Archive for the ‘Lighting’ Category

A Beginner’s Guide to Plinth Lights

If you are looking to add accents to your kitchen (or any other room in the house), it is possible to do so with the help of Plinth light kits. These Plinth lights are easy to install, as you don’t need to wire anything through the house, which means you also don’t need to tear anything up. This reduces the amount of time it is going to take to install the equipment, so you don’t need to wait long to have your new lights. These lights are exceptional for adding small decorative lighting to the house, and the simple lights can add substantial value to your home, if you are interesting in selling the facility.

There are many different looks and designs of the lighting equipment. Some of the lights are single, and they come in different shapes and sizes. Other of the individual lights have four different light fixtures to the light, allowing you to add more light to a single location. You need to decide on exactly what kind of light you want to use throughout, before proceeding with the rest of the installation process.

Installing the equipment is rather straight forward. If you look at the light, you are going to see a single hole at the top, and a single hole at the bottom. These lights are for drilling screws through into the wall. The two screws are going to hold the light in place. Before you attach the light to the wall, make sure you turn it on. The lights are battery operated, so there is no need for wiring. The power point is on the rear of the light, so you need to flick this on, before attaching it to the wall. Once the light is on, you are ready to install the equipment onto the wall. Hold the light tightly in place, then drill a screw through the top hole. Once this is attached to the wall, drill in the second screw. This is going to completely hold the light into position on the wall, without it coming lose.

With the first light in place, you can repeat the installation process with every other light. The lighting installment should only take a minute or two each, so you can completely the accent light installation in an hour or so. This gives you plenty of time to perform the rest of your home improvement projects that you have planned. Plus, it might even give you a little more free time with your weekend, as you are able to complete the task easily.

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Kitchen Lighting: Kitchen Islands

The kitchen island is an important part of many modern kitchens today. It’s a place where we cook, prep food and gather with friends and family over bottles of wine and snacks. It’s also a place where we serve breakfast or do homework. With so many different activities going on, many wonder if their light fixtures are properly lighting the space. Here are a few tips and tricks for lighting a kitchen island.

Types of Light Fixtures

There are a number of different fixtures that can work for a kitchen island space. For starters, depending on the size of your kitchen and your island, you may be able to get away with a single flush mount or semi-flush mount ceiling fixture. These are typically used for general overhead lighting. If you don’t actually use your kitchen island for many tasks, this may be a good option as it will give a clean, uncluttered and classy look to your space.

Pendant lights are a popular option and for good reason. You can hang these lights just about anywhere above the island and as long as you have them at the right height, you won’t knock your head into them while you’re working. Pendant lights also come in a wide array of colors, sizes and styles to choose from, so it’s easy to find the right pendant lights for any kitchen style.

Another option is the use of a specially designed kitchen island light. These fixtures typically use two or more lights all suspended from a single light, similar in fashion to a chandelier. (They also make great light fixtures for billiards tables!) These can be great for larger kitchen islands where you don’t want to have a number of different pendant lights hanging, which can create visual clutter.

Finally, recessed lights are a great choice for those who want more of a classy, elegant look in their space. They’re also a great choice for those working with an ultra modern space or a shabby cottage style space. In fact, recessed lights work for just about any style, despite the fact that they all tend to look relatively the same. These fixtures are flush with the ceiling, creating a clean look with ample lighting.

Placement for Light Fixtures Over Kitchen Islands

Once you know what type of light fixtures you’re going to use, you’ll need to find the right placement. If you’re using a single light fixture, such as a flush or semi-flush mount ceiling fixture, or a specialized kitchen island light, then you’ll want to center the fixture over the island.

For other fixtures, such as pendant lights or recessed lights, you’ll want to center the lights over the areas that you’ll be working most at. For example, if you have a stove top on your kitchen island, you’ll want to have a light over that. If you have a designated prep space, you’ll want to have a light for that, as well. Remember to keep spacing in mind, as you don’t want any of these light fixtures to be too close or too far apart.

Lighting a kitchen island is a surprisingly easy task, despite the wide variety of choices out there. Once you narrow down your type of lighting, you’ll find that placement comes naturally and before you know it, your kitchen island will be a functional, well-lit space. You can find simple spherical crystal ball bases for lamps, crystal encrusted chandeliers, ceiling fixtures with crystal shades and much, much more.

