Tuesday, April 24th, 2012

by Littman Bros Lighting

Earth Day 2012 has passed and it is now time to ask ourselves what we can do beyond just Earth day to protect our planet. There are enormous advantages in using LED lights that can make a big difference in reducing your carbon footprint as well as begin to recognize how easy it is to go green and re-define the value of the environment. LED bulbs use less energy, last longer, are cost-effective and far more durable than the traditional incandescent or fluorescent bulbs. Major manufacturers in the lighting industry put forth great efforts in engineering the most energy efficient designs in lighting; players like Kichler Lighting and Hinkley Lighting are implementing LED lights throughout their collections.

Changing your indoor bulbs to LEDs is a good start to becoming more energy efficient but it’s time to move your energy-saving efforts to the outdoors; this is where Kichler and Hinkley’s endeavors with LED lighting have produced a stylish turning point for your homes outside design. Both companies offer an array of tasteful, elegant designs in landscape LED accent lighting. These lights have a more accurate angle and beam of light that significantly reduces energy consumption – all from using LED bulbs.

LED lights come in a wide range of colors that will expand your style options while benefiting you in the long-run because of its long life-span (lasting much longer and saving you more money on replacement bulbs) to the considerable money saved in energy costs over the life of each LED fixture. When deciding on your energy efficient landscape lighting design, remember the important designs to consider: up-lighting (creates ambient lighting in the area), down-lighting (targeted light from above), silhouette lighting (provides dramatic accents) and of course the options of LED colors, with the varying colors of LED lights you can add an appealing touch to your outdoor lighting.

Whether it’s indoors or outdoors LED bulbs are a wonderful way to start helping the environment and reducing general pollutants while making a smart investment in bulbs that are rated for continual use for up to 100,000 hours and use 50% to 90% less power than standard bulbs. It doesn’t have to be Earth Day for anyone to put in the effort and start using energy efficient lighting.

Monday, January 30th, 2012

by Littman Bros Lighting

Landscape lighting features an array of different types of lighting, here are some techniques for you to consider when creating your outdoor lighting layout:

Uplighting: Illuminating an object, area or surface from below. Using a spotlight aimed at a tree in the background while the front of your home stays fairly dark creates a focal point on the landscape.

Downlighting: Lighting an object from above, mounted high in a tree shining a light on the ground, creating what is known as “moonlighting.”

Grazing: Highlights textured surfaces around your home, setting a spotlight within about one foot of the surface.

Path Lighting: Lights spread around the walkway in order to create a safe path to your front or backdoor, they accent flowers or shrubbery as well.

Wall Washing: Sets up lighting to accent a wall in order to brighten the space. This image shows a great example of wall washing and a nice use of path lights – these landscape lights are from the Hinkley Nexus Collection.

Deck/Step Lighting: Provides safety and accent lighting for your outdoor area; perfect for that deck or patio stairwell at night.

Silhouetting: Shines a unique backlight on a specific object – create a subtle silhouette of a tree by placing a spotlight between your home and the tree.

Thursday, January 19th, 2012

by Littman Bros Lighting

Kichler Lighting manufacturer’s the highest quality ceiling fans. With new designs in 2012, Kichler ceiling fans encompass every style and application from outdoor patio fans to decorative ceiling fans.

A popular collection of outdoor fans is the Kichler Crystal Bay – all are wet location and come in an array of finishes with unique blades. The fan shown here is the from the Crystal Bay collection in a satin white finish with classic white washed oak blades. Kichler’s outdoor ceiling fan collections are designed to create cool comfort while withstanding extreme temperatures and conditions both wet and damp rated.

Many Kichler ceiling fans are Energy Star® certified and feature highly efficient fluorescent lighting that uses up to 70% less energy. Fans also feature DC Motors that operate at cooler temperatures for a longer overall life.

All Kichler ceiling fans are designed to optimize total spinning weight, blade pitch and surface area. Blue Loctite® adhesive is added to prevent loosening, plus cUL or ETL certification for United States and Canada, and a Limited Lifetime warranty.

Monday, January 16th, 2012

by Littman Bros Lighting

There is an array of different kinds of Outdoor Lighting to choose from and finding the right type and style of Outdoor Lighting for your home can sometimes be a difficult task. Here are a few pointers to make it a bit easier:

You will need to choose multiple Outdoor Lights to use outside your home; the lighted impression and strength at night is a very important factor and you will need a few different kinds lights with about 40 to 75 watts to create that sufficient lighting.

The durability of your lights is important so you should think about the typical weather conditions of your home and decide what the best to use is. Nowadays almost all Outdoor Fixtures have special coatings in order to withstand these elements so make sure that the lighting you choose is listed as “Wet Location.”

Landscape Lighting is also a very popular choice when choosing Outdoor Lighting; there are numerous types of Landscape Lighting to choose from as well and all of these can do an assortment of things for you and your home’s Outdoor Lighting.

Uplights: Call attention to features from the outside; they are placed on the ground shining up to highlight focal points in the landscape.

Downlights: Aim downward, above an area, to emulate natural light or as a type of security lighting.

Path Lights: Go along a path such as sidewalks, driveways and pathways to securely lead a person to your front or back doors.

There are also Flood Lights, In Ground Lights and Outdoor Spotlights.

When choosing the best Outdoor or Landscape Lighting it would be nice to have a blueprint of your landscape to decide the best locations to put the lights. And of course, at the end of this whole process, the most fun part is deciding the style of your outdoor lights that will truly complement your home’s architecture.

Make sure when selecting your Outdoor Lighting that you don’t forget the key places to illuminate; your home’s entryway, all outdoor stairways and passages, your deck or patio and your driveway.

This Landscape Lighting shown is from the Hinkley Nexus Collection. Hinkley Lighting has a lot of wonderful Landscape Lights and Kichler Lighting is also a great brand that has an array of Outdoor and Landscape Lighting as well.