Updating, Repairs, and Maintenance

There is a lot to be said for the brave artist who first puts a brush to canvas.  Defiling that pristine blank area with any color seems like hubris of the highest order.

Once s/he has made that incursion, however, it’s too late to turn back, so continuing is the only choice.  Making that first mark doesn’t merely give permission, but instead requires that one proves that there was sound reasoning for despoiling the purity of perfect blankness.

Innovators

At Illuminations Lighting Design we understand art more thoroughly than you might imagine.  We don’t plow ahead and install lighting without thorough testing using our custom-designed rigs to preview the final design.  It gives a chance to look at areas where unpleasant reflections or unintentional blooms of light might disturb the balance of a room, or interfere with other lighting.

We specifically sell Phantom™ Lighting to overcome many problems, such as eliminating glare and aesthetic conflicts.  Even though it was our idea, we are still secretly pleased that so many people have copied us since then because that only proves what a great idea it was.

What is Phantom™ Lighting?  It is LED powered low-voltage lighting that creates a gentle field of light upon which a painting seems to float; it’s the ethereal glow that surrounds something you wish to emphasize; and most notably, it is the sourceless illumination around or within cabinetry.  You can see several examples here.

When you display a collection, be it books, coins, firearms, or ceramics, the last thing you want is a glaring light source blazing in your eye.  The even and balanced illumination of your objet d’art is essential for others to appreciate it, but the lighting must be unobtrusive.

Phantom™ Lighting is sourceless, and thus perfect for the job.  There is no better solution.

Replacement

Older systems used incandescent bulbs, often bulky and large, but there were few options.  Even “small” bulbs were a half inch across, and their life was remarkably short.  Some installers resorted to tricks like using 15-volt bulbs with only 6-9 volts so that they would last a long time, and that worked, but it meant many more bulbs to attain the needed level of lighting, and just that many more opportunities for them to fail.

We can replace those antedated systems that need so much maintenance, and waste so much power, with our durable LED Phantom™ Lights that will last for years without failure.  The bonus is that you can have them in any color you need, or with a tunable output to precisely suit the subject, or your mood, at the time.

Maintenance

Of course, we can maintain the older systems if you like.  We will come out and change a single bulb if necessary, but in truth, you are so much further ahead to modernize your system to eliminate the need for maintenance.  It’s entirely up to you, but even finding those tiny, ancient 12-volt bulbs can be a monumental chore nowadays since everybody is updating to durable LEDs.  It’s almost like trying to find flashbulbs for older cameras—good luck with that!

The Takeaway

If something does go wrong with a modern system, it is a simple, inexpensive, and fast repair.  Older systems could require more than just replacing rare light bulbs; it could mean tracing wires, locating a bulky, power-consuming, old-fashioned transformer inside a wall with a magnetic field sensor, and then cutting through the wall to access and fix it, or other invasive tasks.

A new system pays for itself in power savings and is hundreds of times more reliable.  There is no compelling reason to be loyal to a 19^th-century system now that we’ve entered the 21^st century.  We’d love to help you join the modern age, so feel free to click here to connect to our online Consultation Request form.

We are based in Houston, Texas, but our art-lighting consultants travel nationwide to design lighting for some of the most prestigious art collections in the world.  ILD is the only “one-stop” solution in the whole state of Texas.  We are here to handle all of your lighting design needs including engineering, modifications, installation, and subsequent servicing.  Remember: We are unrivaled by any lighting firm in the United States for lighting that is art.

We would love to hear from you, so pick up the phone and give us a call at 713-863-1133 so you can learn more about our fine art lighting company before we begin your journey towards perfect art lighting.

PHANTOM™ is a registered trademark of Phantom Lighting Systems, LLC.