Category Archives: Lighting Design

Informtaion of lighting schemes and architectural lighting together with details of how energy saving light bulbs can contribute to interior design.

Light Bulb General Information, Lighting Design, Technologies

Stage Lighting Products and Effects

Leave a comment

UGR 4Create a dramatic, exciting, and stimulating stage illumination. Saving Light Bulbs (SLB)’s lighting effects and products present you with a wide variety of powerful, dependable, and easy-to-use tools. This gives you the power to light your stage like a pro. Whether you are looking for dramatic or outrageous tools, SLB offers a diversity of options—just to make your show more alive!

Create a powerful visual impact with stage lighting and light shows in style. Whether you are looking to replace your lighting fixture or configure a new system, you are sure to find the solution that suits your needs and is within your budget.

Effect Lighting

Stage Lighting Products and Effects 2With effect lighting, you have a lighting solution that is ideal for DJ Lighting setup, clubs, and other music venues. Even more, effect lighting can be used in settings, such as trade shows, business conferences, and commercial events. Also, they are ideal in architectural applications. The most common types of effect lighting fixtures include:

  • Dedicated strobe
  • Centerpiece fixtures
  • Backlight or UV and gobo projector

LED hybrids featuring multiple color effects in one package are quickly becoming a big hit in the DJ lighting sphere. That’s why we always endeavor to get the best selection of effect lighting products from some of the best brands in the world.

Stage Lighting Products and Effects 3

Our product catalog includes high-quality effect lighting products—such as strobes, UV, as well as hybrid solutions. We also have other effects—including scanners, water, as well as moving effects. Commonly, our products are battery-powered and wireless DMX.

SLB Popular Products

RGBW DMX PAR Light 200w

The RGBW DMX PAR Light 200w is a high output parabolic based PAR light featuring a power rating of 200 watts. With this unit, you have 10 individual four-in-one RGBW LEDs. The RGBW DMX PAR Light 200w comes with four control modes—including Auto-run, DMX512, Sound-active, and \Mater-slave. The RGBW DMX PAR Light 200w (which is made of cast aluminum) features IP protection of IP65—making it highly reliable for various applications. Ideal for exterior lighting, interior design, and stage use, this unit also comes with other great features—including a beam angle of 15°, 8 DMX Channels, and LED display.

Moving Head RGBW 280 watt

The Moving Head RGBW 280 watt is an impressive RGBW headlight that can be used in stage and entertainment lighting settings. The unit draws light from 19 individual four-in-one high power LEDs and is controlled through 10 DMX channels.

The Moving Head RGBW 280 watt comes with different control modes. They include:

  • DMX512 and master-slave
  • Sound active and auto-run

With an extremely extensive movement capability featuring pan 540°/630° as well as tilt:265° (16bit), stage managers have a unit they can use to optimize stage lighting.

The component is characterized by high speed based electric strobe—which can hit 1-25 times/sec (random strobe effect).

The system is equipped with advanced color mixing capabilities. The unit’s color mixing Beam angle control ranges from 6 to 50°.

With this unit, you have a stage lighting solution that has extremely powerful color control capabilities—i.e. it can change from warm white color to cool white color. You can use the DMX controller to call up to 8 built-in programs. The unit consumes 280watts.

DMX Controller KXD-C240

The DMX Controller KXD-C240, which is relatively affordable, is a comprehensive DMX controller you can use to control stage lights. Use this unit to light up various lighting scenes. Even more, it can be programmed to produce a stunning effect from the DMX controlled lights. The unit, which complies with the DMX515 control signal international standards, comes with high range (i.e. 12 scanners/lights) and 192 channels. With a maximum of 16 control channels, the controller consumes less current of at most 300mA, measures 483 by 178 by 80mm, and weighs 3.25 kg. Other parameters of this controller include 480 chase steps, 128k memory capacity, and a LED display. The DMX Controller KXD-C240 also features a 3 core pin socket DMX output.

Your Ultimate Stage Lighting Store
Stage Lighting Products and Effects 4Stage Lighting Products and Effects 4Take Your Stage Lighting experience to the next level by purchasing the most reliable components. With SLB, you have a partner who understands all your stage lighting needs. Contact us today and get your custom stage lighting component today.

