Custom LED Solution for a Church Basketball Court

The ELEDLights team of lighting experts recently helped a Baptist church in Regina, Canada upgrade the lighting in a multipurpose room that converts into a basketball court. We helped find a great LED alternative to the fourteen T5 fluorescent fixtures they had, which were consuming 216 watts each.

Energy Savings

By making the switch from fluorescents to LEDs, the church now has more illumination, more control over light levels, and has cut energy overhead by more than 1/2 each month.

Old Lighting Setup

Each original fixture had four fluorescent T5 tubes, running at 54W each tube. This one room’s setup was costing the church approximately $87 per month.

New Lighting Solution

Original fixture shown with LED retrofit inserted.

After consulting with the church’s team, and analyzing the needs of the application, our experts helped find the best LED solution for the project. The church wanted to utilize the original fixtures, so retrofitting was the best option.

We suggested the medium output version of our LED Retrofit for T5/T8/T12 Fluorescent High Bays. However, this light typically comes in only 4000K or 5000K options, and the church preferred a more neutral, slightly warmer 3500K color temperature. We worked with the Hatboro, PA-based manufacturer of these retrofits to configure a custom CCT option for the church.

The LED Results

The 14 custom-built, 3500K LED retrofit kits were installed in the church and illuminate the basketball court with 1,600 lumens. The new light is evenly dispersed through frosted lenses and the lamps are protected by the existing caged fixtures.

“The lights are installed and work perfectly,” says one of the pastors at the church. “We love the 3500K and they are plenty bright. We were able to use the existing cages and the acrylic lenses.”

Smart Controls Utilized

Since the room is used as a gym, a classroom, a banquet hall, and a meeting area, one of the suggestions an ELEDLights sales team member made was to use controls to customize the space. Our team recommended a Lutron dimmer and powPAK, which goes in the ceiling, can be used wirelessly, and eliminates needing to run 0-10V wires from a switch to the fixtures, helping keep their drywall intact.

Lights fully dimmed

Lights partially dimmed

Lights at full brightness

The church went with the Lutron suggestion, and used Caseta wireless remotes. The pastor says they work great. “They are not too bright at 100% for playing sports (I’d say perfect),” he told us, “[and] if you are sitting around having a meeting, it is more comfortable to dim them a bit.

Getting Your Own Custom LED Upgrade

If you have a specific area that you would like to upgrade to LED lighting, and maybe even integrate smart controls like this church we helped, then reach out to our team! We can provide layouts, advice, help finding utility rebates in your area, and even customized solutions. Call 215.355.7200, text 267.266.8330, or email lights@eledlights.com to get started.

Learn More About These Retrofits

Watch our video to see how easy our swing-up LED retrofit kits are to install! Or check out another LED upgrade case study featuring these high-quality retrofit kits.