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  • Sylvania Ultra RT6 Gimbal LED Trim Overview & Install Video

    Sylvania Ultra RT6 Gimbal LED TrimSylvania Ultra RT6 Gimbal LED Trim

    is a beautiful white recessed lighting trim that only uses 13 watts at 900 lumens, dimmable down to 10%, Title 24 compliant, Energy Star Rated and fits almost any 6" recessed housing including LED specific 6" recessed cans. Available in 2700K and 3000K options, the RT6 gimbal trim is rated at 50,000 hours, is fully and easily adjustable providing bright evenly diffused flood light to virtually any area the trim is installed.

    The LED gimbal ring trim is designed to fit most 6" recessed lighting housings including insulated ceiling (IC) housings, airtight housings and non-IC housings. Fully adjustable with a friction blade design to an almost 360° horizontal rotation and 30° tilt, the Ultra RT6 Gimbal makes it easy to direct the light where you want it.

    The optical design and light output is phenomenal! With low glare, the gimbal ring trim's LED light is evenly diffused with a 80° beam angle that spreads it out beautifully. The color rendering is also worth noting. At 82+ CRI the colors in your space will look and feel the way you would expect.

    Installation is a snap! All you need is a philips head screw driver, a tape measure and a ladder. Sylvania made it super simple to adjust the LED trim with it's well thought out design. Check out our installation guide video below to see how this is done!

    Suitable for both indoor or outdoor dry, damp or wet locations, the Gimbal ULtra RT6 trim will help you reduce energy by up to 87% over incandescent lights. Looking to dim the RT6 trim? Please see the spec sheets on the product pages below as it will direct you to the information you need.

    Watch our videos below on the Sylvania Ultra RT6 Gimbal LED Trim and discover it's simple elegant design and see it's gorgeous LED light. Learn the many features and see how easy it is to install in your recessed lighting!

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    Tags: led, Sylvania, Trim, Ultra RT6, video, 6", flood light, Gimbal Ring

  • Convert standard 4" & 6" Recessed Lighting to LED MR16 GU10 bulbs

    In our quick overview and installation video guide you will discover how easy it is to convert standard Edison socket 4" & 6" recessed lighting housings with our GU10 Edison socket adapter.

    Now you can utilize the energy saving power of LED technology with LED MR16 GU10 light bulbs. Utilize our GU10 socket adapter and compatible 4" and 6" MR16 recessed lighting trims for both 4-inch and 6-inch recessed lighting cans and quickly harness the benefits of LED! Watch how easy it truly is :)

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    Tags: led, MR16, GU10, retrofit, video, conversion, Adapter

  • New Sylvania Ultra RT4 & Ultra RT6 LED Recessed Lighting Trims

    Sylvania Ultra 6 baffle trimSylvania has been pioneering the way into LED recessed lighting with their Ultra RT4 and Ultra RT6 trims, making LED retrofit trims that are super easy to install and to customize to fit your recessed lighting application.

     

     

    Sylvania Ultra 4 Reflector Trim

    Sylvania's Ultra RT4 trims and Ultra 4 gimbal trims fit virtually any 4" recessed housing new and old. Designed to fit new modern LED specific 4" recessed cans or older incandescent 4 inch cans with the included Edison socket adapter, the Ultra RT4 gimbal  and standard trim make for an easy install by pushing the LED retrofit trim into 4" can. The compression tabs press against the side of the 4 inch housing holding it securely in place.

    Sylvania Ultra 4 Gimbal Trim

    The Sylvania Ultra RT6 gimbal trims and Ultra RT6 standard trims also fit virtually any 6" recessed can that have torsion spring brackets installed. California Title 24 compliant, the Sylvania Ultra RT6 6 inch recessed trim will fit LED specific housings as well as incandescent housings with the included Edison socket adapter making your recessed light instantly LED!

    Sylvania Ultra RT6 Trim KitsThe Sylvania Ultra RT6 standard trim allows for that additional designer flare with optional trim kits that quickly and easily install over the trim with the press of 4 small tabs!

