Monthly Archives: November 2011

And, what does this mean to you (WDTMTY)? Or, more accurately, WDTMTM (what does this mean to me)?

This article is an abbreviated version of the article called, "LED, Incandescents, CFL's, Oh No!! (Or, Watt's Up?).

But first, I have to share with you what started that article to begin with. In a phone conversation with my dad's wife (they live on Molokai), she was wondering why the CFL's in her ceiling fan didn't last very long. I went through the trouble shooting list with her-is the total wattage too much for the fixture? Are the lights turned on and off continually throughout the day? And, being on a small island, the likelihood of inconsistent delivery of energy  or variable voltage probably fluctuates enough to affect the longevity of the bulb. During the course of that conversation, it became clear to me that she was thinking of wattage in terms of the brightness of the bulb. Which then made me realize that this is what most people think when they look at the wattage of a bulb.

Wattage is a description of energy consumption. Lumens is a description of light output (or to be even clearer, the higher the lumen number, the brighter the light). A lot of light bulb packages even go so far as to give you the 'equivalent' or a translation of sorts:

So, how do you know what lumen range is good for you? As you might guess, it is a matter of preference. As we age, though (you know, when you can no longer read without those drug store reading glasses), we really need a brighter light to see with.  I would suggest just buying one bulb each of the lower range of lumens and the highest range that you can get your hands on and try them out at home. This will at least give you an idea of what YOU prefer and what works for you.

As for me, I like it bright-because it is better for ME to see with. And, as a studio artist, I will look for bulbs that are around 1200 lumens. I would recommend this as a good range for task lighting. Not so good for ambiance, though. Remember, it is a matter of personal preference.

Color temperature DOES affect how you perceive the light too. Kelvin is the description of color temperature. Light in the warmer range is about 2700K. Very yellow. If you took two bulbs with the same lumen output, but on either end of the color temperature range, then you could really see the difference.

(image from Wikipedia)

These three bulbs are pretty much the same light output (lumens), but you can see how the color temperature affects how YOU perceive the brightness of the bulb.

The point I want you to walk away with from this article is that if you want bright, go for the lumens, not the wattage.

If you need to contact us, at the bottom of every web page is a 'contact us' link. Or, you can do a live chat. If the live chat is off, you can still click on it and send us a message.

We here at Total Lighting Supply are on a mission to demystify lighting aspects one bulb, one fixture at a time.

Want to be demystified even more? Go to our You Tube Channel and check out the informational videos that we've made for you.

Yes, the quest continues here at Total Recessed Lighting. We want to demystify recessed lighting as much as possible and empower YOU the consumer, with knowledge. After all, life is too short to get frustrated with decisions on recessed lighting, isn't it? We know you have better things to occupy your time with.

We've created a series of videos in regards to 6" recessed lighting and fixtures. 6" recessed lighting fixtures are THE most popular category of recessed lighting-as well it should be as it is the most economical and flexible of fixtures in the recessed lighting world.

Here's a video that gives a general overview of what you should know about 6" recessed lighting fixtures:

You can learn how to install a 6" recessed lighting baffle trim into an existing 6" recessed housing using trim springs. It's easy and fast with this video tutorial.

Or, see how easy it is to install an air tight 6" recessed trim into your existing 6" recessed housing (did you know you could do that?).

If you'd like to keep track of all upcoming videos here at Total Recessed Lighting, you can subscribe to our You Tube Channel. Be sure to also check off the box that allows for email notifications. And, for your peace of mind, subscribing to our channel is spam free!

If you found this video helpful, we'd love to hear about it by leaving us a comment here at our blog. If you would like to see other videos made that would be helpful to you, again, leave us a comment here or contact us. We're here to help!

Under cabinet lighting. You want it. But, you really don't want to install a fluorescent fixture that fit under cabinets-because of esthetics-it often is visible unless you find a work around solution. I'll bet you  even thought of getting a bunch of those hockey puck style LED lights as a solution. But, your intuition tells you, "bad idea".

Total Recessed Lighting is excited to offer what we think is one of the best solutions to under cabinet lighting (perfect for under your kitchen cabinets). A super slim profile with high output, these LED under cabinet fixtures come in 5 different lengths and 4 color temperatures. Our LED fixtures are perfect for under kitchen cabinets, straight cove lighting or placed anywhere where super slim, rigid LED fixtures are required by the designer. It is energy efficient, easy to install, is rated to last up to 50,000 hours, and comes in several color temperatures. We recommend the 4100K as it is a nice, clean light. Most incandescent lights are in the 2700K color temperature range-which appears to be very yellow. So, if the space you are installing these lights in have other light sources that are int he 2700K range, the 4100K will seem odd next to what you have. Just something to take into consideration. You do need to know what the color temperature range that your other light sources are . If you need help in the things that need to be considered in your decision, feel free to contact us and our lead lighting designer will be happy to help you.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I think a video is worth a million words. With that in mind, we've put together a short video for you that shows how simple and easy this under cabinet lighting system is to install. We also have many other helpful DIY tutorials and product overviews at our You Tube Channel.

You can subscribe to our You Tube Channel and get email notifications whenever we upload a new video. 'Like' us on Face Book to stay in touch with the latest news.

Here at Total Recessed Lighting, we do get a lot of the same questions asked by many-we don't mind answering these questions, but we thought that we'd empower YOU with the information and have the ability to refer back to it when ever needed. Ahhhh....the beauty of You Tube!

This series of You Tube videos deals with aspects of 5" recessed lighting fixtures. The one you see here is an overview of some of the features about 5" recessed lighting fixtures:

You can also see how easy it is to install a 5" recessed gimbal trim. You can even learn how to install a 5" recessed lighting trim into an existing 5" recessed lighting housing (I'll bet you didn't know you could do that!). Installing a recessed lighting trim into an existing housing will take less than a minute after you see this video.

If you'd like to keep track of all upcoming videos here at Total Recessed Lighting, you can subscribe to our You Tube Channel. Be sure to also check off the box that allows for email notifications. And, for your peace of mind, subscribing to our channel is spam free!

If you found this video helpful, we'd love to hear about it by leaving us a comment here at our blog. If you would like to see other videos made that would be helpful to you, again, leave us a comment here or contact us. We're here to help!

I don't know about you, but I find the area of recessed lighting to be, well, a bit intimidating. I know our lighting designer is comfortable and knowledgeable in this area. Which is good, since all of us here at Total Recessed Lighting go to him for a lot of our questions. To help all of us out with this,  we've made a series of videos designed to help out with some of the basics in regards to 4" recessed lighting. We hope you find them useful.

Just a quick list and links for you:

1). Learn the many added benefits and features of our 4" line voltage recessed housings that separate us from standard 4" housings you typically find at home improvement centers and discount warehouses.

2). Learn how to remove a 4" recessed socket plate from a 4" recessed housing.

3).  Item list of what is needed to install a 4" recessed eyeball in standard 4" recessed housings with a fixed socket typically found at popular home improvement centers.

If you'd like to keep track of all upcoming videos that we post, you can subscribe to our You Tube channel. Be sure to check off the box that allows for email notifications.