Community > Blogs > LED Insights That 60W-equivalent LED: What you don’t know, and what no one will tell you… Is solar-powered LED lighting finally getting a chance to shine? Journey beyond the bulb at SSL Ecosystem 2014, Sept. 22-24, Cambridge MA Editor’s Choice: Dare to be different—The art of contrarian blogs High bay LED lighting: Specmanship is alive and well Cooling high-power LEDs: The four myths about active vs. passive methods Accidental engineering: 10 mistakes turned into innovation 6 famous people you may not know are engineers DC distribution in your house and 42-V cars 10 tips for a successful engineering resume The 5 greatest engineers of all time Higgs Pt. 9: What makes King Carl XVI Gustaf think it’s the Higgs Boson? A microwave oven fire 10 things you may not know about Tesla Analog Fundamentals: Instrumentation for impedance measurement3 Ways to Spiff Up a Ceiling Fan Give an old ceiling fan a refined new look in three easy steps

Your Old Ceiling Fan, But Better An ugly spinner got us thinking: How can we improve this workaday fixture without spending as much as a new one costs? Cheapest Metal Garden BenchWe got great results from a few low-fuss upgrades—and so can you.Commercial Carpet Cleaning Forum Coat the body with a thick layer of metallic spray paint. Curtains Insulation BestWe took down the fan (after turning off the power at the breaker), then removed the blades and affixed painter's tape to the insides of the light sockets to protect them before painting. Shown: Rust-Oleum Universal Metallic Spray Paint in Aged Copper 2. Disguise Worn Blades Flip and paint the blades to disguise dated details. We unscrewed the caned oak blades from the mounting brackets, spray-painted both sides, and reinstalled them, smooth sides facing down.

Shown: Rust-Oleum Universal Satin Spray Paint in Espresso Brown 3. Switch Out Light Globes Change the globes so that they suit your house's style. We gave our fan an updated vintage vibe with clear, elongated globes and Edison-style exposed-filament bulbs. Shown: Westinghouse 3¾-by-6½-inch Clear Williamsburg-Style Fixture Shades; Feit Electric ST19 Original Vintage Style Incandescent Light Bulbs gallery slideshow grid viewHome / Style Guide / Learn About Lighting / Kichler has two definitions of vanity: In lighting, we combine the two so your vanity light, or bath light , becomes a fashion statement in the area over your sink. Vanity lighting is common in movies and TV shows that contain scenes showing theater dressing rooms where they are used above and on the sides of the mirrors. This technique provides excellent lighting for your daily routine while still providing a great-looking design for your bathroom. Bath lights provide great general illumination in the bathroom and often work well in conjunction with ceiling lighting.

Of course, they are also perfect task lighting for the activities you do in front of the mirror. Kichler has a huge variety and selection of bath lighting, so you will have no trouble finding the light that matches your style. From the clean and simple strips of vanity lights to intricately carved bath lights and every style in between, Kichler has it available. In addition, many of our bath lights belong to coordinated families so you can keep the same look and style throughout your home. Especially important are the wall sconces and mirrors we have to match your vanity lights. One-light, two-light, three-light and four-light bath lights are very common, and even longer styles with six, seven or eight lights are available. Vanity strip lights can even be as long as twelve lights to accommodate the largest bathrooms. Many bath lights can be installed with the glass pointing up or down, so your design possibilities are broader than they appear. Kichler also offers Beautywraps™, our unique five light bath light which has three overhead lights and two mini-pendants on each side.

The result is a soft light from above and both sides that is flattering to you and your bathroom. Best of all, it only uses one electrical outlet. What’s the best way to light a bath or powder room? Most of us want to see a clear reflection in our bathroom or powder room mirrors so we can apply makeup properly or shave without cutting ourselves or simply brush our teeth correctly. To avoid shadows and to fully surround your face with flattering light, install a fixture at least 24” wide over the mirror, plus two wall sconces (one on each side of the mirror) at least 28” apart and 60” above the floor. The Kichler “Beauty Wraps™” can do this by using only one electrical outlet. They allow matching mini-pendants to surround the mirror while also providing light from above. If you have a double sink vanity, use a light that is almost as wide as the mirror. The light should be mounted 78” from the floor and centered over the mirror. What if I have a truly large bathroom?

