10A socket, as opposed to having to run cables to every group of three S4 Pars. Finally, you no longer need a couple of sheets of gel when you place uplights around the room. There is also the added advantage that LED pars happen to make great dance floor lights and can be used in many other situations as well.

[Bobbsy]

I've seen the results of drapes touching a hot uplighter when, in my first job in TV, I had to take an extinguisher to a burning curtain in the studio of a small town TV station in Western Canada. From the fire I encountered I suspect treatment with flame proofing was a bit hit and miss back then...but this rule makes perfect sense to me.

 

Bob

[MarkA74]

"Are the hotels actually 'banning' these units on safety grounds or are they just trying to cut down their electricity bill a little?"

 

"The way some venues charge for use of heavy duty power supplies, I think it would be in their financial interest to encourage people to bring as many parcans as possible..."

 

Certainly the Lancaster London will not allow you to use par cans (Non LED) to up light set's.

 

As for hotels charging for the use of "heavy duty power" I haven't come across a single venue who has asked us for payment before we plug into the 3Ph!!

[Stuart91]

As for hotels charging for the use of "heavy duty power" I haven't come across a single venue who has asked us for payment before we plug into the 3Ph!!

 

To be fair to hotels, I have encountered such charges more in exhibition venues. Charges of £500+ for a 3ph 63amp supply aren't uncommon.

 

I'm surprised that more hotels haven't jumped on this bandwagon - it's an easy step for management to take to keep the headline cost of a room booking down whilst still maintaining revenue streams.

[Stuart91]

Risk: Joe public being an idiot (or a drunken idiot) and playing with uplights and getting burnt. Risk: moderate Hazard: moderate. Solution - either bollard off the drape lines (I am sure clients would love to loose an extra 3 feet of floor space) or use LED.

 

One other risk is drunks spilling drinks onto fixtures. Many LED fixtures are waterproof, so this is a good way of getting round that issue too.