    All Sylvania Ultra RT4 trims and Sylvania Ultra RT6 trims will fit perfectly in any of our 4" LED specific recessed housings and 6" LED specific housings as well as our 4" incandescent cans and 6" incandescent cans.

    You can find a list of all the Sylvania Ultra RT4 trims and Sylvania Ultra RT6 trims we carry below. Like any of the products we sell at Total Recessed Lighting if you have a question please let us know!

     

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    Tags: Recessed Lighting Blog, led, retrofit, Sylvania, Trim, Ultra RT4, Ultra RT6

  • The new Soraa GU10 MR16 LED light bulb is Here!

    Soraa has released the new Soraa GU10 MR16 LED light bulb and we have all of them. You can get the new Soraa LED GU10 MR16 in 10°, 25°, 36° and the whopping 60° beam spreads to meet your lighting demands.

    Not only can you get the new Soraa LED MR16 in such a wide range of beam spreads there are also available 2700K, 3000K and 5000K color temperatures to get the color you need in your lighting application.

     

    Go check them out by clicking on the links below!

    For recessed lighting go here: https://www.totalrecessedlighting.com/recessed-lighting-light-bulbs/led-bulbs/soraa-led-bulbs/soraa-2-gu10-mr16-light-bulbs.html

    For track lighting here: https://www.totaltracklighting.com/track-lighting-bulbs/led-bulbs/soraa-led-bulbs/soraa-2-gu10-mr16-light-bulbs.html

    For bulk go here: https://www.totalbulklighting.com/led-lamps/mr16-led-bulbs/soraa-led-mr16-lamps/soraa-2-gu10-mr16-light-bulbs.html

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    Tags: led, MR16, Soraa, GU10

  • Lighting Your Kitchen Like Pro

    Whether one is doing a kitchen remodel or starting from scratch, the lighting design is frequently the last thing considered and often the first thing to get cut from the budget. Design and planning should be phase 1 of a kitchen project whether you are starting from scratch or remodeling. If you want your lighting to look like it was done by a pro, choosing the right light and the right placement of the light will make all the difference in the world. And, these decisions need to occur in the initial stage of the project and not as a 'hindsight is 20-20' kind of thing.

    Lighting designers say that using three types of lighting functions is paramount to good lighting design-whether it is in your kitchen or elsewhere. It is a 'layering' technique:

    1) general light source

    2) task lighting

    3) drama or accent lighting (also known as focal lighting)

    Some designers like to incorporate dimming systems in their lighting design. Our designer recommends that dimming systems be avoided in most cases-with the exception of dining rooms and media rooms. Here are some reasons why a dimming system should be avoided: 1) color temperature shifts 2) bulb does not dim in the full range and will drop out around 15-20% 3) flickering. Halogen bulbs experience color temperature shifts when being dimmed-not to mention that they require more energy to run and create unwanted heat. Fluorescent bulbs do not have a filament-which translates to it not being conducive to being dimmed-they drop out at 15-20%-which in turn, does not give you the full range. Fluorescent bulbs will also flicker when being dimmed. LEDs do not have a filament either, and suffer from the same things that fluorescent bulbs do; dropping out at 15-20% and flickering. Flickering is a bigger deal than one would initially think: it can cause neurological disturbances, headaches, fatigue, eye strain, affects your perception of motion and is a distraction, to name a few of the problems. Hopefully, we've succeeded in talking you out of using a dimming system.

    You can achieve a more pleasing effect by using the layering technique. You can also keep your lighting costs down by using fixtures that can perform multiple functions.

    General Light Source

    6" recessed cans are a great choice for the general lights-and will give you the most choice by way of lamps/bulbs that fit into the fixture. When I did a kitchen remodel in my own home in 2008, LED lights for 6" recessed had just been introduced to the market. Yes, initially, LED bulbs cost more than their counterparts. However, I have no regrets to making that choice. For one, it takes less energy to have it on and keep it on. The bulbs provides up to 60,000 of continuous light that is cool burning nor does it have to warm up first. No other bulb can do that! LED is also the most 'green' choice you can make in keeping your carbon footprint down. Initially, we tried out LED bulbs that had a color temperature of 27K. We found these to look too 'yellow' and ended up going with a brighter, slightly cooler color temperature of 30K. Much better!

