elektraLite Dazers Foster "Natural Warm Feeling" at Oklahoma ChurchMany worship leaders these days well understand the benefits of turning to newer lighting technologies to enhance the moods of their audiences and help them be moved by the message. The staff of Enid, Oklahoma's Emmanuel Baptist Church -- better known as Emmanuel Enid -- is a perfect example having recently replaced all of its worship center house lights with 88 elektraLite Dazer RGB fixtures as part of a larger remodel project designed and built by Paragon 360 out of Springfield, Missouri. The ability to handle the incandescent needs on a daily basis, but also be able to create a mood throughout the worship space via colors at special times was an attractive benefit to the church notes Ron Robertson, chief design officer of Paragon 360. Previously, the house lighting had very spotty coverage with some areas hotter and some cooler. "The new lighting provides a very even field of coverage and increases the intensity throughout the whole auditorium," Robertson explains. "The overall effect of the LEDs is now a smooth wash across the entire audience, including the balcony." Zac Lohrenz, the church's technical director, appreciates the LEDs' more expressive side. "The look is great as it allows us to change colors within the audience," he says. During traditional services at Emmanuel Enid, the house's incandescent lighting provides "a natural warm feeling," whereas when a contemporary or youth service is going on, "the ability to color the audience comes into play," adds Lohrenz. In addition, the church occasionally hosts special concerts, which are now illuminated with the help of the new LEDs. Robertson notes that churches undergoing remodels often come to the realization that their house lighting is inadequate. "That's one of the first things that gets cut back in the original building construction," he notes. "As time goes on, the house lights become a huge issue as church staffers realize how inefficient the fixtures have been in terms of energy usage." "So we usually suggest that they move over to LED house lighting for several reasons: power savings, less heat, and also maintenance-wise -- you don't have to touch them three times a year for lamp changes." Emmanuel Enid streams its services on its website, and the LEDs have been useful in enhancing the online viewing experience. Robertson says that he recommended elektraLites for this installation "after keeping dibs on their products over the years. There are hundreds of LED manufacturers, but we decided that the Dazers were the right choice for this project based on the fixtures' overall cost, output, and the available lensing right out of the box." About 80 percent of Paragon 360's present business is church renovations, and the company also recently installed 96 Dazers at Lone Oak Baptist Church in Paducah, Kentucky. elektralite is distributed in the US by Group One Ltd. Paragon 360 can be views at www.Paragon360.com. See elektralite and Group One Ltd at PLASA Focus: Orlando, February 17 - 18, 2015. 
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