A Lighting Guide from Pinterest

This was something I recently stumbled upon while on Pinterest  and I have never before seen a lighting guide put together so clean and simply, so I thought I'd share. 

A New Lighting Guide

 

Littman Brands has published a new lighting Look Book this is a very helpful guide into lighting and design.

The look book details different design styles and gives great tips on how to create and place lighting for every room in your home.

Some useful tips include how to create 3 layers of lighting: Ambient, task and accent.

Ambient lighting or the base layer of a room can be determined by multiplying the square footage of a room by 1.5 the total number will be the minimum amount of incandescent watts required to illuminate a room.

Task lighting is to illuminate activities in your room, to figure out the amount of light you need take the square footage of the task area and times it by 2.5. Use this equation in the kitchen where you will be doing food prep, or near the vanity where you will need extra light for grooming.

Accent light should illuminate the space with 3 times more light than the surrounding area. An accent areas is a something you want to draw extra attention to, like art, with a picture light, or an architectural element in the room like a fireplace or a special feature.

Other tips include how to find the right size fixture for every room and where to hang them. 

Check out the Look book HERE!

Light Control Education

 

Why do you use dimmers?

In the past, before the "light bulb law" I used dimmers mostly as a way to save energy. With the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, energy usage is now regulated. That does not mean that you no longer need to do your share to help with energy consumption. It means that now more than ever before there are more options and more ways to save energy.

I still use dimmers to save energy, even with more energy efficient bulbs (It is true that your energy usage decreases when the lights are dimmed with energy efficient bulbs) - but I now find myself more concerned about how well a bulb dims. Take for example my little kitchen I just remodeled, I am using 10 of a 7 watt MR16 LED bulb and 3 of a 10 watt LED PAR20 bulbs. I choose bulbs from TCP, a 7 watt MR16 GU10 LED bulb in the 2700K with white housing that looks great in my white glass shade track heads from CAL. The PAR20 also in a 2700K from TCP bulbs goes in a metal pendant from Murray Feiss, the Dutch pendant shown here, and here, that hangs over my island/bar. These bulbs dim remarkably well, they go very dim, and I love that the housing is white so the bulb doesn't stand out inside my track heads. I have all 100 watts on one dimmer switch, I used the Ariadni dimmer from Lutron. I more often than not have these lights dimmed. (Side Note: can you believe I light up my entire kitchen with 100watts of light, not including my under cabinet lights which is a total of 12.75watts (not on a dimmer)- So 112.75watts lights up an entire kitchen- really well! Incredible!) In my kitchen I use my dimmer more for comfort than I do energy consumption. When I am cooking I want a lot of light, but in the early morning or later in the evening I want soft light. Do you find this true with you as well?

 

Do you know that not all CFL and LED's are dimmable?? Yep- here we go again, we want to use energy efficient bulbs, we want to save energy but why is it so complicated??

I feel your pain- I really do!  

I have customers who come in all the time and feel frustrated and overwhelmed with all these changes, some who come buy bulk of the incandescent bulbs (yes, we still have a few) so they can use incandescent bulbs even after the energy bill is fully implemented at the end of 2014.  I even feel overwhelmed by all the changes, new product seems to hit the market everyday. I want to test all the new product and see if it's as good as advertised- especially when it comes to dimming capabilities. 

At the store we try to make sure that the product we recommend meets a standard we would all be willing to take home and use. Gary Felt, aka the in house light bulb expert, spends a significant amount of his time ordering and testing new bulbs. We test the bulbs on the showroom floor, in the offices, the shop, the bathrooms, and in the warehouse. We test so many bulbs in different applications, if you need a good bulbs ask us to help, we can give you some recommendations! I recently came across a helpful guide that I want to share with you, Lutron, one of, if not the biggest distributor of light controls/dimmers has a LIST, an ever changing list, of dimmers that are compatible with the CFL and LED bulbs. You can use this list to find a bulb that will work with the dimmer you all ready have or find a dimmer that will work with the bulb you like best. Keep this list in mind when you buy you next energy efficient light bulb, you're going to need it, of course you can always just call, email or better yet stop by the store, we are here to help!

