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Projector Bulb Buying Guide

Sometimes, it’s cheaper to purchase a new projector.

When thinking of a home theatre, video projectors are becoming more and more common. This is due to the fact that in recent years, the costs have decreased significantly and the quality has increased at the same rate. Having a video projector setup in your basement allows you to enjoy near movie-quality picture without having to pay ten dollars for a pop and popcorn.

The one drawback to owning a video projector is the cost and availability of the replacement lamp. Prior to purchasing a video projector, this is something that you should always ask. The company selling you the video projector should be able to tell you honestly which manufacturers are good with respect to price and availability, and which manufacturers are not.

Sometimes when you purchase a video projector, there will be a promotion for a free lamp. This can save you a significant amount of money and should be factored into your decision when purchasing a video projector. A typical replacement lamp should run for approximately 1500-2000 hours – anything less than that will cause your cost per hour (of running the projector) to increase significantly.

I have always advocated keeping a spare lamp on hand due to concerns about availability, or even worse, discontinuance. Some manufacturers are notorious for discontinuing lamps a mere three years after they have introduced the projector! When the customer finds out that the projector lamp is no longer available, and therefore making their projector obsolete, the manufacturer will offer them a small credit for the old projector to “trade-up” to a current model. Additionally, having a spare lamp on hand means that in the event that the lamp you are using expires means you will have no downtime and can continue to watch your movie virtually uninterrupted.

These same points apply to consumers who use their projectors for business use. If you are doing presentations or your projectors are installed in a religious facility, Murphy’s Law says that your lamp will cease to function when you need it most.

Depending on the age of your projector, sometimes purchasing a lamp is just not worth the money. In some cases, lamps for older video projectors cost more to purchase than it would cost to replace the entire projector itself! While this does sound strange, there are two reasons. Sometimes the cost to produce the lamp is very high, and other times the manufacturers keep the price artificially inflated to “encourage” you to purchase a new video projector.

Recently, third party companies unrelated to the manufacturer have debuted replacement lamps that are significantly cheaper than the original equipment manufacturers (OEM) lamps. They are also producing lamps for projectors where the manufacturer has discontinued the original lamp, thereby allowing you to continue to use your projector beyond what the manufacturer deems you should. Despite the significant savings for the customer, caveat emptor. Before purchasing, make sure that the compatible lamp offers the same (or better) warranty protection that the OEM lamp does.

Lastly, a note about video projector warranties. When you purchase a video projector, the warranty does not cover the lamp. The lamp has a warranty of 500 hours or 90 days, whichever comes first. These terms vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. Occasionally, you will also have the option of purchasing a service contract (otherwise known as an extended warranty) for the video projector, or the lamp itself. These are two different contracts – one for the lamp and one for the projector, and each offers their own separate terms and conditions.