A Designer's Deliberations

Thursday, 29 November 2007

Taking Control

The traditional switch that controls the single light fitting in each room belongs in the era of taking one CD with you on your disc-man. Times are moving forward and we all now want choice in our daily lives.
The single circuit in a room has now been replaced with 'layers of light', where multiple sources of light such as table lamps, down lights, wall lights and pendants are being installed in rooms to create increased flexibility for your all your lighting needs. With this in mind it is not hard to see why the lighting industry's new best friend is the feature-rich Lighting Controller.
This essential product, available in many versions from lighting companies such as Lutron, iLight, Philips, Mode and ERCO, has saturated the market in recent years; but what is all the hype about?

Controllers can help you save energy:
By setting your lighting with a timer, it can come on and off at specific times, meaning that you can no longer accidentally leave all the lights on. The dimming function on all controls not only enables you to adjust the light levels as and when you wish but also allow you to set your lighting at 90% instead of full power as a general rule, thereby using less energy; and as the eye cannot detect a 10% light differentiation, there will be no visible effect to you. The 'master' function on many controller models enables you to switch every light off in the house (exceptions such as nightlights can be excluded from this) with the press of one button by your bedside, which means that you can be confident that unnecessary energy is not being wasted during the night. By keeping a watchful eye over your lighting, you can extend the life of each bulb by almost double, reducing maintenance and running costs.

Aside from being energy efficient, lighting controls offer you convenience. Adapt your lighting scenes depending on each individual situation, thereby creating the perfect atmosphere every time. Their ease of use means that programming and reprogramming is simple to do, enabling you to change the lighting at your every whim without the use of manuals and experts. This level of flexibility allows you to create a new lighting scene easily, turning every meal time into a special occasion!
Lighting designers constantly talk about 'appropriate lighting', condemning the 'one size fits all' approach. By using a lighting control, you are given the power to create moods and atmosphere as well as alter the shape or perception of the room just by effortlessly adjusting the lighting. Fading, dimmers and timers all assist you in your mission of creating the perfect ambience; smoothly, discreetly and within seconds every time.
The multiple light sources that are now finding their way into even the smallest of rooms can become tedious to manage, but by installing a control panel, every light source including all energy efficient lamps, can be put to better use. Shy away from the monotony of using the same fitting everyday and rediscover your table lamps and decorative fittings once again.

Control your home: Taking this one step further you can even incorporate your audio visual, temperature, telephone, security, data networks, internet and window systems such as blinds along with your lighting control, to easily fine tune every aspects of your home, making it somewhere you enjoy being at all times.

The Future: Technological advances in the control world are rocketing the industry forwards. The latest ways of controlling your lighting all involve PC based software, similar to the music software found on almost every computer nowadays. Allowing you to programme each scene and lighting movement down to the minutest details, control software makes experimentation fun enabling you to find the exact and perfect lighting scenes to meet your requirements. The brilliance of this system is the ease at which you can change and adapt your entire lighting effect as your needs develop; all without having to call in an expert programmer.

Lighting controls can be added to any room with more that one lighting circuit and models range from the basic to extremely sophisticated. More information can be found on the Lighting Controllers section of our website or alternatively call us on 0208 749 1900 for some independent advise on which system may be right for your project.

RW.

Friday, 23 November 2007

Add some Sparkle this Christmas!

It's my favourite time of year...Christmas time again!! Out comes the ancient, trusty Christmas box, stuffed with all sorts of weird and wonderful decorations. I've realised mine are looking decidedly worse for wear and this got me thinking about ways I could jazz up my decorations without going over the top. Here are a few different ideas to inspire you.

Simple, but versatile and charming these Bloempots are flower pots that double as lights. There is a huge range of colours to choose from and a number of different sizes; perfect for housing your Christmas tree or possibly the odd bottle of champagne! They are waterproof and made of double-walled polyethylene with 2 energy-saving lamps concealed inside so they are suitable for outdoors as well as in. These pots perfect for Christmas as well as the whole year round.

These pretty little LED Angel lights are fabulous for any children's bedroom; either draped around a bed or cupboard, or used the traditional way in a Christmas tree. Suitable for indoor or outdoor use, there are 20 angels per string (measuring 106mm) that change from red to blue to purple using the latest LED technology. These can also be used all year round in a bedroom to add soft ambient lighting or as a night light.

A wreath on your front door is always a must at Christmas time. Anything goes so why not elaborate on the traditional style and add some sparkle by entwining fairy lights into a wreath. A simple, but effective idea and a great way to use up old Christmas lights.

For those of you who want to spend a little more money, how about turning your house into a winter wonderland? MK Illumination does spectacular installations that are personally tailored to meet your needs. From Rope-light to Rudolf the Reindeer, MK really has it all. MK Illuminations take charge of all the maintenance, assembly and removal of lights and they can be stored for you until the next festive season and put up again if you wish so you don't have to worry about a thing.

I hope your Christmas sparkles!

Natasha Hamilton Dick

Tuesday, 20 November 2007

A Watchful Eye

In the name of energy saving, our research has upturned this little gem of a device. 'Wattson' is a sleek-looking state of the art appliance that measures how much electricity your home is using at any specific time.