    LED 6" recessed kitchen lights LED 6" recessed kitchen lights

    Here is an example in my kitchen with just some of the recessed lights on-this is my 'everyday' lighting choice. The lights are LED bulbs in 6" recessed cans (my camera did yield some unwanted lens flare from pointing up in to the lights-those reflections are not really there on the ceiling).

    LED 6" and 4" CFL recessed kitchen lights LED 6" and 4" CFL recessed kitchen lights

    In this example of my kitchen lighting, I have all of the recessed lights on. All decisions for the lighting source and placement were intentional. We looked for a light that had a broad, white, diffused, bright, even light-one that did not have 'edges' to the beam spread. This reduces the shadows on the work surfaces and the amount of glare. The LED lights we chose met that criteria. Track lighting was not a good choice because it is harsh, directional and creates lots of shadows. It wasn't appropriate for our application (you might have call for a directional light in your kitchen layout, however).

    My lighting designer wanted all my work surfaces to be evenly lit. Notice the distance of the recessed lights in relation to the cabinets. They are place 18" out from the cabinets so that it would light the cabinets and allow the light to light the inside of the cabinet when opened. This distance also minimized shadows cast in the area of the work space when standing at the counter. The space between each recessed light is about 2 feet-allowing for a well lit room. Notice too, that one is placed over the doorway.

    Look carefully at the bank of recessed lights above the table (far top right of image). These are 4" shower trims with a CFL bulb in each of them. "Why shower trims?", you ask. Shower trims were selected because of the glass insert is frosted (esthetics) and shower trims are offered in many attractive trims. Using the 4" trims also breaks things up and adds interest-we didn't need as much light over the table area.

    With the 6"recessed cans, our lighting designer put them on two switches so that you could just have some on and at other times, have them all on when you want it to be brighter. That provided two levels of general lighting.

    Task Lighting

    The next layer of lighting in my kitchen is task lighting. Right above my kitchen sink is a light to provide me with an additional layer of light-by way of a fluorescent fixture.

    kitchen sink task light kitchen sink task light

    Fluorescent light fixture over the kitchen sink for additional task lighting (I turned the general lighting off so that you can see this light source better).

    My stove top area also has two MR-16 halogens (soon to be switched over to the SORAA LED MR-16).

    stovetop task lighting task lighting over the stove top area achieve by way of halogen MR-16s

    Additional task lighting over the stove top achieved by way of two MR-16 halogen lights.

    Accent Lighting (for added drama)

    Accent lighting in my kitchen was achieved by way of additional fixtures under the cabinets (and how I wish the LED under cabinet fixtures were available then-instead I have fluorescent fixtures). The LED under the cabinet fixture is a great choice over a fluorescent since it lasts longer, is more energy efficient AND has a lower profile. Not to mention that the color rendering is much better. However, most LED under the cabinet fixtures require special wiring and hiding a transformer-not something that is easily done after the fact. Had this product been available when I did my kitchen remodel, I would have included it in the design. The LED under the cabinet is a specular light source-it gives an added dimension that a fluorescent bulb cannot. Think of it as adding more 'bling'.

    under cabinet lighting under cabinet lighting

    Under cabinet lighting achieved here by way of  fluorescent fixtures.

    cabinet lighting specials cabinet lighting specials

    Pictured here are the fluorescent under the cabinet lights and MR-16 halogen lights in the upper cabinets. We do experience a problem with the halogen MR-16's in the cabinet-even when using the lowest wattage of 20 watts, over time, heat builds up in the cabinet and the lights go out. On our list of things to do is to replace it with a  1-3 watt LED MR-16 which will easily remedy the situation.