Light Bulb General Information, Lighting Design

Do I need a Professional Lighting Designer?

Leave a comment

Professional Lighting Designer 1You have a dream house in mind. Well done. You have assembled your team including an architect, building contractor, interior décor expert, and landscaper. Congratulations! Now, it’s time to take lighting seriously. It’s part of both interior and exterior design. Don’t mess with it. Get a lighting professional to help you.

Here is why hiring a professional lighting designer is important.

The Evolving Technology

With a professional lighting professional, you have an expert to bring the latest technological advancements on board. He/she understands the lighting sphere. With such an expert, you can rest assured that your lighting needs will be taken care of. He/she knows different lighting solutions on the market, how to customize your needs, and different lighting fixtures.

Different Options

Professional Lighting DesignerWith a lighting design professional, you’ve got a person who can bring more options on the table. With hundreds of options on the market today, you may get confused as far as choosing the style that suits your needs is concerned. However, a lighting professional understands the options, their benefits, and drawbacks. He/she will go through the options and sieve them to give you the best one.  .

The Right Skills

A lighting professional has the right skills and expertise to see your project to completion. He/she understands the jargon surrounding the lighting design industry. From different types of lights to the IP rating requirements, a lighting design professional will craft solutions that suits your lighting needs. Things with lighting sources, optics, electronics, electricity, art design, codes, and environmental issues can be demanding. That’s where a lighting design professional come in.

Saves Money

Contrarily to the opinion of many, a lighting design professional doesn’t necessarily make a project costlier. With a lighting professional, you have an expert who understands the most cost-effective lighting methods and how to find affordable fixtures—helping you avoid costly mistakes of ordering ineffective lighting products.

Time to Hire a Lighting Design Professional Is Now

Lighting is an essential component of ambiance, but most people don’t realize how it affects the atmosphere of a space. Whether it’s your living room, business showroom, home office, an art gallery or coffee house, lighting can make a great difference. So, when designing a lighting scheme, it’s best to get the help of a professional. A lighting designer will assist you in planning the overall design and providing valuable ideas about how to construct an excellent architectural detail so as to achieve the desired lighting effect.

Hiring an expert means that you’re bringing the most artistic and creative design into your space. He or she will evaluate the needs of your space so as to provide a holistic solution that considers several factors like glare, energy consumption, lighting standards, visual comfort, environmental pollution, and above all your budget. A lighting professional will creatively blend your light’s aesthetical and technical aspects to create an impressive solution that perfectly complements your home’s architecture.

A carefully planned lighting scheme will save considerable amounts of energy, while also giving your space an instant uplift. By creating the right mood, lighting can also improve sales and productivity, especially in shops and workplaces. So, if you’re looking for an effective way to make your home or workspace feel better while also saving your money, it could be well working with an experienced lighting designer. This will make it easier for you to implement the best lighting idea that’ll truly reflect your personal style.

The Bottom-Line

Professional Lighting Designer 3Lighting is a fundamental aspect of any home lighting plan. Do it wrong and mess up everything. That’s why you should be very careful when choosing your lighting design. If you have the knowledge and capacity to undertake it alone, that’s fine. However, the best thing you can do is to hire a lighting design professional. He/she has the right skills, knows the options, understands the technology in lighting, and can save you lots of money. Contact a dependable lighting design professional like Saving Light Bulbs (SLB) and take your home’s lighting experience to the next level.

Light Bulb General Information, Lighting Design

IP Ratings Explained

Leave a comment

IP rating 1Your electrical enclosure together with its contents needs to be protected. And the best way to protect it is by knowing what IP rating is so that you can make the right orders.

So, what’s IP rating?

An IP (which is an abbreviation for Ingress Protection) rating is commonly used to determine the extent of protection electrical enclosures have against different environmental conditions. Established by the IEC (an abbreviation for the International Electromechanical Commission), IP ratings would be later used to standardize electrical and electronic components. In a nutshell, IP ratings are used to indicate the sealing effectiveness of all electrical enclosures against the intrusion of foreign bodies (such as tools and dirt) as well as moisture. Put simply, an IP rating tells you whether an enclosure or electronic component is suitable for exposure to water or solid objects.

