However, the unique architecture of a church requires a more sophisticated lighting setup than what you would typically see in a commercial or residential space. This ultimate guide will help you know how to use LED lighting to illuminate churches.
Church Lighting Basics
There are a few basics to remember when choosing LED lighting for a church. First and foremost, you must know the church’s floor area and ceiling height. The dimension of the platform or stage is also important to note.
Then LED lighting fixtures with the right color temperature, and intensity should be chosen accordingly. It can have a significant impact on the environment of a church. Because too bright light can disrupt the mood of the audience.
On the other hand, too dim light will make it difficult to see things clearly and navigate around the place. Nowadays, video recording is common in churches. So it is important that the church interior has sufficient visibility.
Why Pick LED Lights for Church?
There are many reasons for choosing LED lights for proper lighting and illumination in churches. The main reasons are given below:
Lasts Longer
The bulbs of an LED lamp have a longer life span than any other bulbs. The average lifespan of an LED light can be 100,000 hours or more. So, you should be able to use LED lighting elements for almost 11 years without any worries. For this reason, such light can be used in churches without worrying about changing the light for a long time.
Saves Energy
LED fixtures are made to consume less power compared to other types of lights. LEDs consume about 80% less power. For church lighting, a common stage light is the PAR 64 light. If such lights are made from incandescent lamps, they need 1000-watt power. LEDs, on the other hand, will only need 75 watts to operate.
Produces Less Heat
We know that energy can not be created or destroyed. For incandescent bulbs, the electrical energy is converted into more heat than LED fixtures. In other terms, LED fixtures produce less heat. So regarding energy savings, LED fixtures consume considerably less power. It also reduces maintenance costs.
Light Categories for Church
To create illumination in churches with LED church lighting. There are so many options for lighting elements. These lighting elements mainly depend on various architectural elements and other things. However, the categories of LED church lights are described below:
Floodlights
The floodlights are also called soft-edged lights. The reason is this type of light can produce smooth areas. Moreover, it can cover a wide range. Putting such light output gives a soothing wash-light feel to church lights which are quite flattering when the audience looks at them.
Floodlights are better for outdoor facade lighting as these lights can be motion activated. But these lights can illuminate curtains, so setting up these lights is a little challenging.
Spotlights
Spotlights are just the opposite of floodlights. This means spotlights are known as hard-edged, unlike floodlights, called soft-edged lights. The control system of this light is easy because of the crisp edge and the stand.
There are many spotlights, such as moving head spots, follow-spot, and ellipsoidal spotlights. In churches, LED spotlights can be used to put focus on a particular spot. For example, when a speaker speaks on the stage, the spotlight can focus on the speaker.
Key Lights
The key lights are LEDs that give a warm white light output. Such light is perfect for all types of skin colors. So, this light should be used in churches for worship spaces, pastors, or preachers.
Moreover, this type of light is perfect for video recording. Nowadays, lectures and other church activities are recorded or videotaped so that they can be used later for education or teaching. In such cases, these LEDs are perfect.
Beam Lights
Beam lights are different compared to all the other lights stated so far. Beam lights are used to focus on a particular point within the spotlight. As mentioned earlier, LED spotlights can be used to put focus on a particular spot.
After focusing there, beam lights can be used inside the spotlight area where a more particular object or a person can be highlighted. So, different churches need different beam lights based on the task of the LED beam light.
Wash Lights
Sunday services are the most important services in a church. In this case, it is very important to pick the right LEDs to illuminate with church lighting. In this case, LED wall wash lights are a perfect choice.
Because when it comes to creating an amazing background, wash lights with LED colors are pretty good. Moreover, the color and the hue can easily be changed for this type of LED. For this reason, you can have a huge color range for the background.
LED Fixtures
The lighting within a church should be bright enough for the audience to see each other during the congregation. Also, the people on stage should be visible clearly for video recording and live stream purposes.
For covering all these areas, modern LED fixtures are the best solution. Not only do such lights save energy and generate less heat, but they also show the natural skin tone in live stream compared to any other lights we find or see in the market.
DMX LED Lights
Churches nowadays are using DMX technology for controlling LEDs in house lighting duties. They are quite convenient as the operator can easily control house lighting while lighting up the church simultaneously.
DMX LED lighting has versatile color options, which can be configured creatively with specified time intervals. Therefore, it is an excellent stage lighting element. It is also good for the live stream of the program.
LED Video Panels
If a program occurs in a big church, then it is normal for the audience at the last end to miss the activities on the stage. In this case, a big LED screen helps to show the activities by live stream. Live stream screens are hard to watch with all the church lighting.
But it can be easier if the live stream screen has LED panels because LED video panels can help dampen the light reflecting the live stream screen. So, in big churches, it is a good idea to use LED panels for live stream screens.
Various Positions for Church Lighting
Now that you know which LED is perfect for what type of task in churches, it is time to learn about the position of lighting in churches. Different lighting positions in churches are described below:
Back Lighting
This type of lighting is typically used at the back of the stage. It is a great lighting technique for giving a unique aesthetic look. LED fixtures like backlighting are a good choice for variation and power saving.
Although, using only a backlight without any other lighting design is not a good idea. Because these create a halo effect, it is better to use a backlight with other lights, such as the side light, front light, etc.
Front Lighting
This is the primary lighting source for any church. The front lights are usually placed in the rigs to provide appropriate lighting to the congregation. The most common positions for these lights are trusses, beams, or overhead of the congregation people.
Too many front lights are not a good idea because it damps the other lights. To create a perfect environment, it is best to keep a balance combination of front lights with other lights.
Down Lighting
Down lighting, aka foot lighting design, is used instead of or along with the candles in the church. This is the position on the foot of the stage where different colored effects are used to give an attractive look to the stage.
Side Lighting
This lighting position is at an angle at the bottom or side of the stage. This is mainly used to give more coverage area to the lights at the down lighting position. If the lights are set on a vertical boom at any side of the main stage, this is also called the side lighting position.
High-Side Lighting
If lights are placed on the sides of the church’s ceiling, the position is high-side lighting. This position is important because it helps the congregation see the facial expression of the pastor, preacher, or people on the stage to worship.
