Mar 172010
 
PinExt Remodel Your Kitchen in Minutes

corner over cabinet 250 Remodel Your Kitchen in MinutesMost people will tell you that changing out one or two light fixtures does not mean you have remodeled your kitchen.  We would respectfully disagree.

Mini pendant lights instantly both brighten your kitchen and add an element of design, and they’ll have any guest asking what you have changed.  The effect is transformative.

Suspend them over a counter, island, table, or bar to produce task lighting with a touch of glamour.  Use them in groupings in a dining room or foyer: you’ll find that they’re less expensive than chandeliers and that they create a much more stunning effect.

You can choose between incandescent, fluorescent, halogen, and xenon mini pendants.  If you’re looking for a dimmable option, avoid the fluorescent mini pendants – they don’t have that capability.

Make sure you share your finished project with us on our Customer Lighting Projects page!  We love hearing your success stories.

Just think: it’ll be the least expensive “remodel” you’ve ever done.

PinExt Remodel Your Kitchen in Minutes
Mar 052010
 
PinExt The Pegasus Lighting Roundup for Feb 22 to Mar 5

Billie Jean LED light up disco shoes The Pegasus Lighting Roundup for Feb 22 to Mar 5

Scroll down to see where these are featured on our "Other cool sites" section

We combined two weeks of information into the Roundup this time so it’s a bit longer, but don’t miss it!  We have found tons of great articles and sites the past couple of weeks we want to share with you.

In lighting news…

The television industry will soon experience “an acute undersupply” of LEDs.  Don’t expect a rapid decline in retail prices for LED-backlit LCD TVs anytime in the near future.

This post argues that hospital lighting changes must be included in health care reform legislation.  Consider this: every hospital that switches to LED lighting would save half a million dollars a year, with zero up front costs.
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PinExt The Pegasus Lighting Roundup for Feb 22 to Mar 5
Jan 182010
 
PinExt Low Voltage Indoor Lighting: Pendant Lights for Every Room

mini pendant light1 Low Voltage Indoor Lighting: Pendant Lights for Every RoomLow 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.
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PinExt Low Voltage Indoor Lighting: Pendant Lights for Every Room
Nov 122009
 
PinExt New Home Project: Under Cabinet Lighting

electrical project New Home Project: Under Cabinet LightingRecently, my family and I moved into a new home. We had lived in our previous home for more than seven years (loving every minute in our old house). But we were starting to get just a little cramped as our family had grown from just the two of us to now the four of us.  While packing and moving is no fun at all, I was looking forward to the new house because I had some big plans for our lighting. I mean, hey, I do work for a lighting company.

Over the next couple of blog posts, I am going to share the lighting projects that I have tackled in our new home (including pics). Some projects I did and others I had professional electricians perform. My first new home project was adding under cabinet lights. I had under cabinet lighting installed in our previous home and there was just no way I was not going to have my under cabinet lighting. I literally cannot live without them. We have a favorite saying in our household when we talk about something we want or like.  We say, “It’s a quality of life issue.” Well, under cabinet lighting is a “quality of life issue for me.”
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PinExt New Home Project: Under Cabinet Lighting
Nov 062009
 
PinExt Under Cabinet Lights Improve the Task Lighting in Your Kitchen

Task Lighting Under Cabinet Lights Improve the Task Lighting in Your KitchenA great, very effective way to improve the task lighting in your kitchen, perhaps the most important room in your home, is under cabinet lighting. Just take a look at this recent article from RocketNews:

The primary purpose of kitchen under cabinet lighting is to provide task lighting for countertops, sinks, and stovetops that complements the general lighting in the room.  The underside of cabinets provides an absolutely ideal location for task lighting since the light source is close to the tasks being performed but is concealed to avoid direct glare to your eyes. This is one of those perfect lighting situations where you see the light but not the light source. Under cabinet lighting also reduces the shadows created by the wall cabinets and the overhead ceiling lighting. The illumination on the backsplash also can create a bright attractive surface that introduces a bit of accent lighting that enhances the appearance of the entire kitchen.  If the under cabinet light is dimmable or has a low light level choice, it can sometimes be used as a very effective night light.  In short, good under cabinet light has the potential for adding another “layer of light” to your kitchen lighting scheme that greatly improves the task lighting, enhances the accent lighting, and adds valuable night lighting.

RocketNews, The Underlying Value of Under Cabinet Lighting

Check out the rest of the article as it discusses the pros and cons of different under cabinet light sources, including halogen, xenon, fluorescent, and the hot light source of the day, LED.

PinExt Under Cabinet Lights Improve the Task Lighting in Your Kitchen
Jul 302009
 
PinExt Enhance Your Kitchen with Lighting

Whether it is preparing a meal, entertaining guests, or doing homework, the kitchen is perhaps one of the most used rooms in your home and where many families spend a lot of time. However, many kitchens have poor lighting. One of the most common mistakes in a kitchen is trying to light the entire space with one ceiling-mounted fixture. Yes, I am talking to you.

Creating “layers of light” through the use of the three basic types of lighting will greatly enhance your kitchen and make it truly a place where you and your family will want to spend many hours together.
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PinExt Enhance Your Kitchen with Lighting
Jul 012009
 
PinExt Customer Lighting Project: Xenon Low Voltage Light Strip

If you’re searching for the perfect display lighting for your cabinet or showcase, check out these customer lighting project photos.  These are from Case Sensitive of Hartford, Connecticut (a company that sells custom showcases for guitars).  Featured in the photos is our Xenon Low Voltage Light Strip:

StripLightCase Customer Lighting Project: Xenon Low Voltage Light Strip StripLightCase2 Customer Lighting Project: Xenon Low Voltage Light Strip
StripLightCaseDetail Customer Lighting Project: Xenon Low Voltage Light Strip
PinExt Customer Lighting Project: Xenon Low Voltage Light Strip
Jul 012009
 
PinExt Lighting Tips for Showcases & Display Cases

Guiding Principle
“Light is the first element of design; without it there is no color, form, or texture.” – Thomas E. Farin

General
Lighting can add depth or drama to the items inside a showcase.
Lighting can give even a small display inside a showcase a “dimensional quality”.

Ambient Light
The ambient light provided by the room is often not enough to see what is in a showcase.
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PinExt Lighting Tips for Showcases & Display Cases
Jul 012009
 
PinExt Lighting Tips for Residential Kitchens

kitchen Lighting Tips for Residential KitchensGuiding Principle
“Light is the first element of design; without it there is no color, form, or texture.” – Thomas E. Farin

General
If the kitchen isn’t lit properly, who will notice it? Who will care to notice it? Who will even want to be in it?
Lighting can add depth and/or excitement to a kitchen. Let’s face it, the kitchen is where you and your family will spend a lot of time, so take the time to light it well so that it becomes an inviting and pleasant space to be in.
Bad lighting can be expensive and good lighting does not have to be expensive.

Accent Lighting
Accent lighting adds drama to a kitchen by creating visual interest. As part of the decorating scheme, accent lighting is used to spotlight paintings, house plants, sculpture, and other prized possessions, or to highlight drapery or the texture of a wall. House plants can be accented by aiming an uplight at the wall behind the plant, creating a dramatic silhouette of the plant against the wall.
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PinExt Lighting Tips for Residential Kitchens