Interpreting the Numbers in the IP Rating

Each number in the IP rating has a specific meaning. Commonly, IP ratings contain two numbers. Liquids include any type of moisture content—including drips, sprays, and submersions.

Here is a snapshot:

  1. The first one is used to indicate the degree of protection( i.e. of people) from any moving part and protection of enclosed equipment against foreign bodies
  2. The second one is used to indicate the protection of enclosures from moisture (i.e. drips, sprays, and submersion).

IP Rating 101

IP rating 3If you are looking to install lights in your interiors or exteriors, it’s important to know the waterproofing properties of your lighting. With IP Rating, you are able to determine the extent to which various electrical equipment are sealed as well as protected from liquid, solid, and dirt intrusion.

IP Rating – SLB Range

At SLB, we offer an array of electrical components with a wide range of IP Ratings. So if you are looking to light up your interior, we’ve got the fixtures featuring IP Ratings from IP20 to IP66. Commonly, we sell fixtures with ratings of IP44 and IP54:

  • IP44 Rating—these fixtures are protected against objects that are bigger than 1 millimeter and water splashes from different directions.
  • IP54 Protection—these fixtures are protected from dust as well as water splashes from different directions.

IP Ratings for Bathroom Lighting Fixtures

According to the IEE Wiring Regulations, the bathroom is divided into zones—making it easier when it comes to choosing bathroom lights. Each zone is specific in terms of the lighting fixtures’ IP rating to be installed.

The following diagram represents the zones and the IP Rating requirements for each.

Bathroom Lighting IP Zones

Bathroom Lighting IP Zones

ZONE 1

  • This is the area located above the bath and showers. This area is about 2.25m high from the bathroom floor.
  • An IP Rating of at least IP65 is required in this area
  • The ideal lights in this location include IP65 downlights as well as LED strip lights

In other cases, you can install fixtures with IP44 Ratings in zone 1. However, if your bathroom has a water jet such as a showerhead that the lighting fixture, it’s recommended to stick to an IP65 rating.

ZONE 2 IP44

  • This is the area that stretches about 0.6 meters outside the bath’s perimeter.
  • The recommended IP Rating in this area is IP44 and above
  • The common types of lights you can install in this area include ceiling lights, lights, and over mirror lights.

OUTSIDE ZONES

  • Any space outside of zone 1 and 2 is considered to be outside the zone
  • No specific IP rating level is required in this zone

IP Ratings for Kitchen Lights

IP rating 2Unlike the bathroom, kitchen lights aren’t exposed to water. Therefore, this area doesn’t require a high level of IP Rating. However, you are recommended to install lighting fixtures with IP Ratings of at least IP20. This will protect the lighting fixtures from moisture generated from steam, water drips, as well as condensation residues.

Lighting Design

Dialux vs Relux Lighting Simulation

Leave a comment

DIALux 1DIALux and Relux are some of the world’s most popular software tools for professional lighting. Both programs come with a specific data format and support the installation of most luminaire manufacturers’ data plugins. With these lighting simulation programs, you can achieve virtually the best luminaries. So, if you are planning to achieve the best lighting schemes, here are some insights into these two leading programs.

DIALux

DIALux is a state-of-the-art lighting software utilized by thousands of light designers worldwide. The program allows you to effectively plan your lighting and helps you in complying with international standards and regulations. Designing your home or office with maximum use of daylight and energy-efficient luminaires can significantly reduce costs.

DIALux 2With this software, you can creatively plan lighting for your home, commercial building, exterior, office or sports venue. Plus, you can design, calculate, as well as visualize light professionally. DIALux constantly meets the requirements of contemporary lighting design so you can rest assured that you’ll get the best results. With over 700,000 users, the software is available in 25 different languages and is absolutely free. The tool is easy-to-use and accessible to everyone. It connects lighting planners and manufacturers across the entire globe. You can readily find DIALux in a desktop version or as a basic mobile app.

DIALux is currently the leading online marketing tool in the lighting industry.

About Relux 1

Relux is a high-performance application for simulating both artificial light and daylight. It allows users to simulate lighting and sensors for detailed renderings. It’s intuitively operated and can calculate national/international standards as well as absolute values. Besides, the program is compatible with CAD plus BIM systems. With over 200,000 users, the software is free of charge and highly dynamic.

