Power Question..

Yeah Darklight Z-series is what I use for general wash. They are a little pricey, but not when you consider the alternative. If you use a par 64, you will pay around $35 for the can and lamp, plus you need to wire it using extension cords or run AC. Not to mention the cost of the electricity to run those things (even a 300W lamp runs a lot of current when you think about having a bunch of them). I decided last year to make the investment in LED lighting, and glad I did because it saved me in wiring, and in electricity. It also eliminates the issues of heat.

With standard par cans you have a real heat problem and you have to be careful where you mount them. LEDs produce little to no heat so they can go most anywhere. Plus it gives you ultimate control over your light. With par cans you get a lot of back splash, and in some scenes you might have to use aluminum wrap to get rid of the back-splash (they make a black aluminum wrap just for this purpose). I make my own LEd lights for up-close spotlights where I want to highlight specific things like portraits, or certain props. They blend in real well with the set, and again, can be wired using speaker wire.

I saw someone earlier posted they use low voltage garden lighting. I wired my yard with those and still have a bunch of supplies in the garage but will never use them again. The sockets are not well made and the lamps go out constantly (or the sockets get hot and corrode, breaking the circuit). I thought about using those systems but glad I went with something else.

Very interesting about the heat issue disrupting the circuit. Is there a less expensive, LED alternative to the darklight series you would recommend for a first year outdoor haunt?

I've been shopping them for a while and found this site...
http://autolumination.com/controllers.htm


Pretty cool its also got a large selection of 12volt LED STROBE lights. The whole site is all 12 volt!

Cool site. I saw a few things in there I might use next year!

There are lots of cheaper LED lights out there but not in the professional series like Darklight. The difference is in the amount of light you get from their Z-pro series. Its pretty amazing. When we first started we used all kinds of things we hobbled together. Even those clamp-onlights you get at the hardware store (which I still use in some opt my scenes). I have always had a bunch of the par cans around given my work with bands and theaters, but they cost as much as an LED light.

So im assuming the best thing to do is just start buying and experimenting...

Yeah, I've been holding onto that site for a couple weeks now and haven't had the excuse to share it here until now :)

Seems like I heard someone talking about running their outdoor haunted trail using car batteries, but I don't remember any details...

Yeah I think I've seen that somewhere... and also remember they were talking about battery chargers...