Four cost lines, not one
The unit price is the smallest line in most custom glass gobo projector budgets and the only one anybody quotes. Hardware, custom artwork, installation and the replacement cycle are the other three, and on a five-year view they routinely exceed the cost of the fixture. Price all four or you will be surprised twice.
Hardware
Hardware scales with output and rating. A custom glass gobo projector at the bottom of the 30–250 W range for a sheltered indoor position is a different product from one at the top of the range rated IP65 for an exposed facade — same category, very different bill. The jump is driven by the LED, the driver, the thermal design and the housing, in that order.
- 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
| Specification | Lower cost | Higher cost |
|---|---|---|
| Output | 30 W class | 250 W and above |
| Ingress rating | Indoor rated | IP65 for exposed positions |
| Optics | Fixed lens | Zoom with lockable focus |
| Artwork | Metal gobo | glass gobo with fine detail |
Custom artwork and gobos
Budget for artwork as a subscription, not a purchase. A single custom glass gobo 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
Installation is where budgets break, because it depends on the site rather than the product. Access equipment, a new power run, out-of-hours working and making good afterwards are all variable and none of them appear in a custom glass gobo projector quote. Survey before you commit, and price the access separately.
- 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
Total cost is dominated by whatever you have to do most often. If the custom glass gobo projector is easy to reach, cleaning is trivial and cheap; if it needs scaffolding, it gets deferred, output declines, and eventually somebody replaces a unit that only needed a wipe. Design for access and the running cost halves.
- Hardware, once
- Artwork reorders, every rebrand or new site
- Cleaning, twice a year
- Power, continuously
Where to save and where not to
Save on image size, not on output. Halving the projected area doubles the contrast at the wall for nothing, and it lets a smaller custom glass gobo projector do the same job. Do not save on the ingress rating, the bracket, or the artwork file — those three cuts cost more than they save within two years.
