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The Problem
It’s 2025, and we need to ask ourselves if we’re done with old, hot, and fragile PAR lamps. Yes, they’re cheap, and so is the fixture, but as our old friend Billy used to say, “There has to be a better way!”
The truth is that PAR lamps don’t really occur to us as a problem until they break, and then we find ourselves asking what year it is, and why we handle old, inefficient technology from the last century that, while tried and true, is a little clunky and cumbersome. Also, the lamps will actually burn you if you have to adjust them for any reason.
…they’re designed to last for the better part of a decade if not longer, and use 1/10th of the energy.
Enter HyLite LED Lighting, a company that has created a remarkable solution for PAR fixtures—LED replacement lamps that don’t get hot, they’re designed to last for the better part of a decade if not longer and use 1/10th of the energy. I had the opportunity to try them out in one of our venues here at LifeMission Church, and I gotta say: I’m a fan.

Out Of The Box
The first thing you’ll notice about the HyLite LED Lotus Lamps is their heft. Incandescent bulbs come in at less than a pound, but these guys feel much sturdier. The spec sheet says 2.2 pounds, and that’s a feature, not a bug. You’d have to try hard to break these, whereas you’re always afraid of accidentally doing anything to an incandescent or halogen bulb.
I immediately loved these lights. The easy installation and flawless dimming combined with the professional quality of the actual light being thrown on stage made me excited to use them in the coming years.
The first question that comes to mind, though, is, “How was the install?”
The answer is: flawless. Retro-fitting a HyLite lamp requires zero expertise. They come ready with a GX16D adapter, so you just swap out the LED bulb with the old bulb, hook up the adapter, close up the unit, and plug it in. Presto, you have light. Piece of cake.
Operation
The HyLite LED PAR lamps operate flawlessly on a dimmer pack, running steady light when dimmed all the way down. I encountered zero flicker and no weird jump from just a little bit of light to completely off like other LED lights are known to do.
Also, the HyLite LED Lotus Lamps comes in two color temperature options: 3,000K & 5,000K
Once they’re running, the next thing you’ll notice is the lack of heat. Since these are LED lights, your PAR cans and the stage underneath them do not heat up. You can stick your hand directly in front of the light without feeling much extra heat, which means that these will drastically cut down on your electrical bill, and reduce on-stage heat—a welcome notion for sweaty worship leaders like myself.
I encountered zero flicker and no weird jump from just a little bit of light to completely off like other LED lights are known to do.
The light cast from these guys is hefty as well. I was sent the 100W replacement bulb for PAR 64 fixture, and you get all one hundred of those watts, providing lots of headroom for keeping everything well lit. The light temperature is also very unLED-like. I know that’s not really a word, but I’m not sure how else to say it. The lights come in a few different temperate options (3,000K & 5,000K), but there’s always a worry about LEDs being a little cool, maybe, or just generally weird. It’s hard to replicate the glowing light of an old school filament, but HyLite nailed it again.
Overall Impression
I immediately loved these lights. The easy installation and flawless dimming combined with the professional quality of the actual light being thrown on stage made me excited to use them in the coming years. Now, these are a bit pricier, but the cost makes sense when you consider that these will easily run for the next ten years, no questions asked, and at a fraction of the energy cost of a traditional halogen or incandescent bulb.