Four cost lines, not one
There are four cost lines and only one of them is negotiable after delivery. Hardware is bought once, artwork is bought repeatedly, installation is bought on site, and running cost is bought every month. Understanding which is which is what makes a commercial logo projector budget accurate.
- Hardware — the fixture, lens and bracket
- Custom artwork — the gobo, and every re-cut after it
- Installation — access, power and making good
- Running cost — cleaning, power and replacement cycles
What you pay for the fixture
Price follows the thermal and environmental specification more than the marketing category. A commercial logo projector built for a casino entrance will cost more than one for a hotel portico for reasons that are entirely justified — better seals, better heatsinking, better finish. The saving is real only if you never needed them.
- Output, which sets the LED, driver and heatsink size
- Ingress rating, which sets the sealing and housing design
- Lens quality, which sets how much output reaches the wall
- Finish and hardware, which set how it survives the site
The recurring line
Budget for artwork as a subscription, not a purchase. A single commercial logo projector might need one gobo in five years; a twenty-site rollout will need dozens, and every one of them is a small project with artwork, proofing and shipping. Standardising the file and the size is the single biggest saving available.
- Engraving per unit, and any minimum quantity
- Artwork preparation if the supplied file needs work
- Shipping, especially on small reorders
- Lead time, and the cost of waiting
The line that surprises people
The surprise lines are access and power. A commercial logo projector that needs a cherry picker, or a new switched spur run across a finished ceiling, can cost more to install than to buy. Both are visible in a ten-minute survey, which is why the survey is the cheapest part of the job.
- Access equipment — ladder, scaffold or powered platform
- Power run and any making good afterwards
- Out-of-hours or trading-hours working
- Fixings, bracket and cable management
Running cost over three years
The three-year picture: hardware once, artwork a few times, cleaning twice a year, power continuously. Of these, the one buyers underestimate is cleaning — and the one that decides it is whether the unit can be reached with a ladder.
- Hardware, once
- Artwork reorders, every rebrand or new site
- Cleaning, twice a year
- Power, continuously
Where to save and where not to
The false economies are the rating, the bracket and the artwork. A commercial logo projector with an under-specified IP65 rating fails in the first winter; a lightweight bracket drifts and needs re-aiming; a low-resolution artwork file produces an image you will not accept. Save elsewhere.