Therefore, don’t focus so much on finding the crystal so much as finding the right light fixture that comes with the crystal. With so many different styles and options out there, this should be relatively easy to do.

Variety of Floor Lamp Options

Did you know that a basic floor lamp model can cost $50, while the more stylist counterparts can be as costly as $1000? In fact, some of the art deco or Tiffany models range between 1000 USD to one million USD! Therefore, if you plan to invest in one of these products, it is always recommended that you go through the most popular options available in the market before taking your pick.

Huge Variety of Floor Lamp Options

Some common types of floor lamps, ranging from traditional to modern lamps, are listed here:

1. Torcherie
Despite being the most popular type of floor lamp, very few people recognize them as a Torcherie. A general lamp with a big luminous head and pole-like neck is the easiest way to identify them. They provide adequate light due to their design, while the open head directs light to the roof, dispersion from sides and bottom areas make them fit for everyday use. People can also add dimmers to add an aesthetic appeal to these lights. Prior to purchase, one needs to make sure that the neck is strong enough to support the weight of the head.

2. Club lamps
Comprising a base, a stick or pole and a shade, club lamps are the second most popular type of lamps which facilitate general lighting needs. They are generally bolted, which make them a fairly permanent installation. However, depending on the power consumption, they can have 3-way socket or a twin pull “S” socket. Another type of the club lamp has adjustable height too, with a glass tray inserted at table height level. This tray can be used for storing stuff or displaying showpieces that make the lamp serve decorative purposes as well.

3. Six way lamps
As the name suggests, a six way lamp can emit light in six different directions. This is possible due to light sources that are pointed in six different directions around the body of the lamp. The head of a six way floor lamp is very big and is generally placed at a height in order to facilitate illumination of large rooms. All the bulbs might not operate simultaneously; some floor lamps have the option to power up alternate bulbs when less light is required.

4. Tower lamp
These are generally single pieces lamps that have multiple lights placed around its body. Due to their structure, these lamps are visually appealing even when they are not powered up. They resemble a sculpture diffusing light through its translucent body. The shade covers the entire lamp and has some natural scene painted on it. The most famous tower floor lamp would is the Asian style lanterns that can even be used as a focal point in any room.

Other forms of lamps would include down bridge lamps that focus light on to a particular area and arc lamps that are used to highlight modular furnishings.

Different Uses of High Pressure Sodium Lighting

A high pressure sodium light is a member of the high intensity discharge or HID family of lamps. Just like its brother, the ceramic metal halide light, a high pressure sodium light produces high light output for their size which makes them a compact yet powerful light source. HPS bulbs just like other light bulbs come in different strengths. A typical 400 watt HPS bulb puts out about 100 lumens per watt of power. Lumens, by the way, is the universal measurement of light intensity. HPS bulbs emit more lumens per watt than other HID bulbs such as metal halide lights which makes them the most powerful light source among the HID family of lamps. Depending on its strength, a HPS bulb’s lifespan could last anywhere between 12,000 to 24,000 hours.

This kind of light bulb has several practical applications and can be used both indoors and outdoors. High pressure sodium lights are mostly used in outdoor settings, but it can be also used perfectly in indoor settings in many situations such as industrial and security lighting applications. A lot of warehouses and companies use high pressure sodium lights in keeping areas of their property well lit. The light produced by HPS bulbs is bright which makes it a good choice for security lights in areas where visibility is vital. This kind of lighting is also commonly used in highway, roadway and street lights because of its high efficacy and ultra long lifespan.

HPS lighting are also widely used in various outdoor situations such as gardening. HPS light bulbs emit light in the red, orange and yellow spectrums which is ideal for encouraging flowering in plants. This is why this kind of lighting is widely used in greenhouses and large scale commercial plant growing operations to aid plant growth. Even in high strengths, high pressure sodium bulbs are still smaller in size as compared to metal halide bulbs which really makes them a convenient option for gardens with limited spaces.

Most high intensity discharge lamps such as HPS lights contain mercury, which is a very toxic element. Overexposure to this can have bad effects on a person’s health and can even result to death. A typical 250 watt of a HPS light bulb contain around 15 mg of mercury vapor and higher strength bulbs can contain even more mercury vapor. This is why HPS bulbs should be handled with care and should be disposed properly once it has been used.