We had a chance to review the VIBIA Scotch CFL wall sconce today. The fixture itself is quite beautiful with heavy duty glass with a frosted interior and solid chrome surround. But the compact fluorescent lamping was not bright enough for our use and is not dimmable. The lamp itself is currently made by only one uncommon manufacturer. The halogen version is still our choice for residential applications. But we are looking forward to a dimmable LED version.
AXO stopped by to introduce their new LED line, MindLED. All of their products are offered in either 3K or 4K options. First we looked at the Momus and Momus Mini which are surface wall sconces. Right now the large and small version of the fixture do not use the same LEDs so they probably would not have the same color temperature so it would be best not to use them together.
We looked at the Favila which is a surface adjustable spot fixture. The Favila can come with several options with a surface mount, a semi-recessed mount and a pendant mount option.
The Asperitas is a surface step light that we liked. It is a small fixture that currently only comes in a gunmetal color.
We also looked at the Virtus line of fixtures which incorporate long thin cylinders that are adjustable at the base. The Virtus wall lamp has three stems on one side of the fixture and an up light component on the other side. Virtus can also come in a larger version that is pendant mounted. This version can be field adjusted to alter the beam spread. Both the Virtus as well as another line the Stilla, can come with a canopy that allows you to mount multiple suspended fixtures to create a chandelier.
For almost all of the lines, there is the option to have either a surface mount or suspended mount. Most of their fixtures come in the standard white finish. They can do custom colors, but they have to be larger orders of at least 80 pieces. Although the design comes from Italy, they assemble the fixtures at their facilities in Connecticut. All of the ies files for their fixtures are online.
WAC came by with the Dulanski Group to show some new fixtures they have been working on. The first one we looked at was their Slice fixture that goes hand in hand with the Dice fixture. The Slice is a round surface LED area light while the Dice is a square fixture. Both incorporate a thick wall etched white glass lens. Two sizes are available, 8 7/8” and 11”. It comes in a 3K option, but for large orders WAC could do a 27K version. The price point for the larger version of these fixtures comes in at around $150.
Another fixture we took a look at is their new task lighting option Line. Line uses LEDs to edge light the surface creating an evenly illuminated fixture with a 30° forward throw for under cabinet lighting. Line ranges from 6” to 30” and can be installed easily end to end. The installation for Line uses magnets on the main portion with the lens that snaps in place to the connector mounted to the surface.
WAC also showed us their Exterminator which is an LED track fixture. The Exterminator has a smooth beam spread and good color rendering. We looked at both the 3K and 27K versions and liked both.
Lumetta Enterprise Lighting Sales stopped by with Lumetta so we could view their product line. Lumetta is known for their pendant and surface decorative fixtures. They use a material called Luminate, made exclusively for them, for the shade material. Luminate is a non-porous material that makes the fixtures easy to clean. The process to create the Luminate also reduces the wear and degradation from UV radiation.
With the Luminate material, there are no lamp images or shadow sockets because of the diffuse white layer on the interior. Lumetta has 87 standard options to choose from but can also accommodate custom colors and patterns.
All fixtures are made in the US and are built to order. Standard lead times for manufacturing are 6-8 weeks with added time for customization. Lumetta does not add a design or custom fee adder and instead determine the price from parts and labor required per job.
We just got back from a great trip to Dallas and a visit to the Tech Lighting Showroom for LIGHTSPEAK 2013. What a great space and great people as well! Here is a brief re-cap of the visit and some photos to wet the appetite. To see more, visit TechLighting.com. The Tech Lighting factory is located in Skokie, IL and they stock a majority of their pieces. They try and provide a lead time of 3-Days! for most projects, especially for orders under 100 items. Also good to remember is that custom products make up about 15% of their work. It never hurts to ask.
Here is just a peak at some of the beautiful glass elements that Tech is known for. Many of these pieces are hand-blown in Italy. The first image is the new Ecran "Screen" Pendant with platinum and gold silk-screened patterns on the glass. The third image shows the beautiful Sara (round) and Jayden (square) pressed crystal pendants with hand-blown white glass inner layer.
Here's a collection of the industrial Wilmette Series, which has been incorporated into the larger Tech Lighting catalog.
The Artic Family is also really fun!
And finally, a collection of amber glass pendants, beautifully grouped.
In addition to the decorative displays throughout, we received an over-view of the architectural recessed line ELEMENT. This is a family of 3", 4" and 6" apertures with a variety of functions. Unfortunately, we often find that the housing sizes prevent us from using these products in NYC. The standard LED uses a Citizen chip, but the they are now offering products with Xicato (standard and artist series available) and Lumenetix. Lumenetix is offering an exciting product with a pre-programmed warm dim or fully programmable white. The warm dim function is great for residential and hospitality. The fully programmable white may be a good option for retail. The programming offers up to 5 saved scenes, which can be saved to high light the clothes in each season! We've also been told they will begin offering multiples next year.
