A company that goes by the name of Lighting Fixtures Inc has recently announced an LED recessed downlighter with an energy efficieny (54 lumens per watt) that matches that of compact fluorescents. The light fitting, which will go into manufacture at the end of this year, uses warm white LEDs with a colour temperature of 2900K and a colour rendering index of 93. The downlighters are designed to look like traditional downlighters.
Yesterday I had demonstrated to me a quite remarkable colour changing downlighter from Verdi Lighting. This amazing device is a simple retrofit solution for adding colour changing light to an existing downlighter lighting scheme. All you do is replace three of the existing ceiling recessed downlighters with the three supplied in the £129 pack from Verdi Lighting. Thats it! No extra wiring is needed! The special lights work with the exisiting dimmer switch, in a very clever way, to allow various colours of light to be chosen, or for a dynamic colour changing effect to be activated. One of the three special downlighters contains an amazing 35W LED that supplies the colour. The overal effect is a gentle colour washing of the space to be lit.
For anyone looking for a minimalist approach to light fittings, Kreon has just the answer. Aptly called the ‘Secret’ it sits discreetly, almost invisibly, in the wall until you want it. Then, at the touch of a button, an integral motor folds the light fitting away from the wall revealing a wall mounted uplighter or downlighter. Simple and elegant it will look good in any minimalist space. Take a look here.
Lighting can radically alter the way a space looks and feels. Nowhere is this more true than in a pedestrian tunnel. Often tunnels are gloomy and depressing spaces, largely due to poor lighting. At Anchorage Airport however they have managed to use imaginative lighting to make the tunnel, between the airport and the Bill Sheffield Railroad Station, a pleasant and exciting place to be. Take a look at the following document and see what you think….
www.blc.edu/news/bethanyreport/2004_IV/Report_winter_04_05.pdf
When is the right time to get a lighting designer involved in your project? The earlier the better! Lighting designers are often contacted for the first time just weeks before the first fix is about to start, significantly restricting the scope of what can be achieved with the lighting. In an ideal world the lighting designer would get involved at the same time as the Architect. This early involvement gives scope for the lighting to be truly integrated into the building, in discreet and interesting ways. So if you are about to embark on a new project, contact the lighting designer now! It is never too early!
Megaman now have an 11W low energy fluorescent alternative to 50W GU10 mains halogen lamps. With a life expectancy of 15,000 hours they are a very attractive alternative. They also have another distinct advantage when used in ground recessed uplighters……they are much much cooler as they have a built-in cooling tube. Perfect for exterior architectural highlighting. For full details visit the Megaman Website.
It never fails to amaze me how often light fittings are delivered with difficult to understand, or incomplete instructions. It therefore comes as no suprise that a lighting manufacturer has won the Plain English Campaign’s award for gobbledegook! See what you think…
“The switched main live is generally a single black wire and this is connected to the brown wire(s) on the fitting. On a wall light this should be a single red wire. The neutral is generally two black wires and these are connected to the blue wire(s). On a wall light this should be a single black wire. The mains earth wire(s) must be connected to all green/yellow wire(s) or earth terminal on the fitting. When completed ensure that there are no bare or loose strands of wire exposed, and cover all exposed areas of terminal blocks with unsulation tape.”
A government Think Tank has suggested to the Treasury that homes that are wasteful with energy should be taxed. One suggestion is a 5% VAT increase on new homes that do not comply with new energy guidelines. Another suggestion is to add a levy to traditional light bulbs to encourage the use of low energy lamps. Such taxes, if implemented, would certainly increase the demand for good lighting designers!
Some adventurous scientists from Hong Kong have genetically engineered pigs to make them glow green. Every single part of the pig glows, including the trotters and snouts. This was achieved by adding jellyfish genes to those of a pig. This scientific advance was not made to enhance the lighting of garden parties (although they would certainly make rather stunning decorative lights!), but rather to contribute to stem cell and disease research.
Barcelona has its own version of London’s, Norman Foster designed, ‘Gherkin’ office block. Called the Agbar Tower, it is lit at night by 4,500 RGB LED lights that create a stunning flame effect on the exterior of the 32 floors of offices. This is yet another example of how LEDs are fast becoming the standard lighting source for exterior effect lighting of large buildings.
If you are looking for some unusual, and purely decorative lights for the garden, that use low energy LEDs, you might like to take a look at the PlantAura products from PLM. The range consists of small, handcrafted, glass features mounted on stainless steel stems and illuminated by high power LEDs. The features are available in three different styles, ‘Leaf’, ‘Swirl’ and ‘Bud’ and in various colours.