Arts Club Theatre (Stanley)

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'Starving artists' brave the cost of efficient lighting

Nina Winham
For bchydro.com

When Vancouver’s Arts Club Theatre considered shifting to energy efficient lighting, it faced a common hurdle.  While efficient lighting will save money every month on your electricity bill and even pay for itself over time, the bulbs do have a higher sticker price than old-fashioned incandescents.

That makes the up-front cost of switching seem daunting – especially if you’re a non-profit organization with a really big lighted sign.

“We replaced 230 light bulbs on the Stanley’s marquee. And the sign is on 24 hours a day,” says Kate Bethell, Rentals Manager at the Arts Club. “That’s a lot of light!”

The historic Stanley Theatre has been sparkling on south Granville Street for 70 years. – Now the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage, it’s one of three venues used by the Arts Club to mount productions. Despite being a highly successful theatre society, Bethell says the cost of upgraded lighting was not in the budget.

“There were some major cutbacks this year in B.C. and we’re a not-for-profit so it all comes down to ticket revenue for us. At the Arts Club, that’s pretty good – but we’re still all starving artists over here,” she says with a laugh. “We’re profitable in other ways, but financially theatre is pretty tough. So it’s hard to decide to shift to a $15 light bulb. But we did it, and we feel good about it. It’s a good idea to save. You don’t want to be a big waster.”

At the Stanley, 100 watt incandescent bulbs were changed for screw-in LED (light-emitting diode) lamps that draw about 5 watts. The splash of light on the street is the same, but the theatre will save nearly $1,600 per year on its annual electricity bill.

Over time it will save on maintenance too, since LEDs last significantly longer than incandescents. Meanwhile, to help with the cost of switching all the bulbs at once, the Arts Club qualified for a grant of $4,600 through the Product Incentive Program. Bethell said that made the difference between doing the project – or not.

“We might have done it eventually, but it’s a big expense the first time you do it,” she says. “There’s no way you would spend that much per bulb if there was no savings involved. The incentive definitely was the main reason we could do the switch.”

Nina Winham is a sustainability consultant and freelance writer who is a frequent contributor to bchydro.com.