Halogen Lighting - Saving the Environment and Your Sanity

!±8± Halogen Lighting - Saving the Environment and Your Sanity

When selecting lighting for the home or office, many consumers today face a dilemma. Should I use fluorescent (including compact fluorescent) bulbs to save energy or should I use incandescent bulbs to save my sanity?

For many, the cold, flickering light produced by fluorescent fixtures is intolerable. Fluorescent lights typically cannot be dimmed and are thus frequently too bright, causing eye strain when working. The light emitted by florescent bulbs is uneven (it's concentrated in peaks and missing in valleys) along the lighting spectrum which mutes and distorts colors. Frankly, many of us find it depressing.

Traditional incandescent bulbs produce rich, full-spectrum light and are easily dimmed. Unfortunately, traditional incandescent bulbs are terribly inefficient. They emit relatively little light per watt of power consumed and they burn out frequently necessitating replacement.

Enter halogen lighting. Halogen lighting offers an excellent compromise for those that won't settle for poor quality light but still want to be environmentally responsible.

Halogen bulbs offer several advantages:

1. Halogen bulbs produce excellent, full-spectrum, crisp, white light. The light is just as easy on the eye as traditional incandescent bulbs, but the light is whiter (less yellow than traditional bulbs) and renders colors accurately.

2. Halogen lamps have a higher efficacy than normal incandescent bulbs. This means that they convert more energy into light and less into heat producing more light per watt than incandescent bulbs. A 60 watt halogen bulb will produce as much light as a traditional 100 watt bulb. Halogen bulbs require effectively 40% less power than standard incandescent options.

3. Halogen bulbs have an average lifespan twice that of traditional incandescent bulbs. This means less hassle to replace them and less space in a landfill.

4. Halogen lights may be dimmed easily and the light they produce is precise and directional. The small filament and precise reflectors used in halogen bulbs make them ideal for confining and controlling their light to specific areas (for example, illuminating your desk but not your computer monitor). This is critical when trying to reduce eye strain in work environments.

5. Finally, halogen bulbs are relatively compact. This allows them to be used in a variety of innovating light fixtures.

Halogen bulbs do have some disadvantages:

1. Halogen bulbs do cost a little more than their established traditional competitors, but they are far less expensive than LED of CF options.

2. Although longer than traditional incandescent bulbs, the lifespan of a halogen bulb is shorter than fluorescents.

3. Halogen bulbs become very hot when operating. Care must be taken not to touch operating lamps.

For larger rooms, consider halogen track lighting as an energy efficient solution to produce abundant quality light. Track systems allow the directional heads to be aimed in any direction which is important considering the precise beam of many halogen bulbs.

Before calculating the 'return on investment' or the 'total cost of ownership' of a proposed energy-efficient lighting solution for your home of office, consider the value of quality light. What value do you place on reduced eye strain? For those that care about their eyes and their sanity, the advantages of halogen lighting will almost certainly make it the choice over other energy-effective alternatives.

Halogen Lighting - Saving the Environment and Your Sanity

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Kovacs Lighting - Capitol Lighting Lighten Up! Series

!±8± Kovacs Lighting - Capitol Lighting Lighten Up! Series

www.1800lighting.com George Kovacs started his career with a small modern design firm in Manhattan. George cut his teeth in lighting design by starting with a series of 50's contemporary portable and floor lamps. Over the years, Kovacs has taken the classic contemporary concept of the simple and clean lines and flipped it on its ear. As these two designs show, Kovacs has established a style all its own based on the use on unique patterns and materials, such as the combination of the Lucite and chrome blocks in a spiraling step pattern on this beautiful piece, as well as the manipulation of common materials and shapes into twisting and interlacing patterns, as you can see from this beautiful design. Seeking to break out of the world portable table lamps, Kovacs extended its design reach to ceiling fixtures. While Kovacs offers many wild ceiling fixtures featuring different shapes and materials, one of the most popular designs for years has been the Ripple Collection. As you can see from this chandelier, the overall aesthetic is a rather clean, simple, unobtrusive design. The playful ripple pattern in the glass gives an otherwise straightedged piece, a nice soft touch and adds a subtle ambience for your kitchen table.

Kovacs Lighting - Capitol Lighting Lighten Up! Series

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Home Track Lighting - Best Areas to Use Track Light Fixtures

!±8± Home Track Lighting - Best Areas to Use Track Light Fixtures

Track lighting by definition has its circuit and mounting elements exposed and many would sooner not use them at all in a home setting, especially if the home has fairly low ceilings. However this would be selling track lighting short because it does have certain advantages over comparable lighting methods like recessed lighting, single fixture spotlighting, sconces, and other fancier decorative lighting fixtures. For one, track lighting is highly configurable. You can run the tracks in the areas where light is needed and with flexible tracks you can bend tracks in different shapes to the configuration you need and at the same time the track can become a decorative element as well. Certain areas of your home are better suited than others for track lights, the first one coming to mind is the kitchen.

Since track lighting is primarily used as an accent lighting or task lighting source, the kitchen is a part of the house where track lighting can be a great aid while performing the many food preparation, cooking, chopping, processing, storing, and cleaning chores. We can bring focused light to bear on any kitchen task no matter how mundane by simply focusing the light fixture on the area or changing the light fixture for one that has more power, more focus, or one that simply suits a given need. You can mount pendant track lights for your sit up counter or you can mount a small pinpoint halogen and really focus it on a small picture or custom tile. You can create different lighting scenarios for the different areas that you need them in without having lights stuck in one spot. Another area well suited for the flexibility of track lighting is the recreational area.

Home track lighting can be used in virtually any room in the house. A popular room to use it in is a recreational room or game room. These are larger than normal home areas like the family room and benefit enormously from a flexible and configurable track lighting system. Billiard tables and ping-pong tables always need focused lighting from multiple directions so that body shadows are minimized. This can be accomplished handily with several modular track lighting systems that have the right type of light pointed in all the areas of the tables. It is basically additional task lighting to the lighting already in the room from recessed lighting, table lamps, chandeliers, sconces, and other forms of ambient light.

Sometimes there are certain rooms in an older home where we don't want to mess with old ceiling wiring or make modifications to the fuse box in order to light the area. Instead, surface-mounted track lighting can be used whereby the tracks can mount directly on to the ceiling. The track can also be mounted to a wall, a beam or dropped from the ceiling on stems or cables. Power is supplied to the track from one end but power can be introduced anywhere along the channel with special adapters. This type of track is particularly easy to install, especially if one is remodeling. Track lighting from this perspective of ease of installation is also suitable for small rented apartments, dorms, or any accommodation where we have no plans to stay permanently and don't wish to mess with the internal wiring scheme.

Track lighting definitely has its uses in certain living situations and parts of our home. The advantage of a track lighting system is its versatility. The track layout can be expanded or reconfigured and the light fixtures are easily and seamlessly moved around. You can add more track, change the fixture types, and point them in different directions. All these features are quite suitable for task or activity intensive areas such as the kitchen and the games or recreation areas of your home. Track lighting is also a good secondary or backup lighting for temporary living arrangements because they can be installed and dismantled with minimum fuss and interference with the formal electrical system.

Home Track Lighting - Best Areas to Use Track Light Fixtures

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