Where to Use CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lights)

Creating an indoor lighting plan usually takes three major factors into consideration: General illumination/ ambient lighting gives a space an overall lighted appearance. Task lighting specifically places light in desired areas to perform work or read. Dramatic/decorative lighting creates mood and adds interest to interior design. Often, outdoor lighting represents a fourth consideration to an entire lighting plan. Energy-efficient CFLs are made in a variety of styles to fit practically every incandescent equivalent currently being used. Many CFLs are offered in dimmable and three-way versions, which allow the user greater control of the lamp’s light output. When working with CFLs, it is recommended that you assess the lamp’s abilities for the given application.

Reprinted with permission from "Green Matters" from Satco Products, Inc. (c) Satco Products, Inc.

Spruce up Your Home for the Holidays!

You have your family coming in for the holidays and you would LOVE to redo your entire home before-hand... but who can afford it these days? Well, there are a few things that you can do to give your home a whole new look without having to take a second mortgage!

Placing a few new lamps around the house can provide a fresh look for your home, while providing much needed lighting for reading, homework, or projects. This additional splash of light will also brighten your home and make it feel more inviting. OR use these new lamps and turn off the overhead lights for an intimate ambiance.

Strategically placed under-cabinet lighting in your kitchen will not only provide better lighting for your workspace, but also provide your kitchen with an updated look, accent your beautiful counters, and add another layer of invitation to your already welcoming kitchen.

While we are in the kitchen, let's take a look at the lighting over your island. Placing a few art-glass mini-pendants over your island will give your entire kitchen a lift and a modern look. Or install an island light for a dual purpose fixture, that will also allow you to showcase your cookware and keep it in a handy place.

Replacing your dining room chandelier can instantly dress up your dining room. Find one that complements your style, whether traditional, modern, casual, elegant, or even eclectic. Add a few sconces on the wall to complement the chandelier, add another layer of lighting, and provide further decoration for the room.

Let's not forget the bathrooms! Sconces to either side of your vanity mirror will not only provide a high-end look for your bathroom, but your make up will thank you as you will see a more natural look with no harsh shadows. Adding a crystal mini-chandelier in your bathroom is a trendy new way to create an elegant up-lift or to enhance your shabby chic feeling.

While you are redecorating, add a few lamps in your bedrooms - reading lamps for homework spaces, torchieres for seating areas, swing arm lamps above the bed for reading, or table lamps for the side tables.

Think ceiling fans are only for the summer? Not so! Ceiling fans can be used all year around. Simply reverse the airflow and your ceiling fan will circulate the heat throughout the room and keep your room from feeling too stuffy. Not only will it help your energy savings (by better distributing the air) but also, if you buy one this time of year, chances are pretty good you can find them on sale!

So, don't spend a fortune redecorating your home. Pick a few of these tips (or even all of them) and you will find yourself with a drastic change in your home for much less than remodeling!

For more design tips, contact your local lighting design specialist. To find a showroom near you, visit www.lighting-one.com.

The product shown in the picture is 0411-RD and is available at participating Lighting One showrooms.

Ambient Lighting for Your Home Decor

Ambient lighting is a term used to describe the total amount of light that is present in a space. We can say that a room has high or low levels of ambient lighting.

How much lighting is needed or desired is often a very personal preference. In places such as kitchens and bathrooms, it is often good practice to provide multiple types of lighting that can provide high levels of ambient lighting for some tasks, and low levels of ambient lighting for other activities.

Places such as laundry rooms and closets are best illuminated with high levels of ambient lighting, although they also should be provided with dimming controls that allow the high ambient level to be reduced when desired. In spaces such as family rooms and bedrooms it is best to provide ambient lighting primarily from portable lamps and wall mounted lighting such as wall sconces.

Ambient lighting can also be provided by placing surface mounted fixtures at the ceiling. A recent trend is the use of decorative chandeliers in almost any space in the home. A chandelier is highly useful for providing high ambient lighting when necessary, or it can be dimmed to provide a very soft and low level of ambient lighting.

The pendants shown in the photo are from the Effervescent collection. For more information, please visit www.lighting-one.com to locate a Lighting One showroom near you. Showrooms are independently owned and operated, so product may vary from location to location.

Fixing up your home during a recession

In today’s economy and housing market, many people are choosing not to sell their home, but to fix up their existing home instead. This way they can enjoy the property they currently own and when the market rebounds, the time and effort they put in will make their homes more saleable.

One of the largest mistakes a homeowner can make is to not hire a professional to aid in their renovation project, whether it is landscaping, interior design, or remodeling. One can usually see the difference in the finished project when a professional is designing the job.