And finally, Tech Lighting is expanding their UNILUME line to include not only their standard remote phosphor under-cabinet line, but other variations: direct line voltage, remote driver and a cove line. The cove line is very exciting because it offers a field-cuttable piece for completing the ends of runs. The cove fixture is a basic 120° output with no real direction. Great for simulating the look of fluorescent without socket shadows. Color temperatures range from 2400K - 4000K.
We were also shown some exciting new products for 2014, but were sworn to secrecy! Looking forward to the future and to see what Tech Lighting does next!
Light Abilities brought XAL Lighting to show some of their new products. The first one was a wall mounted LED called Box. Box comes in both square and round versions. The idea behind the fixtures is to encourage the user to interact with the fixture. There are adjustable lockable baffles on the top and bottom of the fixtures that allow the user to create patterns on the wall deciding on the angle of the light spilling onto the wall.
Another fixture they showed us was their Move It fixture. The Move It is an LED down light that can be adjusted by raising or lowering the aperture to three different set positions. It comes in both round and square versions. The fixture comes with a pre-installed gypsum board for easy installation. The fixture can also come in multiples up to three fixtures on the same board. One of the linear fixtures XAL showed us is their Linea which is a surface direct/indirect fluorescent area light. The Linea has an opaque cover that snaps to the housing allowing an easy installation. It also comes with inside and outside corner pieces that allow you to install the fixture seamlessly throughout the space.
For their linear fixtures, XAL has created a place on their website that allows you to input the length of your fixture and will tell you what part of the fixture will not be lit up. This works for both fluorescent and LED versions of their fixtures. XAL is pushing to get a majority of their fixtures onto their quick ship list to make transactions easier.
We stopped by XAL's booth at LightFair and saw some of the fixtures they showed to us this time. We also saw a lot of other cool modern fixtures that we liked in their booth.
Vibia stopped by to show us their products. All of their fixtures are very well designed and well thought out. However some of the material choices were not as impressive. The price points for their lines were also a little high for what we were seeing. One thing that did stand out from all of the fixtures we saw was how many of them can be configured in the space. Many of the fixtures come in options of groups up to seven. This is a nice option to only have to use one junction box for all of them.
FLOS Lighting stopped by with some of their new products. One of their products they highlighted was their Aim fixture which will be released soon. Aim is an LED fixture that is suspended on two cables that can be aimed in the field be adjusting the length of one of the cables.
Another fixture they focused on was their Light Cut cove lighting system. They system comes with an extruded aluminum profile knife edge for the cove that provides power for the fixtures. A highlight of the system is that it can have an up light as well as spot light components. The ambient light can be obtained with either a T5 linear fluorescent tube or with warm white or RGB LEDs. The kit is all inclusive and the housing is ordered per opening dimensions.
Lumen Art stopped by with the Dulanski Group. One of the products they highlighted is the Wave Form, a pendant and wall mounted fixture in 9.75”, 10.4” and 46.4” lengths. The fixture has a satin nickel weave element and the LEDs graze through the open weaves.
Chameleon is another fixture they brought and is a color changing geometric fixture that comes in cube, linear box, cylinder and dome forms. The fixture can be specified with a down light component.
The Velo LED is a pendant fixture with a handmade glass component. As of now it is offered only with CFL, but are planning on coming out with an LED version soon.
They have several fabric fixtures options that come in various size and geometric forms that can be pendant or surface mounted.
O’Blaney Rinker Associates came with SPI and Advent to show us their latest products. The Echo 1.5 is a linear LED and comes in 6” increments and has a good forward throw. The fixture comes with internal optics and comes standard as 35K and 45K, they can also provide 3K.
They showed us their cove product that can either come with T5 or LED. They are not known for their cove but offer a good option for projects with a tight budget. The regular cove product is $30/ft. and they have one for $15/ft. They also showed us decorative fixtures from their Advent lines. Two fixtures that they showed us but have not been added to the website are ACP142422 and ACP140903. Both are pendants offered with either CFL or LED. Both offer custom sizes. Some of the decorative LED fixtures are offered with emergency options. Everything they offer is built to order and very customizable. They offer a short turn around even with customizations.
Eclipse Lighting Corporation and Fabbian stopped by so we could get a look at what new things they have been adding to their product line. The first fixture they highlighted from their catalog is the Roofer. This hanging lamp is very unique using recycled rubber tiles that are attached to a wire frame in an overlapping fashion similar to roof tiles, creating a fun fixture that can be customized with different color tiles. The Roofer comes with either an acrylic or fabric lens. Another fixture that they highlighted was their Lumi line. The Lumi fixtures can either be used as table or floor lamps as well as surface and pendant mounted. Previously they have been available in two sizes with varying globe forms, but they are now providing another more amoebic shape to their line called Lumi Mycena for an even more whimsical look.
Fabbian also showed us their Tile line which uses clear or colored crystalline glass. The tiles are mounted as a hanging installation that can be either used as a single pane or as two panes which allows for a more three-dimensional effect. The tiles are installed along an aluminum cable structure that allows the tiles to appear to be floating in the air.
A big highlight of Fabbian’s product lines is their use of Italian glass for most of their fixtures. The quality of the glass was very impressive, however even more impressive was their competitive price point for the majority of their fixtures.