It is often said (mostly by older engineers) that “the devil is in the details.” But perhaps nowhere is that phrase so appropriate as in houses of worship where seasoned technical directors regularly regale younger staff and volunteers with stories of how often an otherwise well-planned church production was defeated by one single, unexpected “no-brainer” technical detail that went awry.
“Even with the switch off, many modern fixtures still pull considerable energy while in standby mode.”
It’s most often something we don’t see coming that does us in, and, as is all too often learned from experience, something that could have been easily prevented.
Clean and uninterrupted power is the most common element to the AVL technology for modern worship. Power is so integral to our tools and our processes that we often forget how essential it is—and that can lead to trouble.“Ten years ago, the primary concern about power for churches was audio gear,” observes Mark Bishop, president of LynTec Inc., a leading manufacturer of customized electrical power control solutions. “Today there is much more to consider.”
Sequencing and control
LynTec power controls have been an important element of church building designs and upgrades since the company’s founder, Lynn Potter, engineered a clever AC power sequencing mechanism in the late 1980s followed by other sequencing devices, including motorized circuit breakers that could be installed directly into popular Square D electrical service panels. “At that time,” says Bishop, “the major objectives were coordinating power-on sequences to protect what were becoming considerable investments in audio gear, as well as preventing the sudden in rush of loads that can cause nuisance trips of circuit breakers.” While those issues are still important today, there is much more complex audio, video, lighting and computer gear that demands different modes of protection.
Contemporary houses of worship provide a myriad of business cases for power control to save energy costs. Savings can be found in both traditional spaces that might only be in use for Sunday morning services and more progressive churches with missions that serve communities 24/7. While financial savings are an important benefit of circuit-level power-off, modern electronics used both in the architecture and in production can benefit in other less obvious ways, too.One benefit is saving on your monthly electric bill. “Simple math,” Bishop offers, “can tell you how much you can save by shutting down circuits with newer electronics. Even with the switch off, many modern fixtures still pull a considerable energy while in standby mode.” LynTec engineers have estimated that devices in standby mode can be pulling up to a remarkable 25 watts/hour per fixture.Power consumption isn’t the only area where better control can provide savings. Since many churches have moved to LED elements for stage and architectural lighting based on a favorable return on investment (ROI), protecting the life of circuitry and the LEDs themselves is key to protecting the investment. “As AVL equipment has evolved,” notes Bishop, “it has become more intelligent and more distributed.”
By its nature, smarter gear now has more electronics that need to operate independently, and electronics can profit from being completely disconnected from the grid, not simply left in standby mode, in order to maximize equipment life and reduce maintenance costs. This favors organized power control in two ways: with smarter system elements doing more on their own, proper communication across complex systems, like digital audio consoles, often depends on a proper handshake at start-up. This low-level coordination can only be assured if startup sequences are carefully orchestrated. In addition, with so much built-in intelligence, some AVL and IT electronics require a periodic reset to operate properly. These devices rely on regular power-on start-up processes for system checks and proper operation. A major feature of control systems is that they can be programmed to provide a safe power startup and shutdown sequence so equipment can operate at its best. Often, overall control of a complex system can be reduced to a button push, a safe and reliable process for knowledgeable engineers and a boon for less experienced volunteers.
For both new construction and system upgrades, circuit-level power controls are an important part of a power plan for churches, and continue to evolve with the added convenience of being accessible from common control systems and web-enabled devices. LynTec’s web-enabled RPC series of intelligent power control panels and MS Series of one-touch sequencing control panels provide safe and convenient sequencing for AVL gear with easy-to-program extended step rates and time delays. They also offer installation flexibility and the important benefit of complete direct on/off control for LED lighting. LynTec and other smart designers of power controls have also designed their gear to integrate well with third-party control systems, like TCP/IP-based QSYS from QSC, and systems employing DMX, or RS-232 protocols.
Surge protection and conditioning
Just as proper sequencing and convenience of startup and shutdown is important for production technologies, monitoring the quality of power and correcting anomalies can save wear and tear on critical circuitry. For surge protection at the circuit level, LynTec has incorporated SurgeX power conditioning modules into their solutions. The company’s modular approach allows church designers to choose specific circuits to be protected, but there are many other options for surge protection, too.
As senior director of marketing for Furman, a subsidiary of Nortek Security & Control, William Hensley notes that investing in protection from power anomalies is good insurance and critical to the successful operation of modern houses of worship. “Power makes it all happen,” he says, “but the quality of your incoming power is something that you have no control over. The impact of weather events and what is happening next to you on the power grid is just a fact of life that churches—just like touring acts—need to be cognizant of.”
Middle Atlantic Products, known for its racks, equipment enclosures and mounting hardware solutions offers a series of products to manage, distribute and condition power, including the company’s Select Series PDU with RackLink for traditional rack enclosures out to hard to reach displays and audio gear. These economical systems allow technicians IP-based control of power distribution locally or virtually, via third-party control systems or cloud-based applications. Middle Atlantic has recently provided a product offering to organize small devices that are critical for houses of worship. "DC Power Distribution was the first solution of its kind to help integrators reliably solve the installation challenges posed by powering small devices," said Scott Lowder, director of product management for power at Middle Atlantic. This welcome solution eliminates the risks inherent in wall-wart transformers; which create multiple modes of failure, are bulky in an installation, and have the potential to fall out at a critical moment or while moving equipment. Units provide up to 300 watts of 5V, 12V, or 24V power to as many as 24 devices, improving reliability, performance, and organization.
Long-term Protection
More power conditioning and voltage regulation can be found in high-quality power regulators, like Furman’s P-1800 AR. This model can accept a wide range of AC voltages, smoothing them out to deliver a stable and safe 120 volts of clean AC power. In fact, this unit can repair voltages ranging from 90 to 139 volts, shutting down to protect attached gear if high voltages reach 140 volts or higher. The unit also features Furman's advanced Linear Filtering Technology (LiFT) designed to eliminate AC line noise, as well as provide additional protective measures. In addition to the unit’s Extreme Voltage Shutdown (EVS) feature to protect against surges, the P-1800 AR provides an important feature, Series Multi-Stage Protection (SMP). Furman’s SMP circuit slowS down the impact of a potentially catastrophic surge by capturing it, dissipating it in the form of heat, and absorbing the remaining excess energy.
Protective circuits, like Furman’s SMP circuit, not only protect gear from devastating spikes and surges, but also offer protection from the repeated small spikes and surges that connected equipment is exposed to on a daily basis. These common voltage fluctuations, while small, can have a serious cumulative adverse effect and cause baffling intermittent behavior, equipment lockups, and data loss.
To handle the challenging power needs of modern churches, forward-looking companies continue to evolve. Their innovative products provide churches with a wide scope of power control and protection strategies to conveniently handle every situation, from circuit-level, architectural control to critical sequencing of advanced AVL electronics to specific protection for remote components.