The platform uses electronic catalogs as its database plug-ins, which allow the user to choose and incorporate a manufacture’s luminaires into their designs. International manufacturers make approximately one million product versions available through Relux every year. Plus, the platform also makes it possible for users to import EuLumdat and IES luminaire data from compatible sources. Relux supports various standards for road, indoor, as well as outdoor lighting: EN12464-1 (2013) and EN1838 (2014) for indoor lighting, EN13201-2,-3 (2016) for road lighting, and EN12464-2 (2013), EN 12193 (2008), GR to CIE 112 (1994) for outdoor lighting.

Relux 2Relux provides users with rapid and dependable support on different aspects of both big and small lighting projects, without taking roundabout routes. Above all, the program allows you to creatively compile your lighting as well as sensor plan in AutoCAD. Thanks to Relux’s bidirectional interface, you can now define the desired room parameters and obtain the calculation results in a suitable format for your CAD (Computer Aided Design) plan.

Relux is a program for expert designers that currently supports the CIE88, CIE140, plus SLG201 standards. Through the automatic positioning feature, you can plan your lighting in real time. The program generates detailed project documentation on different zones, including the entry zone, tunnel interior, as well as the transitional section.

The Bottom-line

Relux VS DluxTechnology is quickly impacting the lighting industry—bringing endless possibilities. With the invention of lighting simulation software, designers can now go creative and play around with lighting to give customers the best solutions. These two software are industry leaders. Thus, your choice depends on your needs. Choose a simulation software that perfectly suits your personal lighting requirements.

Light Bulb General Information, Lighting Design, Technologies, The Environment

An update on the Light Bulb Ban

Leave a comment

Ban 1Conventional incandescent light bulbs are starting to vanish from the market. Some recently formulated energy-efficiency regulations intended to kick out old-fashioned bulbs from the lighting industry.

Though most bulb manufacturers are fighting hard to get a court order stopping the regulations from taking effect, it looks like customers will soon have to choose between sophisticated light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and those oddly shaped fluorescent lights. Of course, the bulbs won’t just vanish like that, it will take some time. Vendors will be allowed to finish off their old stock, but they won’t be in a position to sell any incandescent bulbs manufactured after 1st January 2018, that do not meet the current standards.

Back in 2007, George W. Bush approved an energy bill that strengthened lighting efficiency standards. By then, this wasn’t a big deal. What the bill meant then is that manufacturers would gradually need to phase out their traditional, power-hogging light bulbs and switch to something sleeker, like CFLs or fluorescent lamps, beginning 2012.

Ban1According to law, CFLs and LEDs plus other energy-efficient bulbs help minimize power-plant emissions and also saves consumers huge amounts of money. It’s estimated that if every American household swapped out one traditional bulb for a more advanced lighting fixture, it would be the same thing as removing 800,000 cars from the road. Perhaps there are numerous ways of reducing emissions, but most Republicans oppose the idea of carbon taxes and other related stuff, which means that inept regulations and guidelines are the only things which attract political support.

The new regulations required that the screw-based light bulbs should meet certain minimum energy-efficiency standards. This would make them 3 times more efficient than conventional bulbs as of 1st January in California. And there isn’t no halogen or incandescent bulb available on the market that meets that level.

LED and CFLs will be the only option

some led lamps blue light science technology backgroundConsumers will only be left with the option of choosing between LED and CFL lighting fixtures. After selling off their left stock, they’ll have no other choice but to stock their shelves with modern bulbs that meet the new and stricter environmental standards. Those designing and selling lighting fixtures have long known about this change and they have responded by offering an extensive range of energy-saving light bulbs which conform to the new standards. They are also finishing off their production of incandescent bulbs.

The covered bulbs

These standards are mostly applicable to medium screw-based lighting bulbs that are commonly used in homes and business buildings, such as the pear-shaped bulbs utilized in tables as well as floor lamps, the candle-shaped lamps used in chandeliers/sconces, and the glob/round bulbs utilized in bathroom vanities.

Finding a replacement: Will it be easy?

Ban4A wide array of energy-saving light-emitting diodes (LED) bulbs that come in different shapes and light output levels are already available on most retail shops across the state. Such bulbs are manufactured by renowned lighting companies such as Sylvania, Philips, and GE plus other newer lighting firms like Cree, Maxlite, TCP, and Feit.  California’s regulations on light bulbs currently exempt certain bulb types, such as those commonly used in ovens.