    Of course, it goes without saying, that if you have natural light to work with, by all means incorporate that in to your lighting design. Natural light always makes a home more appealing. When trying to achieve natural lighting with lighting fixtures, be sure to use bulbs that are described as 'daylight' instead of those described as warm-that way the color temperature is more closely matched.

    Hopefully, by sharing what went in to the decision making process for lighting choices in my kitchen remodel, you will have at least a better starting point. Avoid using a dimming system and avoid trying to light the entire room with just one light source such as a ceiling mounted fixture.  Please feel free to contact us for solutions to your lighting challenges-we are here to help!

    If you found this article to be helpful, please send us your before and after photos and a brief description of your experience-we'd love to share your success story!

    Posted in:

    Tags: led, kitchen lighting, LED kitchen lights, lighting for kitchen remodels

  • Unequivocally, the most perfect LED MR-16 you can buy

    MR-16 LED

    We have all waited a long time for technology to catch up to our expectations of the perfect LED MR-16. The wait is over as the SORAA team took performances issues head on in their design and development of this bulb and conquered them all, we might add.

    Here are the top ten reasons why the SORAA LED MR16 lamp is on the top of our list:

    1) Perfect fit. SORAA conforms to the ANSI standard, so they do fit standard lighting fixtures (MR16) when used as specified.

    2) No noise. Performance, performance, performance. These bulbs do not blink, they do not buzz. SORAA lamps turn on and operate properly with both magnetic and electronic transformers.

    3) Fully UL listed. What does this mean to you? It means that you can trust them to work safely as a retrofit lamp in UL listed fixtures.

    4) Dimmable-SORAA lamps work properly with many commonly installed leading-edge and trailing-edge dimmers.

    5) Flexible. The SORAA LED MR16 works in both NEC Class 1 and Class 2 transformers. While most LED lamps are designed to work only with Class 2 systems, SORAA lamps are UL listed for both systems.

    6) Single source light output. Why is this important? The SORAA design allows for a high lumen density which in turn gives you more light output from a single source. Which in turn, gives you more design flexibility and control. Isn't that what you want? A Halogen MR16 lamp have multifaceted reflectors which in turn, do not project crisp shadows as does the SORAA single source light.

    benefits of the SORAA LED MR16

    (left) SORAA single source (right) other LED MR16 multi source

    7) More natural light. SORAA lamps are designed to replicate halogen illumination with one color and one shadow.

     

    8) Elegant (and smart) design. The thermally optimized heat sink (all LEDs are designed to have heat sinks) mimics the Halogen counterpart:

    9) Lightweight. SORAA lamps are the same weight as standard halogen lamps.

    10) Energy efficient. Are you thinking green here? Green as in energy efficient and green as in the money you will save on your utility bill-not just by way of this bulb requiring less energy, but lowering the cost of cooling your space. Here is a chance to make a difference on your carbon footprint.

    Still not convinced? Check out our video here that does a side by side comparison of the SORAA MR16 lamp against the Halogen MR16 lamp:

     

    Total Recessed Lighting currently carries the SORAA Premium and Vivid bulbs.You can find the selection of lamps under our "bulbs and accessories" section in recessed lighting.

    The premium lamp line is the choice for when you want a quality, 'no compromise' LED solution for a 50W halogen MR16 lamp. If you need a high quality output for interior applications that is energy saving, choose the SORAA premium lamp.

    When high color rendering is of utmost importance, the SORAA Vivid lamp line is the lamp of choice. With a CRI (color rendering index) of 95, it will yield rich, saturated colors along with color stability. These lamps are designed to replace standard 50W MR16 Halogen lamps with a savings of up to 75% of the energy that halogen lamps require. Now you not only can choose a superior light quality as well as save on your energy consumption.

    At long last. The perfect LED MR16 lamps has arrived."

