Flair not Glare; Class not Crass!
Have you ever walked into somebody’s home or office and thought to yourself “Good grief! What were they thinking?” Clearly there is a distinct difference between art nouveau, and art-trocity. Even if you are lifelong friends, it’s still almost impossible to decide whether or not to tell them.
They may truly love the effect that they’ve created, and would be profoundly offended. They may be secretly disappointed, but intent on brazening it out because it was so costly. Perhaps they can’t afford to change it right away. Whatever the reasoning behind it, despite your best intentions, you should remain silent.
It doesn’t have to happen to you
This is the reason that there are designers. Real, experienced designers have seen it all before. They know what represents “problem architecture”, but they have fixed those sorts of problems so many times before that it is second nature to them.
The same is true of lighting installations, and particularly LED lighting. Back when filament light bulbs were invented in the late 1800s, they were all essentially the same. They were power-hungry, dull, and burned out frequently.
It is only the last couple of decades that we’ve made some real progress. Halogen-based bulbs used only 70% of the power of a filament bulb, lasted longer, and they became popular as a result. But they still had a limited spectrum, and poured out ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) light, at such a high level that they needed additional shields to protect our eyes from radiation damage.
Suddenly compact fluorescents lights came onto the scene. They used only 25% of the power of a standard bulb, and though the colors were rather poor at first, and they often took a long time to come up to full brightness, people used them to be sensitive to the planet’s environment while being economical at the same time.
It wasn’t until Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano, and Shuji Nakamura, invented the first true blue LED that we could finally have full spectrum LED lighting. For their efforts they were awarded the Nobel Prize, because their invention truly changed the world, making possible your computer monitor, smart phone, tablet, TV, and smart watch.
While we could now have full spectrum lighting in all possible colors, for aesthetics, it became possible to cover the entire “white” range from traditional warm incandescent, all the way up to natural sunlight. Without the chemistry they developed our lights would still be energy-hogs and your electronic devices would be thick, clunky, and have very short battery lives.
Natural, cool, warm, cool, natural. warm, cool, warm, natural, natural, warm, cool, warm, cool, natural, warm! What an embarrassing mess!
New Technology — New Problems
The problem with that new ability was that some installers and do-it-yourselfers didn’t understand the colors, thinking “White is just White”. In this image we can only be thankful that they didn’t use “Daylight”, too. If only they had gotten lucky and used warm, natural, and cool, over and over, so that it looked intentional instead of ridiculous.
Increased Reliability and Lower Cost
Outside lights, whether for architecture, topiary, or fountains and artwork, have traditionally been either conventional incandescent bulbs, or pressurized gas bulbs such as mercury vapor or sodium vapor. Although a lot of people are still unaware of it, LED fixtures for outdoors are precisely as capable as those energy-hungry bulbs.
Even though LED bulbs don’t use much power, it is still 1/3 less than mercury vapor bulbs. They generally cost less, and last thousands of hours longer. There really is no downside except for disposing of those old bulbs that contain mercury, and we’ll take care of that for you.
Besides, the versatility of LED lighting, it allows much more sophisticated designs than you can accomplish with just a few blazing mercury vapor lights or a couple of incandescent spotlights. For one thing you have the whole range of colors to choose from, and for another, you can select from intensities from tiny little twinkle lights all the way up to something that is adequate for lighting up a sports stadium. Truly, nothing else can compete.
Our Designers Are Experts
We invest in mentoring, apprenticeships, and continuing education every year. We also partner with builders and general contractors to make sure that the lighting design will complement a new building, even as it is being designed or built. Our electrical contracting expertise supports a number of architects, interior designers, and landscapers to make sure they achieve the effect that they have visualized.
Here for the Long Haul
Congratulate us! We are coming up on our 40th anniversary in business soon, and all that expertise is at your disposal. Our continued success is due to the fact that we listen to you. It doesn’t matter if it’s for your home or your business, we can handle it all, bringing you sophistication, style, verve, and panache — and all while saving you money!
The Takeaway
The simple fact of the matter is that LEDs are the most versatile way to light a space, indoors or out. You can do so much more with so much less with the guidance of one of our lighting designers. Let us help you realize your dreams.
We at Illuminations Lighting are delighted to be located in beautiful Houston, Texas, and while we provide service over quite a wide area, we always love to hear from River Oaks, Memorial, West University, Bellaire, Southside, Heights, and Royal Oaks, or whichever part of town you call home…
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