CLICK HERE TO BUY LED BULBS

Light Bulb General Information, Lighting Design, Technologies

An Introduction to DMX Lighting Control

Leave a comment

DMX1DMX lighting control is all about taking your lighting experience to another whole new level. It has revolutionized the lighting industry with intelligent technological advancements.

In the past, intelligent lighting domain was a preserve for those considered professionals. However, with the development and design of more affordable electrical, electronic, plus computer control systems, superior good lighting effects can now be realized.

Understanding Intelligent Lighting?

DMX2Intelligent lighting comprises unique elements that can be controlled remotely. At an intricate level, this might involve moving heads, patterns & colors. And on a simple level, only the color can be controlled with RGB LEDs or a dimmer. In short, intelligent lighting is amazing.

Integrating a controller, DMX lighting makes it possible for you to simultaneously send signals to multiple devices, sequencing them automatically with a pre-determined view or operating the effects live on-the-fly. If you have watched the popular Halloween house lights video set to thriller, you should know that it utilizes DMX intelligent lighting control.

So, What Is DMX?

DMX is a digital, unidirectional serial protocol without error checking capabilities. It’s very reliable but prone to interference, something which makes it unfit for hazardous effects like pyrotechnics. For instance, a stray signal/electrical interference might cause a flame tower. Like many digital cables, the quality of produced signals decreases over long distances & repeaters can be incorporated into the lighting system to increase the distance/split the signal using Ethernet switches. The DMX cabling itself comprises 2 shielded twisted pairs. Technically, 5-pin DMX wiring should be used, but certain manufacturers have designed 3-pin versions that can run over conventional microphone XLR cabling.

Are Your Lighting Fixtures DMX Capable?

DMX3A DMX-capable lighting fixture should have more than two XLR connectors (which must be marked as DMX IN / OUT) and a way to set the DMX address (i.e. either small switches arranged in a row or a control panel). Note that the XLR connectors can have three or five pins, but it depends on the manufacturer. Just refer to the fixture manual to establish the number of DMX channels the light uses.

Will your lighting system work with DMXIS or Even D-PRO?

DMX supported fixtures can be controlled using any DMX software /console. So, whether yours is a dimmer pack, a moonflower, or even a scanner, it can perfectly work with DIMXIS. Moreover, moving head, laser, and LED spot can work well with DMXIS. In fact, DMXIS & D-PRO are capable of controlling all lights, provided they have DMX connectors.

What About Sound Activated Light?

DMX4However, “sound activated” lights with no XLR connectors cannot be controlled by DMX. LED lighting has undergone massive technological advancements that have completely revolutionized the lighting industry, offering improved performance and highly efficient lighting options both for residential & commercial applications. The 0-10V and the DALI (digital addressable lighting interfaces) dimming modules are two unique components that provide true innovations for various dimming control projects. Working alongside these elements is the DMX control (digital multiplex), an important component often utilized in color mixing applications.

CLICK HERE TO BUY DMX Lighting Control

Light Bulb General Information, Lighting Design, Technologies

IP Ratings Explained

Leave a comment

IP Ratings Explained111The IP ratings (an abbreviation for International Protection ratings) is a two-numbered representation for protection against solids and water. The first digit represents the protection rating against certain solid foreign objects (such as dust) while the second digit is the actual protection against water.

Understanding IP rating for lights

The IP rating (Ingress Protection) is an internationally recognized method utilized to describe and measure the level of protection of electrical appliances against water and other technical components. It’s always advisable to choose the right IP rating for your exterior lights plus ceiling fans so as to prevent hazardous accidents.

For enclosures, the emblematic “waterproof” IP ratings include IP67, IP66 & IP65 enclosures.  The table below explains the meaning of each of these ratings and how they’re arrived at.