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    Tags: led, MR16, led mr16 bulbs, led mr16 lamps, Soraa

  • The Differences in LED Recessed Lighting from 2008 and Now

    This posting is in response to a very long thread on the Garden Web Lighting forum (Disappointed With My LED Recessed Lighting)-the original post was from 2008. Our lighting designer and guru was fascinated by all the comments an remarks and varying levels of input from the community at large. He thought it was time he should weigh in and we'd thought we'd share his insights and knowledge with you. To see the original thread that this post was based on, please be sure to use the link through for Garden Web.

    "I know this post has been around for a while-please forgive me in responding to such an old post, but the technology has changed so much since then that I thought I'd weigh in. The improvements made in LED recessed lighting has addressed so many of these issues that I find it no longer disappointing. In addition, I get questions related to kitchen lighting all the time and thought I might be able to provide some quick insight from a lighting designer's point of view.
    First of all, it seems that many lighting designers shy away from kitchen lighting, although I'm not sure exactly why. I have done hundreds of lighting designs for kitchens and I always take the approach that kitchen needs to have at least two different levels of lighting along with under-cabinet lighting. The quality of light is very important in any space-particularly the kitchen.
    Kitchen  light needs to be bright, white and even.  In most cases, halogen lighting will not work. Halogen is a specular light source and tends to create harsh shadows. Not to mention the heat that it produces in addition to the heat that you get from the stove and the oven.This is something that an electrician or a contractor is not likely to take into consideration.
    Fluorescent light can work well if done right, but you have to select your housing, trim and the color temperature of the lamp very carefully. As for the color temperature, we like to use lights that are 30K (or even higher) in color. The light output at this color temperature is closer to daylight.
    LED fixtures now offer many choices of color temperature but most of my clients seem to like the 30K range the best. After years and years of looking at various samples we finally have found a LED module that seems to meet everyones needs.  First and foremost, it fits just about every recessed housing out there. It actually fits both 5" and 6" line voltage recessed
    housings.  And even though I do not believe in dimming a kitchen light, the LED module can be dimmed with a number of common dimmers. Just know that a dimming system will add another level of complications to your lighting system.
    I prefer splitting the kitchen lighting into at least two parts of lighting levels (and on two different on/off switches), if you will. One level is a 'support level'-providing light for ambiance and resembling having dimmed lights and the second level (along with the first) is the full on work mode that is needed for food preparation, cleanup, etc.
    In addition, LED fixtures are at such a low wattage and are very energy efficient that they can be left on all day. In fact, the circuit in the LED lamps like to be left on and over time, can loose their efficiency by being turned on and off all the time. Turning LED lamps on and off frequently throughout the day will actually shorten the life of the LED driver in the fixture.  Another great addition to your kitchen lighting design is under cabinet lighting. Adding a quality LED under cabinet lighting fixture as a third lighting level option can also help to create an even distribution of light in your kitchen. From a design standpoint and from a user standpoint, offering at least two to three levels of lighting will make all the difference in the world and eliminate the 'need' for having to dim your lights."

     

    Note: ALWAYS USE A LICENSED ELECTRICIAN (not your buddy) AND TO ALWAYS CHECK THAT YOUR PROJECT IS IN COMPLIANCE WITH LOCAL BUILDING CODES. WE WELCOME BLOG TOPIC SUGGESTIONS: SEND US YOUR 'Q'S' AND WELL GIVE YOU AN 'A'. AND, WE WELCOME YOUR COMMENTS AND WOULD LOVE TO SHARE YOUR 'BEFORE' AND 'AFTER' PICTURES (send them to us!).

     

     

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    Tags: led, efficent led recessed lighting, going green with led recessed lighting

  • The Best Under Cabinet Lighting Solution Ever (BUCLSE)!

    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.

    Posted in:

    Tags: led, LED under cabinet lighitng, Under Cabinet Lighting

  • LED, Incandescents, CFL's, Oh, No!! (Or, Watt's Up??)

    image by MolokaiGirl Studio Watts up?

    (Grab your cuppa coffee or tea and sit down with it as you dig in to this article...)

