Paw Paw High School in Michigan had a challenge common to many auditorium lighting systems: the issue was not light output, but access. Replacing lamps required lifts or scaffolding, which made routine maintenance expensive and time-consuming.
Technical Director Kristofer Perkins began looking for a better option. With a limited theatrical budget and a small rural school district to support, cost and long-term maintenance both mattered. During his research, he found Canto USA’s RETRO series and contacted local dealer TPC Technologies, Inc.
Working together, they determined that the RETRO LED retrofit could upgrade the auditorium without major changes to the existing lighting system.
A Three-Day Auditorium Lighting Retrofit
Once the units arrived, installation took three days.
Electricians spent the first two days replacing houselights they could reach from the catwalks and with the school’s lift. On the final day, they used scaffolding to reach the remaining fixtures.
Only minor adjustments were needed to fit the new RETRO units into the existing houselight cans.
In total, Paw Paw High School installed 70 RETRO-Classic® 700 units using a combination of Edison and mini candelabra bases.
More Light With Less Maintenance
The biggest benefit for the school was reducing the need to access hard-to-reach house lights for routine maintenance.
Kristofer Perkins described the results:
“The look is amazing. The output is amazing as well. We never run our house lights above 90%. Knowing it will be years before I ever have to worry about my house lights is fantastic. I have been asked many times if we have had any compatibility issues. We have Strand CD80 dimmers, an ETC board, and RETRO house lights. Thanks to the team from TPC Technologies, they all work in harmony.”
For Paw Paw High School, the project provided a practical way to improve the auditorium while keeping the existing dimming system and much of the original infrastructure in place.
RETRO Series LED Retrofit Kits
Canto USA’s RETRO Series Fully Dimmable LED Retrofit Houselights
Canto USA’s RETRO series includes the RETRO-Fusion® 2.0 and RETRO-Passive® 2.0 engines. They are 0-100% phase dimmable, designed for older SCR, TRIAC, and IGBT dimmer systems, and compatible with newer dimmer systems as well. As a direct replacement for existing lamps, the LED retrofit can be used in a wide range of applications or even new installations.
Custom and standard mounting options are available.