It provides real-time information taken directly from your electricity meter helping you to control your electricity consumption and make energy saving easier. It works by using a sensor cell placed next to your electricity meter, which wirelessly feeds all relevant information to Wattson's display up to 30 meters away. It emits a colour that changes depending on your usage; a cool blue for low usage up to beaming red for high usage. Numerically, Wattson displays the amount your electricity bill would be for the year, based on your usage that second. Your consumption information can be stored for up to 4 weeks on the device but can also be downloaded via the supplied software, to your pc for further analysis.

Once you've lived with Wattson you will never again overfill the kettle or leave on unused lights, which is good for your bank balance as well as the planet.

£125 from www.diykyoto.com.

RW.

Friday, 2 November 2007

How to save energy and reduce CO2 emission in your household

Lighting is one of the biggest generators of CO2. In a household for instance, 16% of the total energy consumed is through lighting. The majority of existing lighting installations use inefficient equipment which produces unacceptable levels of CO2. With the threat of global warming and the increased availability of eco-friendly options, people have began thinking about switching their lighting to more energy efficient systems. But how much can people really do?

Last year Part L1 of the Building Regulations was amended stating that in any residential building, at least 25% of the lighting equipments (fittings, light bulbs and control gears) must be energy efficient. Practically, this means that if you are constructing or refurbishing your home, 25% of your light must be derived from energy efficient light sources such as fluorescents. Other sources that produces great amount of light with low consumption of energy (40 lumens per watt) are available such as cold cathode, metal halide and some LEDs, but they are less common in residential applications. When attempting to replace a lighting scheme with an energy efficient alternative, you should seek advice from a specialist who will be able to offer specific information with relation to your installation and the viability of certain sources of energy efficient light.

But what about those that are not refurbishing? What can they do to save energy? How can they live comfortably and emit less CO2? Complying to Part L1 is a starting point for those that are refurbishing, but for those that are not, some simple things can be done:
1- Where possible substitute incandescent bulbs with fluorescents. An 11w compact fluorescent (CFL) will give you as much light as a 60w incandescent, whilst only using a quarter of the energy. Although some compact fluorescents are dimmable, many use 'stepped dimming' which doesn't produce a smooth effect; therefore if your lights are connected to a dimmer circuit, a good alternative to fluorescents is to use halogen GLS bulbs. These lamps can be used on a dimming circuit and although they are not as efficient as CFL's, they can still save about 35% energy.
If a dichroic is being used it can be substituted with an 'IRC' version, which is also about 35% more efficient. This means that a 50w lamp can be substituted by a 35w IRC and the same amount and quality of light will be emitted. It should be noted that although halogen GLS and dichroic IRC are more efficient than traditional standard lamps, they are not considered 'energy efficient' by the Building Regulations.
2- Use dimmers. Dimmer switches give you flexibility of changing light levels according to your need; and the flexibility of 'changing scenes' by controlling the light levels. Dimming a light bulb saves energy and will increase the life of the lamp, thereby reducing your maintenance and running costs. For example, if only 50% of the capacity of the bulb is being used, you will save 40% energy and increase the lamp life by 20 times. When full power is needed, turning the dimmer to 90% will also cut down your electricity consumption. As the human eye cannot perceive a 10% variation in light level, using the light at 90% will help saving energy and increase lamp life by two times without you even noticing; (note that the majority of fluorescents are not dimmable from standard dimmer circuits and special requirements must be followed. Please consult a specialist before dimming these.)
3- Create layers of light by adding floor standing and table lamps to your room. The main lights of the room do not need to be on all the time and this will give you the possibility of 'changing scenes' by switching on different lights in different situations which will not only save energy but also create a sense of atmosphere.
4- Take advantage of daylight. Leave the curtains open. Do homework in the garden. Avoid switching on electric lights until necessary and enjoy the purity of natural light.
5- Switch off lights when a room is not in use.

Rafaela DeCosta.

Thursday, 1 November 2007

Gadget Lovers: This will light up your home

Having recently just moved into my new flat I was in need of some bedside lamps. Browsing on the internet I came across a wonderful assortment of lamps from the big and bold to the small and subtle, but this one in particular caught my eye...

Fun and easy to operate, the Mathmos Air Switch Lamp is a sure winner among kids (big kids included!) The lamp uses a sensor to determine where your hand is in relation to it and adjusts the light accordingly; move your hand vertically towards the light and it will dim, away and it will brighten, horizontally across the sensor and it will turn on and off; ideal for kid’s dexterity. Not only is this lamp simple to operate but it also casts a great subtle light which even makes me look good! It can be dimmed to the flicker of a candle and comes in a full range of colours and sizes.

A few disadvantages are that one of the small lamps on their own is definitely not bright enough to read by even on the highest setting and the Mathmos logo is printed on the front of the lamp which in my opinion tends to cheapen the look. It is also possible to knock over the lamps in darkness when trying to turn it on, although mine is still standing!

Overall the pros outweigh the cons and I would give this product a highly recommended 8/10.

Natasha Hamilton Dick.