    So, 'watt's' up with the new light bulb law coming into effect in January 2012 (which is named the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007)? Will incandescent light bulbs be outlawed? Will we be 'forced' to buy CFL's (amidst the mercury contamination hubbub) or LED bulbs? Incandescent bulbs will begin the process of being phased out just by virtue of the new efficiency standards that will go into effect. These new standards require that a general purpose bulb that produces 310-2600 lumens of light be 30% more energy efficient. That means that come January 2012, a 100 watt incandescent bulb will not meet these new standards.

    "What do mean lumens?" you say. "What about watts?"  Oh, yes. This gets complicated in the sense that you have to reset your way of thinking about light bulbs (if you haven't already). Contrary to what (no pun intended here) you thought about watts, lumens refer to the measurement of the intensity of light (brightness or light output, if you will), not watts. For some reason, we have been taught to equate watts in regards to how bright light a bulb is. Watts were never a measurement of light output. Watts refer to energy consumption. In regards to a 100 watt light bulb turned on for one hour, the energy used is 100 watt-hours. A 40 watt bulb would use the same amount of energy in a span of about 2 1/2 hours. So, how bright is a 100 watt incandescent bulb? About 1,700 lumens. Pretty darned bright. We'll shed more light on lumens in just a bit (oh, sorry, another bad pun).

    More on watts. Once again, wattage is a measurement of electricity consumption only. It is not a measurement of light output or effectiveness.  Yes, I know I already said that, but it bears repeating since we all have to undo a lifetime of thinking of watts as the brightness of a bulb. A higher wattage does not mean a brighter light. It is good to note that when you apply power to a (bulb) you produce two things: light and heat.  The heat, of course, is an unwanted byproduct. But, how come we are in the habit of thinking of higher wattage as being the brighter bulb? That's because with incandescent bulbs, in order for it to achieve more brightness, it requires more energy to produce that. Which is not the case for LED and fluorescent lamps. They can actually produce a brighter light source with less wattage. Is this starting to make sense now?

    Lumens, Color Rendering (aka CRI), Color Temperature, Candle Power are all measurements made for the visible light output as it relates to the human eye. These are metrics specifically related to how the human eye sees light. Why are there so many categories of light output measurement? I'm not a physicist, but try to think of light as a very complex and multidimensional entity (we're talking about the debate as to whether light is a wave or a particle or both).

    Lumens. If you haven't noticed, light bulb packages now contains information in regards to the lumens of that bulb. It is required by law in this country. Europe has similar practices.  Remember to think of lumens in regards to actual light output or brightness. Personally, in looking all of this gobbledegook up, in my humble opinion, I think lux would've been a more meaningful measure to put on light bulb packages instead of lumens. But that's all I'll say about lux. Let sleeping dogs lie, as they say.

    Color rendering or, CRI-one in the same as CRI stands for color rendering index. In a nutshell, it's the light source's ability to render or reproduce the colors of objects as they would be rendered in natural light. Think of the number for CRI as representing the color accuracy of that light source-the higher the number, the more accurate the color. 100 CRI is the ideal as it represents accurate color rendering. Halogen lights have a  CRI of 100 which is why art galleries, museums and high end retail and jewelry stores like to use them.  Fluorescent, at best, have a CRI of about 80. Which makes me wonder about those fluorescent lamps advertised as 'full spectrum'. Yet, I cannot, for the life of me, find disclosure on what the lamp's CRI is. Logically, full spectrum would equate to the lamp having a CRI of 100. And, as far as I know, the technology for fluorescent bulbs is not in that range. I'm inclined to think that 'full spectrum' fluorescent lamps have a CRI of about 80. The point I want to make here is that a fluorescent bulb being touted as 'full spectrum' does not render color as accurately as a bulb that has been rated with a CRI of 100. If you want/need a light source that gives you accurate color rendering, it would be best not to rely solely on a fluorescent bulb labeled as 'full spectrum'.

