We have you booked to wash our [product] in a white light and your account manager says you are using discharge fixtures. What does this mean and how much power do they draw?
The fixtures we will use are a 400watt discharge unit. These work by creating an "arc" (like a spark) within the lamp. This is different from standard "Incandescent" lamps (standard light bulbs) as the latter have a filament and produce a lot more heat, meaning they are less efficient on power consumption.
There are various different types of lamps for our discharge fixtures ranging from the "sodium" type (as used in street lighting, creating an orange light), to coloured lamps to pure white. For your event we will be using a "metal halide" lamp for your event. These produce a very white light - much like that of sun light.
They can also be gelled, so we can create different colours to match your specification.
In terms of power, these discharge fixtures all run on standard 240 volts. As for current they draw a lot of current on the initial strike and then the draw a lower current for nominal usage. The nominal current draw for a 400watt fixture should be assumed to be around 2amps.
Additional notes:
One important thing to remember with metal hallide fixtures is, while they appear white, the mixture of different colours that makes the white appearance is NOT even. This can mean that when we put, say a blue gel, in front of them, they may not produce a blue, but a soft purple."
Establish your intended colour and then do tests.
More info: SXS Event Lighting Page or SXS Hire Lighting Page