IP Ratings Explained1

IP Rating The actual Protection offered Description of the offered protection Test Method
IP65 Enclosures These ones can protect against any water jets Water entry is projected by a nozzle (which is 6.3 mm long) against enclosures from all directions and must not have any harmful effect. Test duration: The test takes about 15 minutesWater volume: It requires about 12.5 liters of water per minutePressure: The test requires a pressure of 30 kPa at a 3m-distance
IP66 Enclosures This one can offer protection against water jets Water is projected in dominant jets (i.e. a 12.5 mmNozzle) against enclosures from all directions and shouldn’t have any harmful effects. Test duration: It requires about 3 minutesWater volume: The test requires 100 liters of water per minutePressure: The test must be done at a pressure of 100 kPa and at a 3m
IP67 Enclosures These ratings can protect against an Immersion of up to 1 m It protects entrance of large volume water and when the enclosure in question is immersed in water(but under pre-defined under pre-defined pressure and time conditions) Test duration is 30 minutes The immersion should be at a depth of more than 1 m measured from the  bottom of the device and more than 15 cm measured from the top of the device

 

IK Rating: What is it?

IK ratings denote the European standard EN — the equivalent of IEC 62262 (2002) standards. This represents an international numeric classification concerning degrees of protection by enclosures for all electrical appliances against external mechanical forces/impacts.

IP rating in electrical appliances

The IP Code is an International Protection Marking that interprets the IP code as an Ingress Protection Marking. It also classifies & rates it as the level protection against intrusion, dust, unintentional contact, as well as water.

IP ratings brief history

IP Ratings Explained1111111IP ratings were first developed by the International Electro-technical Commission. They are mostly used in Europe & Asia, but find some adherents in parts of North America.  Since they’re international standards, testing and certification is done by the TUV and not UL.  Note: IP ratings were developed to address harsh environments and not ultraviolet rays (UV) protection. Thus, engineers should incorporate additional materials that offer UV protection.

Light Bulb General Information, Lighting Design

Architectural Lighting for Buildings

Leave a comment

Architectural Lighting 1Light defines space. And architecture lighting is an art that entails the masterly, correct, as well as magnificent consolidation of masses in form of light. The human eye is attracted by light. Simple design additions can enhance the effectiveness of any building, turning it into a happier, healthier, & productive environment.

Architectural Lighting & Daylight

The largest impact on lighting & design is derived from the buildings’ architectural orientation and massing. Other key players include ceiling height plus the section profiles, which influence the availability of daylight in any building. Naturally, a south facing orientation, slender floor plates, raised ceilings, in addition to open divisions tend to allow more usable light into a building, thus correspondingly reducing the amount of electric lighting used. That’s why you should bring lighting designers onto any architectural project team early enough to bring an impact on the massing decisions.

Illuminating the Actual Building Architecture

Architectural Lighting2Architectural lighting is meant to illuminate your room’s actual architecture, including walls and ceilings. It’s meant to create a balanced, indirect, lighting environment that enlivens a room’s architecture. Exciting interiors, such as brick /stone veneers can go a long way in enhancing your home’s architectural lighting features.

Architectural Lighting: The Importance

Lighting can help inject more value into any architectural building. It plays a key role in the overall architecture of any building. Whether you light your building and structure naturally or artificially, you should endeavor to do it right—-since lighting allows people to see and appreciate your buildings’ beauty.

Lighting also brings an emotional value of architecture to any building. From those occupying the building to the visitors, the right architectural lighting will let your building sparkle with class and elegance. Whether yours is daytime or artificial lighting, the right design can draw attention to your textures, space, and colors, helping your lighting scheme achieve its purpose.

Think Aesthetics, Function, and Efficiency

To achieve a successful lighting-architecture balance, it’s vital to take into consideration:

  • Aesthetics
  • Function
  • Efficiency

Aesthetics

With aesthetics, designers tend to focus on the impact of emotional balance (i.e. the lighting- architecture balance). It helps people feel different when they’re in and out of the building. Ideal for retail locations; this exterior lighting aspect will help draw attention and create an everlasting impact.

Function

Function is another vital aspect that shouldn’t be overlooked. As much as you’ll want the light to look in a certain way, you should also ensure that it serves the purpose – to help people see. Illuminate spaces to guarantee the safety of the occupants who navigate through the building.

Efficiency

SONY DSCEfficiency is another key aspect architectures and interior designers should seriously consider. Create a breathtaking light layout that’s incredibly energy-efficient. And the easiest way to go about this is by installing the LEDs as opposed to fluorescent lighting—since LEDs are far much more energy efficient than other lighting sources.

