A couple of months ago I wrote my first blog post for my New Home Project post series. This post series is about the lighting projects I have undertaken in my new home. That first post was about the installation of our kitchen under cabinet lighting. I had hoped to make these posts a little more frequent, but you know how that goes…time gets away from you. Either way, I am finally writing my second post for this series and it is about using Microfluorescent T4 fixtures as pantry and closet lighting.
As a I stated in my previous post, some of my lighting projects I did myself, and others I had professional electricians perform. Adding my pantry and closet lighting was a mix of both. During the construction of my new home I had the electricians install electrical outlets that were controlled by a light switch in our two kitchen pantries. One of these pantries was in the kitchen, and the other was actually a coat closet beneath our stairs close to our kitchen that we had the builder convert into a pantry (we call this our “big pantry”). I had these electrical outlets included so that once we moved into the house I could easily install Microfluorescent T4 fixtures around and above the interior door frames of each pantry. The Microfluorescent T4 fixtures come with a cord and plug and you can also purchase flexible linking cables to link two or more fixtures together, which is what I did. Why did I choose these fixtures? I think this customer comment says it all…
The T4 is sleek, compact, easy to install and provides a generous amount of light in a very small footprint.
Spring cleaning season is on its way, and it’s easy to start eliminating organization nightmares in your closets, pantries, and cabinets if you shed some light on the problem. Think about it. All of the trouble spots in your home where items are stashed with no rhyme or reason – are they in the dark? Lower cabinets in the kitchen that extend deep under the counters, the dim corners of the closet, underneath the bed, garage shelves, even the floor under the backseat of the car: they’ve all got it in common.
Adding a tap light to any of these areas is probably the simplest and least expensive thing you can do to improve on organization. Our LED Battery Operated Puck Lights are only $5.85; they are super bright with three white LEDs and the only thing you need to do to install is apply the self-adhesive tape. Plus, the batteries will have a long life because they’re LED.
Continue reading 'Light Your Way to Organization'»
LEED is an international green building certification system, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC): a non-profit organization with a mission to transform the building environment. It’s one of the few standardized measures of energy efficiency. Both commercial and residential buildings can obtain LEED Certification. The process takes into account strategies used throughout the building process: from the first designs to maintenance and repair.
Essentially, it’s a points system. Depending on the type of building, i.e., school, retail, home, healthcare, etc., a project must earn a certain number of minimum points for certification. To give you an example, I’ll go through the process of gaining LEED certification for a home.
Continue reading 'What is LEED Certification?'»
1) They help you absorb more nutrients from fruits and vegetables.
Because LEDs do not emit ultraviolet rays, they are better options for supermarkets, restaurants, and kitchen lighting. UV rays decrease nutrient levels in foods, and all other light sources, including natural and artificial, emit UV rays. In addition, LEDs do not give off heat, keeping food fresher for longer.
2) They never burn out.
LEDs have a lifetime estimate of 35,000-60,000 hours, compared with the 1,000 hour lifetime of incandescent light bulbs and the 8,000 hour lifetime for compact fluorescent lamps. And even after they reach that limit, they will simply become progressively dimmer rather than immediately burning out.
Continue reading 'Five Little-Known Facts About LEDs'»
If your goal for 2010 is to spend more time working out in your home gym, why not make the space more welcoming? Set yourself up for success with these suggestions and see how lighting can make all the difference.
- Energize with bright lighting: The typical home gym is a poorly-lit corner of the basement where the treadmill sits. Sound familiar? Transform that corner into an inspiring exercise zone by improving the light. After all, bright lights increase energy levels.
- Think natural: If you can, open the blinds to any windows or skylights in the room. Again, it’s all about energy: natural light is proven to boost levels more so than yellow light. If the area lacks sufficient windows, make sure to use products that will closely emulate sunlight. Consider LED recessed downlights.
- Create an oasis: With the touch of a button, set the mood for a yoga session or cool down period with light dimmers. This will give your home gym much more versatility for workouts.
- Make yourself look good: Especially if you have a mirror in your home gym, you’ll want to use an even distribution of light for a more flattering effect. Avoid creating sharply directed sources of light. The direct glare can also be irritating any time you’re looking up at the ceiling, which won’t help for ab workouts.
Frequently we bookmark interesting articles we come across on the internet that describe current products, trends, or news in the lighting industry to our Delicious account. You can view all the articles we have bookmarked and saved to our account since last August, when we started using Delicious.
Starting today, we are now going to post a regular Pegasus Lighting Roundup of interesting lighting information we came across during the week. It will provide a short recap of articles to help keep you informed. Hopefully, it’ll be an easy way for you to scan through any topics you might want to learn more about. So, without further ado:
In lighting news…
The remodeling business is expected to grow this year, ending the economic slump caused by the housing downturn. Industry experts at the International Builders’ Show remarked that the increase in existing-home sales due to low prices will help the remodeling market. Other contributors to the boost: aging baby boomers are beginning to adapt homes to their needs. Also, there’s a clearly rising trend to incorporate green initiatives in homes.