Friday's Favorite: White on Trend

Eurofase Bollo Pendant

Eurofase Piquito Pendant

Eurofase Rojin Pendant

Eurofase Valente LED Pendant

Murray Feiss Freemont Pendant

Murray Feiss Dutch Pendant

 

 

I have been searching high and low for a metal pendant for a special application, and I wanted to share my favorite from the search. High gloss white is on trend right now, and the metal makes these pendants extra durable. All of these are hung on 120 volt cord, which is important for this particular job since these will be converted into pendants that will hang off a track- Did you know you can do that? It's a great alternative when you want multiple pendants but only have one power source. For this job there is one power source in the middle of the kitchen we are using a track in a large T shape, at the end of the kitchen is a bar where 3 of these pendants will hang. What pendant do you like the best?

 

Comfort Dim- New from Nora Lighting

Recreate the warmth of the sunset with LED Lighting

An innovation in energy efficient dimming, Comfort Dim presented by Nora and Cree™, warms the light as fixture is dimmed. Comfort Dim color tunes the temperature from a bright 2700K to a romantic and comfortable 1800K on a gradual, even curve. The Comfort Dim option is available on the Nspec Sapphire Series and the Nora Marquise Series downlights making them perfect solutions for restaurants, cineplex, home theaters, multi-purpose event venues and other applications where the temperature and comfort of the light set the mood. The Comfort Dim option is available on 4 different lumen levels:

850 and 1250 Lumens for lower ceiling heights in commercial and residential applications. (Sapphire and Marquise Series, Marquise Retrofit)

2000 Lumens for light commercial and residential high ceiling applications. (Sapphire and Marquise Series)

3000 Lumen for commercial applications (Sapphire Series)

What is New in Lighting for 2014: LED Lamps

TCP's LED A Lamp

 

In January 2014 the lighting efficiency standard has forced 40 and 60-watt incandescent bulbs to be 25% more energy efficient. The Energy Efficiency and Security act of 2007 has all ready impacted most of us in one way before now, but as of this month it will make a bigger impact. Incandescent 40- and 60-watt bulbs represent about 80% of all incandescent bulbs. This means many of you will be out shopping for replacement bulbs in the near future. Many will buy CFL bulbs, the curly cue bulbs, but there are also a lot of great LED’s available. While CFL has been around for over 20 years, LED is newer and seems to be a lot more complicated. I want to help you decode LED’s so you can replace your current bulbs with a LED that is better than the incandescent bulb you have now.

Aside from cost here is what you need to know to buy LED bulbs:

1-      How Bright is the LED

While the industry standard has always been to measure light output by wattage you now also need to be aware of lumens. Wattage is the measure of energy used, in the past the incandescent bulbs brightness was directly determined by their wattage. LED bulbs produce more lumens while using far less energy so wattage is no longer a way to gage the brightness of a bulb. Packaging of LED bulbs will still list the wattage consumption, and what wattage the LED will be replacing compared to an incandescent bulb. But government regulations now mandate packaging list the lumen output. A lumen is technically defined as one candela multiplied by one steradian. In layman’s terms, one lumen is equivalent to the light produced by one birthday candle from one foot away. To expand this idea, seeing 100 lumens is like standing one foot away from a cake with 100 birthday candles on it.

Lumens, unlike watts, are a direct measure of light output. Therefore, a larger lumen count means a brighter bulb.

 

2-      How is the light distributed?

If you want a light bulb’s light to be distributed in a similar way to incandescent you need a LED bulb that is omni-directional. ENERGY STAR defines omni-directional light as light evenly produced over 270 degrees. This is most applicable to A19 and candelabra bulbs- A19 bulb is the one most of us first picture when we think of a light bulb. The same bulb we use as an icon over a person’s head when illustrating they are smart or had a brilliant idea. Candelabra bulbs are typically used in chandeliers and outdoor fixtures and are shaped like a flame.  