The Three Elemental Types of Light

Invest in these three “elemental types of light”. They are the heartbeat of any modern lighting design.

  1. Focal glow – Also known as task lighting, focal glow points out vital elements and help draw attention to spaces. They are directive in nature, creating brighter centers. Bonus, they can effectively highlight the important element.
  2. Ambient luminescence – Also referred to as general/ambient lighting, ambient luminescence is the background lighting, which illuminates the entire space. Mostly, it should be uniform. Moreover, it shouldn’t cast shadows.
  3. Play of brilliants – Play of brilliant (accent lighting) is a dynamic & colorful architectural lighting that aims at stimulating people as well as their emotions. It excites peoples’ optic nerves, which helps stimulate their body and spirit. This awakens the curiosity and sharpens the wit.

CLICK HERE TO BUY ARCHITECTURAL LIGHTING SYSTEM

Light Bulb General Information, Lighting Design

Buyers Guide on LED Bulbs

Leave a comment

LED Bulbs 1LEDs bulbs, an abbreviation of light-emitting diodes bulbs, are kinds of light sources that exhibit a high level of efficiency.  They are different from other conventional types of bulbs like incandescent & halogen lamps. Their lifespan is superior and they consume less energy and emit little amount heat.

LED bulbs: How long do they last?

A high-quality LED bulb can last for at least 20,000 hours, and serve you for around 50,000 hours. For comparison purposes, incandescent bulbs and CFLs have a lifespan of 1,000 hours 9,000 hours respectively. With consistent daily use—8 hours a day—a good quality LED bulb could serve you for about 17 years!

LED bulbs: The Advantages over CFLs

  • Durable: LED bulbs are more durable, lasting about 5- 10 years.
  • Efficiency: LED bulbs are highly energy efficient. They consume half of the electricity that conventional bulbs use.
  • Environment: LED bulbs are Eco-Friendly. They don’t use mercury like the CFLs.
  • Heat dissipation: The heat dissipation of LED bulbs is lower than the conventional ones. Their bulb filament is fairly cool and there is no heat around the bulb

CLICK HERE TO BUY LED Bulbs

Top 9 Factors to Consider

LED Bulbs2Lighting is an important aspect of any home. So, doing it right will uplift your home. However, before purchasing LED bulbs, you should consider vital factors, including:

1. Fitting

Fitting is an important aspect of LED bulbs. Thus, you should always select the bulb that has the right fitting. For instance, if you’re replacing an old bulb, take it to the store. However, if it’s impossible to take it with you, have the fitting reference number and share it with the store technicians.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN ABOUT DIFFERENT BULB FITTINGS

2. Cost

Don’t be scared by the upfront (initial) cost of LED bulbs. In the long run, LEDs could save you big.

3. Note Color Rendering Index

The CRI is used to indicate the accuracy of colors under the LED bulb’s light. The CRI, which ranges from 0-100, is high during the day (i.e.  100). Recommended CRI for interior lighting is 80. To compare LED bulbs, observe the CRI of different bulbs with similar Kelvin temperature.

LEARN ABOUT COLOUR RENDERING INDEX

4. Brightness

LED Bulbs ReadingWhen purchasing LED bulbs, ensure you understand your brightness needs. Therefore, purchase one that quenches your brightness thirst.

5. LED Lamp Voltage

LED bulbs come in different voltage ratings. The voltage ratings vary from 6V- 240V. For searchlights, low voltage LED bulbs are preferred. However, 120-240 V LED bulbs are ideal for normal room lighting.

6. Shape & Direction of Light

The shape of your LED light bulb determines the style of the room plus its holder. So, depending on your style, you can either choose Omnidirectional, Flood reflector, or even Flame tip LED bulbs.

Finding the right LED bulb shape is part of your room’s aesthetics. So, get the right brand with the right characteristics. For instance, a golf LED bulb will spread its light in 360-degrees, making it ideal in golf courts.

7. Quality matters

Ensure that the quality of the LED bulb you buy is superior. You’ll not want to buy something and after a few days, it’s spoilt.

8. Think lumens, not watts

Don’t purchase your bulb by the number of watts. With the new technologies focusing on energy-efficiency, LED bulbs can now emit the same light amount for less power.