OLEDs are expected to be the next big thing on the market for display lighting of any kind (computer monitors, TVs, cell phone displays, etc). Why are they so great? They’re extremely energy efficient, can be made unbelievably thin, and provide superior color quality. This article explains why they’re not on the market yet: their efficiency technology is still developing, the cost of creating them is sky-high, and their lifespan is lacking. However, five years from now, we may see OLEDs making things like glowing wallpaper possible.
Continue reading 'The Pegasus Lighting Roundup for Jan 30 to Feb 5 2010'»
Pegasus Lighting Roundup
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commercial lighting, dimmers, energy efficiency, interior design, kitchen lighting, led lighting, light bulbs, puck lights, recessed lighting, residential lighting, task lighting, under cabinet lighting, wall sconces
An article in Electronic House last week discussed how interior designers and architects are incorporating LED lighting into homes for truly amazing visual effects.
Imagine controlling lights embedded in your bathtub to glow with the color of your choice. Or picture an LED kitchen faucet that lights with a different color based on temperature, signaling when the water is too hot to touch. The applications for the color and light control options that LEDs offer are endless, making them a hot design trend – especially because they are incredibly energy-efficient as well. Even tile flooring can be illuminated with LED lighting from beneath.
Continue reading 'LED Lighting as a Design Trend'»
In April 2009 the Pegasus Associates Lighting Forum went live on our website. To help garner interest in the forum and to entice people to join, we offered free gifts to new members and had a monthly drawing for a $50 Pegasus Associates Lighting gift certificate for the entire year. Since the forum went live we have 74 members and a total of 174 posts. During the year we had members share their lighting projects, help us by reviewing a new LED product that we were thinking of selling, and, of course, asking their lighting questions.
Now it is time to announce our newest, and final, monthly $50 gift certificate winner. This month our winner is forum member scyce. Scyce joined our forum in July and used the forum to post a question about adding recessed lighting in a basement that he was finishing.
The Pegasus Associates Lighting Forum is an online lighting community with a primary focus on helping answer our website visitor’s lighting questions. Answers may come from one of our technical customer service representatives monitoring our lighting forum, our company president, or another forum member. In addition, our forum is also a place to allow people to share their lighting projects (including images), post lighting articles, and to provide feedback on our products or website.
Our 2009 monthly forum winners:
| May: |
cmgeupel |
| June: |
Joe B. |
| July: |
Premium |
| August: |
pbcomm |
| September: |
bigguy |
| October: |
Chloe & Co. |
| November: |
kalieaire |
| December: |
scyce |
Thanks to all of our forum members for making this first year of our forum a successful one!
Low voltage lighting is not new. According to Popular Mechanics magazine, “Low voltage outdoor lighting got its start in the early 1950s when Bill Locklin, an electrical contractor in Redlands, Calif., was asked by a client to put up some outdoor lights.” It took a few decades for homeowners to catch on and take advantage of all the benefits that low voltage lighting has to offer. Nowadays, homeowners installing outdoor landscape lighting often choose low voltage lighting fixtures.
But what about low voltage indoor lighting? Almost 60 years after Bill Locklin’s innovation, low voltage indoor lighting has finally become mainstream. There are several reasons why low voltage lighting has become more popular. Better quality fixtures, long-lasting bulbs and easier installation methods are just a few of the reasons. Further, many Americans are more aware of the importance of energy conservation and the savings that result from using low voltage fixtures and energy-saving light bulbs. Low voltage lighting fixtures, and the bulbs that are used with them, provide a higher quality light. Low voltage lights have also become more versatile than in the past. There are many low voltage design options. Some popular fixture types include track lighting, under cabinet lighting and hanging pendants.
Continue reading 'Low Voltage Indoor Lighting: Pendant Lights for Every Room'»
Last September one of our manufacturers offered a $3 instant manufacturer rebate on their wireless LED battery-operated lights. Well, that promotion turned out to be quite popular. As a result, I got another phone call from that same manufacturer just the other day. “Let’s do it again!”, they said.
Starting today, continuing through Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and ending on Friday, December 4, 2009, six of some of our most popular LED battery-operated light fixtures have been reduced in price by $3 once again. Since this is an instant manufacturer rebate, there is nothing that you, the customer, have to do to receive this rebate. The rebate is applied once the product is added to your shopping cart.
Give your friends and family a gift of light with LED lighting that:
- Includes a bright white LED
- Mounts anywhere
- Lights up automatically when motion is detected
- Turns on only in darkness
- Automatically shuts off after 30 seconds
- Can be used indoors or outdoors
- Provides easy safety and security lighting
- And, may even be remote-controlled.
The Black Friday / Cyber Monday instant manufacturer rebate applies to the following products:
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