Other types of bulbs, directional bulbs like MR16, PAR’s and R’s used in recessed cans and track lighting will still be available in various degrees of spot and floods.    

3-      Is the quality of the light acceptable?

LED bulbs are available in various shades of white, on a scale of soft white to daylight. This is the CRI, color rendering index, I did a whole post dedicated to this, read more about CRI here.

Another key to help make sure you are getting a good product is to look for the ENERGY STAR label. For a bulb to become an Energy star qualified it goes through vigorous testing that is done over 6,000 hours to ensure the consumer is getting a bulb with high quality. The testing includes categories such as brightness, distribution of light, performance under different temperatures, and overall efficiency of the bulb. The energy star website has a tool where you can compare different LED bulbs that can help you find the perfect bulb for your application.

4-      Is it Dimmable?

Not all LED bulbs are dimmable, if you have a dimmer please make sure that you buy a dimmable LED bulb. This should be clearly marked on the packaging saying DIMMABLE.

Lastly for those of you who do buy LED bulbs, LED’s are all about thinking long term in pay off for cost. Take for example a CREE  60-watt equivalent LED bulb, it costs $1 per year to operate , based on electricity rates of $.11 per kilowatt-hour and usage of six hours per day; compared to $7 per year for a 60-watt incandescent, not including replacement costs. This is significant in long term saving not only energy wise but for your wallet too.

We try our best to get in LED’s from many vendors, test them in the showroom to see what we think is the best. If you want to see LED’s on display or would like to talk further about LED technology and bulb replacement options stop in the store. The world of LED is rapidly changing, changing for the better, and we try to keep up on all the new and improved lamps, we are happy to share our knowledge with you any time, we are here to help!

What is CRI?

I had a customer ask me yesterday what CRI is and why it is important.

CRI is Color Rendering or the Color Rendering Index. Just today I received an email about CRI from one of my vendors, with the subject fresh on my mind from a conversation yesterday I found this information very useful. 

 

The following information was sent in an email from Nicor written by, Trevor Shaw. with added illustrations from Google Images.

 

The human eye was created to perceive colors in direct sunlight, thus all color perception under artificial light must be judged against this standard.

Various lighting technologies have differing abilities to show or render color accurately. This ability is measured by a scale called the Color Rendering Index (CRI). Created by the International Commission on Illumination (CIE), the Test-Color Method, and mainly the Color Rendering Index, has been accepted by the industry as the standard method for measuring color rendition.

A test light is used to illuminate a panel of 8 "standard" colors. For each sample, the light source is evaluated for its ability to render (Ra) the colors compared to a reference source (usually an incandescent source) and rated on a scale of 0 to 100. A score of 100 would be comparable to sunlight. A score of less than 100 indicates some colors may appear unnatural.

Photo from Google Images

 

The CRI of various light sources available on the market is as follows:

 

CRI	Type	Rating
22	Low Pressure Sodium	Poor
50-60	Standard Warm/Cool White Fluorescent
60-70	Premium High Pressure Sodium Conventional Metal Halide	Fair
70-80	Thin Coat Tri-Phosphor Fluorescent
80-90	Standard CRI LED White High Pressure Sodium, Warm Metal Halide   Thick Coat Tri-Phosphor Fluorescent	Good
90-100	High CRI LED,   High CRI Fluorescent   Incandescent / Tungsten-Halogen/Sunlight	Excellent

 

 

Which Source to Choose?

 

High CRI sources are the clear choice for proper color rendering and a more pleasing space, and are becoming a requirement in some areas , so how does one go about choosing the proper lighting technology?

For a standard working space that requires 90+CRI, LED and Fluorescent are the main technologies used. Halogen lighting also has excellent CRI but is inefficient and operates at very high temperatures. While these technologies will list >90 CRI on data sheets, the lighting they provide is not identical. Spectral Power Distribution (SPD) shows the energy of the light source at differing wavelengths of energy. In other words, it shows which colors will show best under the light source.