The Bottom-line: Lighting Your Home

LED Bulbs garden 5Most living rooms require general, ambient LED lighting complemented by unique task-explicit accent lighting.

Thus, getting ambient lighting for your room will radiate an entirely comfortable amount of brightness. Always ensure that all your rooms are supplied with a central ambient LED lighting source.

Additionally, install a task LED lighting system that is easily switched on & off –depending on your preferences & needs. For instance, bulbs for reading & sewing should have an elaborate control system. Moreover, don’t forget to include an explicit on and off switch or bulbs that give extra light over your kitchen benches as well as bathroom mirrors.

Accent lighting, when done right, are powerful at emphasizing paintings, gardens or house plants, and even collectibles.

Light Bulb General Information, Lighting Design, The Environment

Lighting Building Exteriors

Leave a comment

Lighting Design 1You have pulled out numerous stops–just to make that house, building, backyard and its surrounding of yours look superb. So, why let all your labored work go in vain when, with a glide of a switch plus some strategically positioned landscape exterior lights, you can confidently roll back the dimness and let the display do the talking?

When done right, exterior lightings can turn your environment into a bliss. They help highlight any home’s architectural features—something which will obviously draw attention to the backyard.

Whether you are looking for architectural or even security outdoor lighting, the right systems will definitely provide that visual oomph in addition to a safety boost to your home or business building.

Security Is a Key Factor

There are so many reasons that can prompt you to light your outdoor area. The most obvious one being safety and security. The lighting requirements for a parking lot is dependent on traffic. However, this shouldn’t worry you because recommended illumination levels can be obtained from the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES). Carefully observe its suggestions to avoid possible insecurity issues.

Safety: Safety means staying safe from tripping over an obstacle or walking into a tree and the required light levels for this are actually very low. One can see quite well in the moonlight and that’s just about 0.02 foot-candles.

Security: On the other hand, security refers to protection from people and threats. To achieve a considerable sense of security for your property, you’ll need to boost outdoor artificial lighting. If you are in the garage or parking area, you need to know if someone is plotting to mug you. You also need facial recognition to choose between fight and flight. And picking such visual cues requires an illumination level of 3 foot-candles. A safe outdoor is very important to any home, building or organization, so be keen to provide sufficient lighting in the exteriors.

CLICK HERE TO BUY LED FLOOD LIGHTS

 The Power of Aesthetics

Lighting Design 2The other reason for enhancing your outdoor lighting is aesthetics. Remember, lighting is an important feature of attracting renters to your property. So, it should be taken seriously. You want to ensure that your building looks open and inviting, just like a community beacon.

Exterior Spaces Require Attention

Illuminating outdoor spaces entails paying special attention to light fixture position, intensity, and color in addition to duration. When properly combined, these factors will surely realize the right lighting design that is capable of achieving safety, efficiency in terms of energy consumption, and cost reduction.

Exterior Lighting: The Golden Advice

Exterior lighting is effective at giving dimension to any building plus the surrounding landscape. However, they are not all about flooding your surfaces with light. You should highlight small. This means highlighting a few structural parts with a vivid spotlight. Showering the walls with twinkles of light can create a dramatic effect, giving the exterior a different appearance at dusk. However, when designing your exterior lighting fixtures, consider the texture, brick & stone color and steelwork.

Exterior Lighting – The Power of Going Architectural

Rather than simply lighting your exterior space with ordinary bulbs, use architectural lighting to brighten it up and add some elegance. But, take caution not to create glare or light pollution. Also, consider other users (for instance those inside) since badly placed lighting can cause glare-related problems to other building users.

Façade lighting: Making Non-engineering Decisions

Façade lighting Façade lighting 3Façade lighting is not about numbers. Of course, engineers will compute the vertical luminance, luminance plus uniformity values for your building—however, that isn’t the prime goal.

You need to make numerous non-engineering decisions. For instance, determine if you are intending to let the building blend in /stand out. Are you after a subtle or “in the face” effect? Which colors do you want?

Making your building look “wow” is down to your aesthetic judgment. In case you are unsure about your decisions, consult an exterior lighting designer, an architect, or planner about your target effect. Remember, it’s always better to highlight certain parts of the building as opposed to flooding the entire façade with uniformed light.