Starting with outdoor space, a landscape professional can enhance the first impression of your home. In many instances it could be moving old overgrown plantings from the front to the rear yard, or adding to your existing plantings to give a welcome look to your property. In the rear yard, cleaning up and adding new plantings can make the home look younger and more saleable. Adding landscape lighting will both enhance the value to the property, as well as increase the “living space” of the home, as homeowners will enjoy their backyards more often.

Fixing up the interior should be guided by a certified interior designer. Working with color, texture, and light, a designer can give a home a more “comfortable” feeling, and can make spaces appear to be larger. They will work with you to create a home that reflects your personal taste. Their expertise knowledge, expertise, and guidance can help prevent costly mistakes, and can also eliminate features that would be a negative to future prospective buyers.
One aspect of interior design that is rarely discussed is that of interior lighting. If lighting is important to you, be sure to work with a Certified Lighting Designer with lots of lighting experience. It takes years of experience to understand how to use both direct and indirect lighting. Ask about color temperature. Light temperature refers to the color quality that different bulbs produce. Light fixtures and the quality of light they produce have a direct and dramatic impact on the rest of the room. The lighting of items in a room is important, and lighting can make or break a design. Not all light bulbs create light tones and colors equally. This can affect how your furniture and other things look when they are lit at night. A Certified Lighting Designer should be involved with all of your lighting within your project.

Many homeowners, when renovating a bathroom or kitchen, leave it up to their contractor help design their living space and lighting. One should let them make suggestions based on the available space, bur the final plans and layout should be done by a certified specialist.
As a certified lighting designer, I have seen hundreds of floor plans laid out by Architects, interior designers, and kitchen and bath showrooms that have fixture placement that would have shadows, and using builder’s fixtures that waste energy.

One of the additional benefits of upgrading and remodeling now is that you get to enjoy the beauty of your “new home” and will not be rushed to sell until the housing market recovers.

Written by Philip Finkelstein.
Philip is a Lighting One certified lighting designer,
and owner of Illuminations in Rockville Centre, NY
for the past 30 years.

Lighting One showrooms are locally owned and operated and in-store merchandise may vary by location. Product shown is 3653-OPF. For online purchases or to find your nearest Lighting One showroom, go to http://www.lighting-one.com/.

Task Lighting for Your Home Design

Task lighting is the lighting necessary to carry out specific activities in the home. Generally, task lighting is higher in intensity than other types of lighting. There are four primary tasks that require higher than average lighting levels.

1. Lighting for food preparation and cooking

2. Lighting for grooming (shaving, putting on makeup, etc.)

3. Lighting for reading

4. Lighting for a variety of activities in a laundry room.

Footcandles are the unit that we use to measure the amount of lighting reaching a task. A footcandle is a simple concept, and one footcandle is the amount of light reaching a surface that is one foot away from one candle when no other light is present.

The level of footcandles necessary to achieve good task lighting is approximately 50, and can be achieved in a variety of ways. Your lighting consultant can help you to better understand this concept and can help you to achieve this level of lighting.

No matter what your lighting needs are, a Lighting One showroom should be able to assist you and provide your more Lighting Design Tips. Visit www.lighting-one.com for your nearest showroom. Products vary by showroom location.

Ask the Experts!

Question: I'm doing a kitchen update and want to use pendant lighting instead of the 6" recessed cans I currently have, but I don't want the pain of pulling the cans out of the ceiling plus doing a bunch of drywall work. Is there a way to convert a recessed can to a pendant?

Answer: You can convert your existing recessed can light to a pendant by using a product called The Can Converter. This product adapts almost any recessed light fixture or can light to work with other types of light fixtures. You can modify can lights to hang a ceiling fan, ceiling light, light canopy, swag light, pendant light or just about any other type of light fixture in minutes. No patch work is required.

Question: I want to make my home more energy efficient on a small budget of a couple hundred dollars. Are dimmers a viable option for me and can I install them myself?

Answer: Dimmers are a great way to save energy with a minimal investment and are easy to install. If every US household installed only ONE more dimmer, we would reduce carbon monoxide emissions equivalent to that of 370,000 cars. Basic dimmers start at $14.99 and remote control dimmer combos start at $49.99. To install, 1. Turn power off at circuit breaker 2. Remove wall plate and switch mounting screws 3. Pull switch from wall and disconnect switch wires 4. Connect the wires in the box and dimmer by matching colors 5. Use wire connectors to secure the electrical connection. Twist wire connector tight and ensure no bare wire is exposed 6. mount and align dimmer 7. Install wall plate 8. Turn power on at circuit breaker 9. Enjoy energy savings!

Submitted by Jennifer Guerriero with the Light Center in Fort Collins, Colorado, a Lighting One showroom. To locate the Lighting One showroom nearest you, or for more Lighting One Design Tips, please visit www.lighting-one.com. Please note that some products may vary by location.