The SPD curves of the technologies (See Figures 2 and 3) show that the LED source provides a more even spread across the full color range versus the peaks of the Fluorescent, therefore providing more accurate color rendering across a full range of color. High CRI LED = more color, more accurately.

 

Photographs often do not demonstrate color rendering well due to differences in printing or video display. However, given the opportunity to compare colorful objects under fluorescent and High CRI LED first hand, the difference is striking. LED is the clear winner.

With its many other advantages (efficiency, robustness, lifetime) added to a CRI advantage, LEDs are the clear choice for creating an ideally lit space with excellent color rendering.

 

 

 

Fall is Here

The leaves are starting to fall, the air is getting crisp, it gets dark earlier this means fall is finally here. It's time to start thinking about all the things we need to do inside and out to prepare for the cold months that lay ahead. What does that mean for you with lighting?

Photo from Google Images

 

1. This is a great time to make sure everything is working, you know all the table and floor lamps you haven't needed because you have been outside enjoying summer these past months. Check that you have good light bulbs, preferably some great energy efficient ones, and if you need something repaired bring it into our shop so we can fix it.

Artemis Fan

 

2. Turn your ceiling fans in reverse- heat rises and the fan in reverse mode will help keep that warm air circulating into the room! 

Hinkley Outdoor Light

CFL Bulb

 

 

3. Did you know that the normal compact florescent (CFL) bulb does not work in cold temperatures? If the temps reach below 20 degrees the CFL will not turn on. If you are using CFL's in your outdoor lights, especially post lights that are away from the house, change them to the CFL's rated for freezing temperatures. We sale one that will work in -20 degree temps! These are not very common, so make sure you read the box and you are getting the one rated for negative temperatures.      

 

 



Friday's Favorite: Saving Energy with Lutron's Dimmers

Diva in RED

 Lutron makes dimmers in almost every shade imaginable, I would bet you have seen their advertisements somewhere, they are in almost every home décor magazine around. But did you know that their dimmers can help you save energy? One thing I love about their website is the Energy Saving Calculator this is a great tool to help anyone understand how dimming can help you save money.

Maestro Occupancy Sensor

A newer product that will also help you with your energy bill is a sensors, sensor's are great for rooms where lights are often accidentally left on, such as a child’s room, or rooms where you often enter with your hands full, such as a laundry room. This is a great way to help you save energy without a lot of effort or thought on your part; everyday the sensor does the work for you. We use senor's in the restrooms here at the store. I love having sensors in some parts of the showroom where it is not necessary to keep the light on all day, every little bit helps.

Plug-in Credenza Dimmer

Last I want to share our best selling dimmer- This is the most convenient little device. you can plug any lamp into this and have a dimmable fixture. We sale tons of these little guys! I have one attached to the lamp on my night stand, I really like having the dimmer right next to my bed.

 

Follow us on Pinterest!

Spring Cleaning

It’s finally here- SPRING! I am so happy that the days are longer and we can start spending our evenings outdoors. Another thing to look forward to is spring cleaning (maybe not the cleaning itself but having everything clean) which brings me to my tips and tricks for cleaning your lights.

A few things to check for before you start cleaning

1.       Make sure the fixture is turned off. I would hate for anyone to get zapped while cleaning their lights.

2.       Check for brittle lamp cords or any loose/frayed wires, if you find any bring your fixture to us to repair and re-wire.

Lampshades

 The best method I know is to vacuum your shades, use the brush attachment on your vacuum and start at the top of the shade vacuuming in downward motions turning the lampshade as you go.  If you have not cleaned your shade in a long time you will notice a difference right away. This method can be harmful to older shades that have lost their elasticity so be cautious, if your shade is more than a decade old use a soft paint brush and gently brush the dust off the shade in that same downward motion I mentioned before.  Another method is using a lint roller, again be careful that you don't have an older shade because it can catch the fabric and rip. But a lint roller can be a really good method especially on lampshades with a plastic backing.

