Why the unit price misleads
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 static gobo projector budget accurate.
What you pay for the fixture
Price follows the thermal and environmental specification more than the marketing category. A static gobo projector built for a corridor wall will cost more than one for an entrance signage 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
| Specification | Lower cost | Higher cost |
|---|---|---|
| Output | 20 W class | 150 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 static 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.
Installation, power and access
The surprise lines are access and power. A static gobo 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
Over three years the honest ranking usually changes. Add the hardware, the artwork reorders, the cleaning and the electricity, and the cheapest static gobo projector on the unit price is rarely the cheapest to own. The two variables that dominate are servicing access and gobo replacement frequency.
Cuts that cost you later
The false economies are the rating, the bracket and the artwork. A static gobo 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.
- Halve the projected area rather than double the watts
- Pick a matte, light-coloured surface
- Mount square to the beam to avoid wasted output
- Hold the artwork file and gobo reference on record