    If you are a colorphile or a colorist, insist on knowing what the CRI is for your light source. As far as the term, 'full spectrum' goes, it is just another marketing term that really is meaningless unless the CRI is also provided.

    Color temperature. Not to be confused or not to be used interchangeably with color rendering! I like to think of color temperature as the color quality of the light source. For example, the color quality of  sunlight at dusk is so very different from the color quality of sunlight at mid day. That is what color temperature is. It is expressed in kelvin degrees (K). A  candle flame, sunrise and sunset has a color temperature of about 1,850K, whereas, the noon day sun is about 5,000-6,000K, and an overcast day is about 6,500K. Incandescent bulbs are about 2,700-3,300K. Which is what most of us grew up with in our households and will also explain why, when replacing with bulbs that are closer to the noon day sun, the light in the rooms feels 'off'. Because you simply are not used to being around that color temperature in your home.

    As far as candle power goes, I offer no discussion here (only a pretty picture!) since that form of light measurement is obsolete. I only mentioned it since it is one of the many ways light can be described. You can always click on the link provided if you've become insatiable in regards to lighting terms.

     

    How do we know which bulb gives us the most bang for our buck? Nearly everyone these days are watching what they spend carefully. Comparative shopping is a must. I don't  know about you, but I've spent quite a bit of time in the light bulb section of a store reading the package labels, trying to figure which bulb I needed for my studio space!

    Start off with defining the lighting needs for the area being lit. For my studio space, I need a very bright light source so, pop quiz folks, what will I look for on the package to tell me that? Yes, you're right: lumens. Not watts. Since my studio space only allows for the screw in type of bulb, the compact fluorescent (aka CFL) is my first choice because it is energy efficient and they do come in acceptable lumen offerings (in this case, I chose a 25 watt 1200 lumen bulb). The trade off is that, now my artificial light source does not have accurate color rendering. That is my compromise of choice since I now have an energy efficient and bright light source. I do get a nice amount of daylight through a window, so I am not totally short changed on having color rendered accurately. In fact, throughout most of our home, we use CFL's because they are readily available at affordable prices and last a long time. Believe it not, your CFLs will last longer if you just leave it on. It is not meant to be turned on and off as we've been in the habit of doing with the incandescent light bulbs. Nor do you save energy by turning them off and on (the CFLs). There was a fun demonstration of this on the TV series, "Mythbusters".

    Light bulb manufacturers are not required by law to include information on color temperature or color rendering on their packaging. They are required to include lumens and wattage. But, wouldn't you also want to know what the color temperature is? Instead, you get terms like, 'soft white' or  'cool white' or other variations. Oh, and GE has their own proprietary definition and created their 'Reveal' light bulbs.  Anyway, now that YOU know a little bit more about color temperature, you can make your choices with  more confidence.

    light bulb comparison

    (image from Wikipedia)

    As a consumer, I think light bulb manufacturers are underestimating their audience. As consumers, we should demand to know what the CRI and the color temperature of a bulb is. Why not? And then they can rid themselves of the 'dumbing down' on their packages that say, "25w=75w".  Please, just tell me the lumens, CRI and wattage and I'll be good to go. Although in all fairness, some manufacturers do indeed include more information such as the label on this package:

     

    And, isn't this kind of labeling much more preferred than the old school stuff? With information like this on a package, I don't feel like I'm making a decision in the dark (sorry) and I know that the light bulb will fit my needs in the space I intend it for. Now you are armed with enough information to make those choices between CFLs and LEDs. And, even incandescents if you feel so inclined.

    You know, as the saying goes, this is just the tip of the iceberg-there is still plenty more to discuss by way of LED, incandescents and CFLs, so look for more on this topic in future postings! By now, you've finished that cuppa coffee or tea you sat down with and it's time to move on...

    I'd love to hear your comments and any other questions (and I will entertain lighting article topics). Send me your 'Q's" and I'll send you those 'A's"!  Just leave a comment here on this blog.

     

    Posted in:

    Tags: cfls, compact fluorescents, comparison, incandescents, led

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