Besides the vanity/mirror lighting, you will probably need an additional flushmount or semi-flush fixture with possible recess lighting in shower areas. A Kichler mini-chandelier could provide more light while adding a touch of décor to the room.If there’s one topic that has people talking, it’s CFL lighting. Here are just a few of the comments HouseLogic has received about CFL longevity or the lack thereof:“… I find myself having to by [sic] those CFLs which cost more and only last three or four months. Additionally, they don’t create much light, which, given the quality of the light, is probably not all bad.”“It is incredibly frustrating to read myths about how long-lasting CFLs are. They simply are not. I’m lucky to get more than three or four months out of one. You might think it’s great to have them for the energy savings, but at least tell the truth about their complete lack of durability.”“We live in the mountains, and our electricity goes on and off frequently due to high winds and damage to the power lines.

This apparently decreases the life of CFLs … In my case, a CFL [lasts] no longer than a regular bulb, and the cost is at least 10 times more than a regular bulb.”Based on your comments and some of my own puzzling issues with CFLs, HouseLogic asked me to explore why the bulbs haven’t lived up to many of our expectations — now that federal requirements for light bulb efficiency have begun to phase in. Our bathroom CFLs just kept blowing outWhen my husband and I moved into our new home four years ago, we decided to replace all our incandescent bulbs with CFLs to be green and save on energy. We had a decidedly mixed experience with the quality and color of light — and the shades of meaning apparently implied by the label claim “instant on.” (Some CFLs take time to hit full light strength.) For instance, our hallway lights warmed up so slowly we went back to regular bulbs.But the most frustrating location for CFLs was in our two bathrooms, where they hung upside-down in wall-mounted bell-shaped enclosures over each sink.

A couple of bulbs actually blew out in a single day. others months — but not the touted 10,000 hours by a long shot. We checked the wiring and the fixtures but found nothing wrong. Our electrician sold us expensive, “high-quality” CFLs he liked (we weren’t familiar with the brand); the light was cold and unpleasant, but the bulbs did last 11 whole months. Then, within a span of two days, they all blinked out one by one, like chorus girls bowing at the end of a show.CFLs can cost between $1.25 to $10 per bulb. 5 factors that shorten CFL lifespanI consulted Russ Leslie, associate director of the Lighting Research Center in Troy, N.Y., who has tested bulbs for Energy Star. “If you just blow a single CFL bulb by itself, you probably just have a bad bulb,” Leslie says. “But when a CFL repeatedly burns out in the same fixture, there’s an issue.” Leslie says several things can shorten a CFL’s lifespan considerably:1. This, I believe, is my problem — and also that of the reader who lives in the mountains.

Apparently, projected CFL lifespans are based on a three-hour run time per start. In other words, during CFL testing, bulbs are cycled on for three hours and off for 20 minutes until half the samples have failed. If you turn them on frequently for less than three hours at a time — as I do in my bathroom — you’re in for a surprise.“Incandescents are somewhat immune to the number of times you switch them on and off,” Leslie says, “but the electrodes inside a CFL are stressed with each burst of starting voltage, and will eventually degrade and fail. With a CFL, the number of starts is the primary factor for determining how long it will last; the number of burning hours is secondary. A CFL rated at 10,000 hours in the three-hour-on standard test might last only 4,000 hours if left on for only 15 minutes per start.” OK, 500 for me, but who’s counting?That’s why you shouldn’t use CFLs in motion-sensor lighting, by the way.2. Heat and humidity can also reduce CFL life, and my bathroom has both.

Although the glass bells of my fixtures are open at the bottom, heat still builds up inside each one. “CFLs like things cool,” Leslie says.3. Dimmable or recessed lighting. Not applicable to my situation, but Leslie says that you must buy CFLs explicitly designed for those purposes (it’ll say so on the package).4. LRC hasn’t tested for this attribute, but the FAQs at GE’s website say that CFLs in fixtures that vibrate — such as ceiling fans and garage door openers — won’t perform well.5. Variation in quality among manufacturers. “Consumer Reports” testing shows significant performance difference from brand to brand and for different applications (particularly for rapid switching, where a number of spiral-type bulbs received middling or poor ratings).I also asked whether it mattered that the bulb was inverted (screwed into the fixture with the base up). Leslie said that LRC tested that attribute and found no significant difference in bulb performance.“Overall, an Energy Star-rated CFL should perform well for you,” Leslie says, “if you choose an application it’s suited for.