The Latest Trends In Recessed Lighting

Homeowners are finding the most popular way of lighting their new kitchen or extension is with recessed lighting. That's because recessed lighting has a clean appearance and gives off plenty of light. While it's true that recessed is an excellent choice, the type of recessed lighting you choose is very important. Many people allow their contractors or electricians to select their recessed lighting. However, they usually use builder-grade recessed cans, which use 120-volt bulbs and are very expensive to run, and they don't often choose the best layout for your space.

When you take into account the high cost of energy, it becomes clear that the cost of running recessed lights is more important than the cost of the lights. An excellent choice for most applications is energy-efficient 12-volt low-voltage recessed lights. These provide good quality white light without heat, cost little to run, and use long-lasting bulbs. In addition, they are smaller than traditional recessed lights, making them more attractive.

For adding new recessed lighting, a great combination would be to use American-made low-voltage recessed cans, along with high-quality European 12-volt bulbs. An added benefit of the American-made cans is that there is a 10-year warranty on both the transformer and the socket. In addition, the American-made transformers use a lower voltage compared to builder quality recessed lighting. This combination can save over $1,600 over the life of each bulb, which can last over 14,000 hours. These units give off the best quality white light, and there's no heat under the bulbs. Their smaller size, along with their great light output, make these the best choice for most homeowners.

For existing recessed lighting, there are several ways that you can save energy. The easiest would be to use European 120-volt halogen bulbs, which give off better quality light, last longer, and cut down on heat compared to traditional incandescent bulbs. These bulbs, which cost $10-$13 each, will outlast 3-4 incandescent bulbs and can save over $120 over the life of each bulb.

Another good choice for saving energy with existing recessed lighting is LED lighting. These units, which use the latest technology, easily screw into your existing recessed cans. While the initial cost of approximately $125 per unit may seem expensive, they more than make up for through the money saved on energy costs. These units use only 12 watts of energy, which is just a little more than a night-light, but they give off the same light as a 120-volt incandescent bulb. The LED units are rated for 50,000 hours of use, so based on an average of four hours of use per day, they will last 40 years. At today's energy costs, these units will save over $2,500 in energy costs and over $300 in bulb replacement costs. The units are also airtight, so they won't allow heat to escape through them. This saves even more money on heating costs.

Recently people have been touting compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) as a good way to save energy. While it's true that they are great in terms of energy usage, they take a long time to reach their full brightness, and give off a duller light than other bulbs. In addition, homeowners must be aware that these units contain Mercury, so they must be disposed of properly. Still, fluorescent bulbs can be a very good choice in areas where the quality of light isn't as important, like in a basement or laundry room.

Written by Philip Finkelstein.Philip is a Lighting One-certified lighting designer, and has owned Illuminations in Rockville Centre, NY for the past 30 years. To locate the Lighting One showroom nearest you, visit http://www.lighting-one.com/.

Recessed Downlighs for your Home Lighting Design

Recessed lighting has become very popular over the past several years. It inconspicuously provides general, or accent lighting and is recessed in the ceiling with only the trim showing. While this type of fixture can also be used for task lighting, be careful that the placement doesn't have your head block the light from the task at hand.

Since this type of light fixture is recessed in the ceiling, it does not have a style of its own. That means it can be used in any style home. While recessed lighting is ideal for low-ceiling areas, it can also be used in cathedral ceilings with a special adapter. Recessed lighting is available as downlights, adjustable accent lights, and wall washers. These fixtures can be used to light up a kitchen counter, illuminate a family portrait, offer a delightful accent to the room, or create an inviting atmosphere under the eaves outside your home.

The number of uses for recessed lighting has grown tremendously with the creation of low voltage recessed lighting applications, smaller apertures, and with a greater number of beam spreads available in today’s halogen bulbs.

In new construction, downlight cans are mounted easily as the home is being built. Once the house is built however, remodel housings must be used. These remodel housings slip easily into place and clip onto the hole cut in the ceiling.

For more information on this or other lighting needs, please contact your local Lighting One showroom. For a listing of the nearest showroom, please visit http://www.lighting-one.com/.

Color Rendition & Your Home Lighting

Two things determine how we perceive the color of an object in the home. The first thing is the surface color of the object itself. The second is the color of the light that shines on it.
Imagine if you will, a rich cobalt blue vase. If you illuminate it with a blue light, the color of the vase will be intensified. However, if that same vase is illuminated by a red light, the vase will appear dull and “grayish” in color. The vase absorbs the red light and since there are no blue rays for the vase to reflect back, it has this grayish appearance.

Now imagine how lighting affects the colors of your home furnishings and wall colors. It’s important to consider the lighting you currently have when you change your home furnishings or decorating materials. If possible, you should try to see the new furnishings under the same lighting you currently have in your home. Conversely, when you are creating a lighting plan for your home, try to select the right lighting for the furnishings and decorative items you have in each room.