Brass

 

Brass fixtures are another item that can be tricky to clean. The first step is to determine if it’s really brass and not just painted or plated to look like solid brass. The easiest way to do that is to hold a magnet up to the fixture; if the magnet does not stick it may have no brass at all or is only brass plated. Brass fixtures will often be finished with a varnish to protect the brass,. This layer is often removed when you are using cleaning products, and once you remove the varnish there is nothing left to protect your brass from tarnish. Just because there is some tarnish doesn't necessarily mean it needs to be cleaned. Tarnish may sometimes produce a desirable patina that enhances a piece. Antiques are especially vulnerable so if you have a valuable piece, consider leaving it uncleaned or having it professionally cleaned. You can always dust your brass fixtures with a feather duster or a soft cloth. If you want a deeper clean because the brass is simply dirty or oily, mix a mild detergent with warm water. Dip a soft cloth into the soapy water and wipe the piece down with the cloth.

Toothpaste works well to polish brass. Apply a pea sized drop onto a cotton cloth and rub in small circles. Rinse with clean water and buff the residue off.

A lemon half dipped in a plate of table salt will also remove heavy tarnish and leave a clean, but unpolished look to brass.

If you do a deep clean on your brass fixture and have removed the varnish, consider adding a layer of polyurethane sealer, varnish, or polymer-based car wax to the fixture to protect it. Follow the manufactures instructions of whatever product you choose to use.

Don’t forget that excessive cleaning can damage brass, think less is more in when it comes to brass.

Fans 

The days are getting warmer and you may start using your ceiling fans more to help cool a room, now is the time to wipe down the fan blades, the top of the blade can collect a lot of dust during the winter months.

Crystal

 

One of my favorite products for cleaning crystal, and by far the least amount of work for your bling is Clean and Bright. I have been stocking this product for years. It is a solution you can spray on your crystal and let it drip dry (I do recommend placing a towel under the fixture to catch the drops).

 

If you want to really deep clean your crystal use warm water and vinegar, this will get rid of any grease build up- you will have to rub the crystals down individually with the vinegar solution and for the very best result also dry them with a clean cloth. This method will make your crystals sparkle for months.  

Glass

Please wash by HAND! I have had so many people destroy glass by putting it in the dishwasher. Automatic dishwasher detergent can scratch or dull the decorative design and coating on some glass. A lot of glass used for lighting is hand painted, this paint will not hold up in a dishwasher. Use a damp cloth with very mild dish soap to wipe down glass on your lighting fixtures. If you want to take the glass off the fixture to clean it TAKE CAUTION often time’s glass is not replaceable. We do have glass replacement companies and some manufactures will sale glass replacements but identical matches are hard to find!

Happy spring cleaning!!

Saving Money with your Lighting

Yep, that is right you can save money by using the right type of lighting! Here are a few tips to help you.

One sure way to save money with lighting is to turn off your lights, if this is something you forget to do, try a motion sensor. Here at Felt Lighting we have motion sensors in all of our restrooms. Motion sensors can be set to turn off after a certain amount of time, and as long as there is movement in the room the light will stay on.

 

In your home a great place to start is by replacing your old fixtures with Energy Star fixtures. Energy Star is a rating given to energy efficient fixtures, usually these fixtures use compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs or LED bulbs. Not all fixtures with CFL or LED are Energy Star, if the fixture is indeed given an energy star rating you will see it clearly marked.

 Rocky Mountain Power offers rebates when you buy Energy Star fixtures for your home or office, for more information on the programs check here. There are also federal rebates available; here is more information.

If you don’t want to invest right now in updating your fixtures, try replacing just your light bulbs with more energy efficient blubs. Use LED, CFL or Xenon bulbs in place of you incandescent and halogen bulbs.

Light Bulbs: What you Need to Know

The Federal Government has passes a law that phases out the standard incandescent light bulb. Here is what you need to know.

Changes in maximum wattage

100watt change to 72 watt max in 2012

75 watt change to 53 watt max in 2013

60 watt change to 43 watt max in 2014

40 watt change to 29watt max in 2014

*Changes go into effect one year earlier in California and British Columbia

Products available to replace your incandescent bulb: Types Halogen, Xenon, CFL, LED, Cold Cathode, Induction Light Bulbs.

