Parishes
2 February 2013
Lights behind the cross on the Sacred Heart church in Kaikoura have been restored so that as well as lighting the way, they glow red, blue or green according to the liturgical season.
Parishioner Kerry Howden replaced the expensive neon tubing with LED strip lighting.
He says he came across this solution after trying rope lighting which he bought from the local hardware store. It did the job but didn’t last.
The LED strip is ‘a new and unique product which incorporates 60 individual lights per metre, each light comprising three primary colours – red, yellow and blue, plus a white.
‘The manufacturer has guaranteed these lights for 20,000 hours of operation but states it may well exceed 40,000.’
The four colours are controlled by a remote control. ‘The colours can give different visual displays allowing the user to control their movement and colour to suit different celebrations and seasons of the Church.
The lights are on a timer which turns them on at dusk and they go off again around midnight.