Everything in the lighting industry references incandescent lighting as being 100% color rendering. Fluorescent lighting on the other hand has a unique way of changing the color of objects. It is for this reason that we do not recommended you mix incandescent with fluorescent lights in areas where the two will be used simultaneously. For example, if you have a kitchen ceiling light that is incandescent, and you use fluorescent lights under the cabinet, you will see significant color differences. It is always best to keep the types of light the same when they can be used simultaneously in the same room.

Item shown in the picture is Lighting One item #0411-RD.

Posted with permission from Lighting One http://www.lighting-one.com/

How do you light your foyer?

The appropriate lighting in a foyer is often guided by the scale of the room. Whatever the size, however, the use of layering is a useful and appropriate solution.

In almost every situation, the use of a decorative fixture in the center of the ceiling is desirable. In two-story spaces, the use of a larger chandelier will fit well for creating both task lighting and ambient lighting. The chandelier also will bring attention to itself and create a desirable accent focus.

In one-story spaces it is often more appropriate to use close-to-ceiling fixtures, or smaller chandeliers that have an appropriate scale in proportion to the ceiling height. In today’s marketplace there are thousands of interesting options in decorative fixtures that are either surface-mounted or close-to-ceiling.

To create the most desirable lighting solution in a foyer, look for opportunities to use recessed lighting that will bring additional ambient light to the space. When using a central decorative fixture, it is useful to place two or more recessed fixtures on either side of the fixture to bring added illumination.

Other useful foyer lighting solutions, in addition to the central chandelier, are to use wall sconces and/or small portable table lamps placed on a small table in the space. The sconces and table lamps add a valuable layering effect that brings a human scale to the space. While recessed and decorative ceiling fixtures add appropriate task and ambient lighting, sconces and table lamps bring a sense of human scale and are excellent for creating focal accent points.

See a Lighting One sales consultant for more information and design ideas. Posted with permission from http://www.lighting-one.com/

Kitchen Lighting

Because of the wide variety of tasks that occur in the kitchen, it is always useful to install a variety of lighting layers that provide flexibility and adequate task lighting. As a general rule, it is useful to apply a minimum of three layers in any kitchen.

The first layer for consideration should focus on the primary tasks that occur in the kitchen. Of course, this will be task lighting at the work counters where food preparation and cooking will take place. If possible, the most ideal first layer is to apply undercabinet lighting directly above the tasks. This type of lighting can be selected from a variety of sources, including halogen, xenon, and fluorescent lamps.

The halogen and xenon lamps are similar in lighting quality, although the xenon lamps have been gaining in popularity due to their longer life. In both cases, the lamps are easily dimmed with an appropriate dimmer.

Fluorescent undercabinet lighting has the benefit of extremely long life and a reasonably good lighting quality. The quality of the color rendering of fluorescent lighting is constantly improving and you should ask your lighting consultant for assistance in learning about what is the most current technology available in fluorescent lamps.

Another layer that is useful for kitchen task lighting is to use recessed downlights. The ideal placement is to place the downlighting approximately 27-30" from the wall. This placement places the fixtures just outside the edge of the counters (which are 24" wide) and brings good lighting down to the counter without creating shadows by being too far back in the space.

The 27-30" placement also allows for the lighting to penetrate the wall cabinets when they are opened. The most ideal light bulb option is to use a bulb that has a minimum of approximately 2500 candlepower. This candlepower intensity provides as much as 50 footcandles on the kitchen counters in ceiling heights as high as 10'-0".

A third layer to consider is to use a central light source in the kitchen ceiling. This fixture could be either a decorative chandelier or a fluorescent fixture. The value of this central fixture is to provide general ambient lighting that will fill the space, but it will also add quality to the task lighting being provided either by undercabinet or recessed fixtures.

In today’s marketplace there are thousands of options both in decorative incandescent fixtures and in decorative fluorescent fixtures that will provide excellent lighting quality while enhancing the decorative character of the space. When using decorative incandescent fixtures, it is best to use fixtures that conceal the direct light of the bulbs. This is typically accomplished by using shades around the bulbs.

When using fluorescent fixtures, it is best to use fluorescent bulbs with a color temperature in the range of 3000-3500K. The K rating is a Kelvin scale that defines the color temperature of the bulbs. This can also be described as the relative visual "warmth" or "coolness" of the space. The 3000-3500K range provides a quality of fluorescent light that is very close to that of incandescent and halogen.

Other possible layers in a kitchen include the possible use of wall sconces, accent lighting on wall art, and accent lighting at the top of cabinets or at the kickspace of the cabinets. These types of accent lighting options will add visual interest and will enhance the aesthetics of the space.

See a Lighting One sales consultant for more information and design ideas.

Posted with permission from www.lighting-one.com