Interior Lighting

[SusanZ]

Hi!

I just thought I'd take the time to say hello to all in this forum. I've been browsing through the forum but cannot seem to find any discussions on interior low voltage applications. The market for these fixtures is huge and I'm sure there are many topics for discussion. Of course, my career makes me a bit one sided on this subject, seeing that this is what we deal in.

Anyway, just a quick note. I'll go back and try to come up with a subject that might be worthwhile for this forum.

[sitelights]

It is with great pleasure that I respond to this post. Clearly the first line of type below the name of this forum states "interior and exterior applications" and it is no accident that "interior" comes first. My background is in interior lighting design and I have more years dedicated to interior than I do to exterior low voltage lighting design. The whole point to me is precision in lighting; the term precision encompasses the entire spectrum of lighting: aesthetics, efficacy and efficiency (the most from the least). Interior work, dealing with fixed architectural elements and highly controlled point sources provides an opportunity for elegance and perfection not attainable in exterior work. Automotive lighting aside, low voltage interior lighting has a longer history than exterior low voltage lighting; I exclude automotive-based low voltage lighting because it was an expedient rather than a cohesive and evolutionary extension of a concept. The incidental similarities of 12v automotive (DC) and 12v (AC) purpose-built lighting equipment is apparent rather than real. The "father" of low voltage outdoor lighting merely adapted existing automotive equipment to a purpose not intended by the manufacturers. Technology in low voltage lighting (i.e. purpose-built) is only as old as the advent of halogen lamp systems that became available in the 1970s. I believe that the field of low voltage lighting in interior and exterior applications began with the introduction of the MR-16 halogen lamp (subsequently augmented by the MR-11 and the MR-8).

The MR-16 lamp was developed to service the display segment of the interior lighting market. The first systems that I worked with were European made, cable-hung, bare-conductor, non-UL overhead MR-16 lamped fixtures of very minimal design i.e. they were simply sockets and lamps with a bridging armature that allowed contact across two bare conductors. This concept is still the most flexible and intriguing application in overhead lighting. Mono-point stemmed ceiling lights and recessed downlights came next. All of these fixtures used MR-16 lamps in various wattages and beam configurations to introduce to the commercial and residential market the concept of highly precise, very flexible and controlled lighting. With a bow to my friend Jeff Werbock I call this type of lighting "intentional" lighting as opposed to the slap-dash, hit-or-miss of conventional incandescent (or worse, fluorescent) lighting which was and is a total bore.

If the lighting design and execution is not "intentional" it then relies on the "accidental"; in lighting design "accidental" doesn't make the cut. A lighting designer cannot rely on serendipity to ring the cash register.

I will be expanding on this topic in further posts. Stayed tuned while I take the entire lighting industry to task for falsifiying (the dirty little secret) data upon which lighting designers depend to provide planned and controlled intentional lighting.

[SusanZ]

Thanks for responding to my post!

Just one comment - the thing about cable systems is that they're really very messy. They're still available on the market because many find them intriguing, but honestly, they are very unreliable. Most manufacturers have gone into different routes offering rail systems and bendable track.

True, they came from Europe, originally designed by students looking for a cool looking but cheap lighting alternative. Eventually designers caught on and made the idea more sophisticated for the market.

I'm curious as what your post will be about "falsifying data".