 

Halogen, aka Quartz Halogen

*Omnidirectional, it throws light in all directions.

*On the Kelvin scale, the color temperature is approximately 3100 K.

* On average last 2,500 hours

*Dimmable

*Contain no hazardous waste

*Between 20 and 22 Lumens/watt

Xenon: 

Similar to Halogen in size, shape, color and light output. It burns cooler and last longer than halogen.

*Average xenon last 8,000 to 10,000 hours

*Dimmable

*Contain no hazardous waste

*Between 20 and 22 Lumens/watt

CFL, Compact Florescent Light:

*Omni directional light source

*Available in different colors on the Kelvin scale  

 *On average last 6,000 to 15,000 hours

*not all are dimmable

*Contain some hazardous waste; mercury should be disposed of correctly.

 

LED, Light Emitting Diode:

*Unidirectional light source, throws light in one direction

*Available in different colors on the Kelvin scale

*On average last 25,000 to 50,000 hours

*not all are dimmable

*Contain no hazardous waste (studies being conducted on possible hazards with lead, copper and nickel content in LED bulbs)

*Between 50 and 100 Lumens/watt

Cold Cathode:

*Omni directional light source

* Available in 2700 K (warm white)

*On average last 25,000 hours

*Most are dimmable

*Contain some hazardous waste and should be disposed of correctly.

*Between 100 and 125 Lumens/watt

Magnetic Induction Light Bulbs:

*Omni directional light source

*High on the Kelvin scale, the color temperature is in the 4000k-6000k range, it has a blue hue. (2700k may be available soon)

*On average last 65,000 to 100,000 hours

*not dimmable

*Environmentally friendly as induction lamps use far less energy, and almost no mercury per hour of operation than conventional lighting. The mercury is in a solid amalgam and can easily be easily recovered if the lamp is broken, or for recycling at end-of-life.

*Between 62 and 90 Lumens/watt

Important Terms to Know

Wattage/Watt – (w) – The measure of electrical power
Voltage/Volt – (v) – The measure of electrical charge
Ampere/Amp – The measure of electrical current
Kelvin – (K) – The measure of color temperature
Lumen – (lu) – The measure of light brightness
Candela – (cd) – The measure of light intensity
Pattern – The beam pattern of light that is projected. This includes depth and width of illumination, and angle of light dispersion.

Under Cabinet Lighting

Here are a few of the most commonly used under cabinet lighting systems. Kitchens are the biggest gathering room in most homes, good lighting is very important in your kitchen. Under cabinet lights add depth, dimension, are both functional and decorative. These are the finishing touches you do not want to miss in your home.

Photo found on Pinterest
 

 

Halogen, Xenon, and fluorescent bars or strip lights are popular under cabinet lighting options. All of these can be plugged into an electrical outlet or hardwired to a power source. These light systems will link together creating a continuous light source to illuminate any length of counter top.

Puck Lights

Puck lights are another option, more often than not pucks are a 12 volt system, so they require a transformer. Most pucks use halogen or xenon light bulbs and are 20 watts each. A puck light can be recessed or surface mounted. Pucks create a spot light effect although the effect can change by changing the glass lens; there are color filters as well as spread lenses and diffusers.

LED tape

There are many options in under cabinet lighting with LED tape being the most popular request as of late; it is a great option if you have a matte surface, if you do not like to change light bulbs and if you need a low profile option. There are a few things to keep in mind with LED, as this picture above illustrates on a high gloss (like most granite) surface the bulbs are reflective and will be very noticeable. If you have a lip under your cabinets I recommend mounting the LED tape to the side of the lip so that it does not shine directly onto the counter top. This will diffuse the harsh light so the reflection is less noticeable. I wish I had a good picture to show the difference, I will have to try to find one.

LED light requires a driver, most systems have drivers that can be hardwired or drivers that will plug into an outlet.