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Hi y'all,

my wife and I think we've found a space to put our theater and we're busily crunching all the numbers to make sure we can make it work. One thing that we're finding difficult to budget is our utility costs.

Can anybody tell me what a kind of electrical load a 3 screen theater would use over the course of a month? Hopefully then we can apply it to our local rates.

Thanks......... again..........

Lots will depend on the details:

The xenon lamps draw most of the power in the projection room --- what wattage is each lamp?

Air conditioning depends on climate and how well insulated the theatre is, as well as the size of the air conditioned space.

Lighting can really add up --- consider energy efficient (but still attractive) lighting options.

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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Customer Technical Services
Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Eastman Kodak Company
Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Telephone: +1 585-477-5325 Cell: +1 585-781-4036 Fax: +1 585-722-7243
E-Mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

All true John, but don't forget the popcorn machine, refrigeraors, freezers, ice makers, hand dryers, & all the other stuff that draws high amperage... It can add up in a hurry...

Maybe a good way to answer the question would be a poll where people posted the number of screens they have, and the average kilowatt hours per month they use. Because air conditioning and lamp size are significant variables, include the general location and the xenon lamp sizes.

---

John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Customer Technical Services
Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Eastman Kodak Company
Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Telephone: +1 585-477-5325 Cell: +1 585-781-4036 Fax: +1 585-722-7243
E-Mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

Great suggestion... I knew there would be varying factors that would cause there to be different numbers. Right now, we're not sure if we should be budgeting $1000/month or $3000/month. (or $100 for that matter)

Thanks again for helping.

of course: how many screens and how many square feet/ what part of the country you are in/ heat type? AC? etc. would help a lot. Here....Oil heat/northern/no ac/3 screens=200.00 per month.

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Michael Hurley
Impresario

200.00 a month wow i was looking at 2,000 a month in the winter.

In an older theatre we averaged $1,000 per month,per screen, maybe higher with airconditioning. I think it would really pay to contact the utility early in the game and find out all the ways the theatre can save energy.

The old theatre of my childhood was not airconditioned and on summer evenings opened all the exit doors with screens and it was very pleasent.

A standard theatre runs 4 or 5 shows per day and most of them are during daylight hours. So think about solar. Many utilities pay half of the install.

And my favorite, turn things off at night.

[This message has been edited by Large (edited May 20, 2006).]

A local 4-plex runs about 1 kBucks/mo in environmental energy costs, varying from heat to air conditioning by month.

well, we're in the south, so a/c is vital in the summer and I think we're going to go with a gas heating system.... We're still evaluating based on the current natual gas price trends.

Can anyone else who has a 3 screen with a/c pitch in? (I think kilowatt hours would be the best way to evaluate)

I would think your local utilities would be happy to show you typical totals for cinemas in their region, provided that nothing is identifiable by name. Customer confidentiality you know. Beware if they show you their customers' names because that means that yours wii be shown in future too! Best Wishes, Jim

[This message has been edited by jimor (edited May 20, 2006).]

That's actually a very good point. We were able to see consumption records for the quad we opened. In our case, the theatre had been closed for 2 years, and that may have something to do with why our utility was so open with the information.

It's sure worth a shot.

Did the utility not hellp with this? square footage and things like how many tonns compressors etc you have and I bet the utility can give a good estimate. Also remember if you compressor is water cooled it puts off less heat than air cooled. this makes a big difference with ice and other machines that would cool themselves in the theatre and cause you to use more A/C. Popcorn Warmers and machines plus nachos also produce lots of heat in the concession.