Very cheap, basic lighting

[venuetech]

I would start a slow build of your systems as you can afford it. I would not start with fixtures or dimmers but with towers suitable for the venues the company uses. and with long 12/3 SO cable also suited for the venue (at least one for each tower). You do want to get quality equipment so it will serve you into the future. PAR56 will likely be the fixture to use. Lamp them at 300watts so you could power a tower of 4 fixtures from a single outlet/breaker. If you do want to go with LED units you really need to demo them before you buy, just to make sure that they will in fact suite your needs.

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

Just to correct my post, I was referring to US.

 

[JerseyMatt]

As for the 5-15R on a #12/20A breaker argument, it is LEGAL in the US, it is ILLEGAL in Canada. Plain and simple. In the US, kitchens are required to have a minimum of two 20A SABC's, yet you will hardly ever see a 5-20R T-slot in a kitchen. The passthrough on a 5-15R (plain or GFCI) is actually rated for 20A, therefore the receptacle can carry 20A, and the derating is from 20A, not 15A. We also don't do the goofy split receptacles (MWBC's).

That said, you have to be careful with the dimmers if you get the ones with two cords each (the higher power ones). The ones that require 20A per circuit have 5-20P plugs on them, so they will not plug into a 15A receptacle. The two cords of each unit MUST be plugged into receptacles on DIFFERENT breakers on the SAME PHASE/LEG, or else they will have DMX issues. You can't actually plug them into the same receptacle - especially if it's split-wired. It's actually a pretty odd way of doing things, and while it can be planned for at your own venue, if you have to set up in different non-theater venues it's likely you won't find proper power supplies.