We are building a new home, and want to put in LED lighting in the whole house. I am asking here to find out where I should look for design specs as well as product sales.We have not wired the house yet, so have very open palette.
I don't have any specific advice for you, except to note that this seems like a very wise decision. I am quite sure that LED lighting will be the way of the future. The much maligned CFL bulbs are on their way out, I believe.
My suggestion is to contact a lighting architect. You can find them at the larger quality lighting stores. Their job is to determine your lighting needs to suggest locations, height, design and a whole hose of other things.
The biggest mistake anyone can make is incorrect placement of fixtures. You can install a ton of these and still end up with shadows, dark spots and difficulty seeing if done wrong.
A good quality designer will be able to assist you in correct placement, lens style, wattage and more.
I applaud you on going this route. Although very expensive out of the gate, your savings will be seen in a very short time.
Keep us posted on how you make out.
Just another plug if your thinking about this type of lighting, also think strongly about spray foam insulation. Another expensive initial install, but energy savings is also quite high, as you need smaller HVAC and your home becomes quite comfortable as well. Pay back can be in as little as five to seven years.
Good Luck!
I live in Casper Wyoming, a large lighting store doesn't exist for 150 miles in any direction. Will see what I can come up with on a google search for lighting architects.
Oh, the roof is spray foam, and the walls are all ICF and over half of the house is buried. My dad has been building energy efficient homes for 35 years, and this one was built by him.
I had a great electrician, who specialized in lighting design for homes. See if you can find one in your area and pay for an hour or so of consulting in your home for suggestions. Don't skimp on the quality of the fixtures/drivers or they will not last. Above all, make sure your work spaces are well lit in areas where your body won't shadow the space (like kitchen counters). Different styles of LED lighting give different patterns of illumination, so I think paying for a consult would be a great idea.
I have never heard of a lighting architect - most I know like James Bedell go by the term lighting designers
If you cant find one nearby an interior designer that understands lighting really well would be my second choice (or maybe first)
Or as Leslie points out, there are some good electricians out there that understand the throw, diffusion, kelvin & all that fun stuff - I would stress having them bring in the lights to see how they illuminate a space as this is something you have to see in many cases to understand
As for the lighting itself, if you can & its feasible, you might want to see about wiring it as low voltage rather than standard - that cuts down on the transformers & size of the heat sinks
@Celeste K when I built my off grid cabin in Northern New Mexico, I also went with 100% LED lighting. In my case I took it even further by working in a 12 Volt DC native environment, (our small PV system is 12 volt) By working in this voltage I do not incur voltage loses by the inverter running or the loses in the conversion to 120 V AC. Finding 12 volt LED's was a bit of a challenge, and I initially needed to convert some pre-existing style fixtures. I later found a source for the 12 V DC bulbs in the GU10 base.
I wrote up a tutorial on it.
http://kmswoodworks.wordpress.com/2009/12/29/to-build-a-better-light-bulb/
We can light the entire cabin with only 38 watts...that is everything tuned on which often is not needed.
Since setting all of that up I have found that with the higher 8 to 10 foot ceiling the multi led bulbs are a little wimpy if I were to use them at night for detailed cleaning needs where lots of light is needed, I have found the "Cree" style LED's to put out way more light.
You also need to keep in mind the temp rating of each Many LED's are cool white which seem a bit harsh...warm white is closer to what most folks are used to.
Look in the comments section of my above blog post for a Temp table of common light sources.
Try completing the info on this form http://www.tenlist.com/lighting-design/casper-WY/ I'm sure you will be put in contact with a lighting specialist even if it is a commercial architect, I'm sure they can give you the guidance and lighting plan you are seeking.
Please keep up up to date on your progress
Happy Holidays, Gary
Another idea that might be possible is to work remotely with a lighting designer. If you have plans, and can provide relevant info such as daylight, elevations and direction, etc.. then you may be able to gain the guidance you need over email and phone. I have lighting design contacts in St. Louis who would likely be willing to work in that manner, although you might be best served by sourcing someone as close to you as possible. Just a thought.
Good for you! We did an LED retrofit on all of our recessed can lighting, and replaced all incandescent lightbulbs with LED's as well. We literally cut our electricity bill in half!
After looking for a lighting consultant and having no luck finding an affordable lighting designer, we just spoke with the electrician doing the wiring. He said just to use LED bulbs in conventional fixtures. The bulbs cost about $10 so really not that expensive where the LED fixtures are about 3 times as much money as conventional. So we are going to use conventional fixtures and buy LED bulbs. such as http://www.globalindustrial.com/c/electrical/bulbs/led-bulbs
Celeste......before buying from Global Industries, ask them the color temperature of the LED lamps. Look for a temperature of 3000K which is as close to the 2700K of the standard warm white incandescent light bulb. If the color temp is in the 5600K to 6000K you will have lamps with the cold look of a fluorescent bulb.
For recessed lighting, you can use a LED retro kit, using a standard recessed housing in either 6 inch or 4 inch version and using the corresponding retro kit.
I know you will be happy with the lighting, and more so with the really low energy bills.
Good lighting, Gary
PS: Not all LEDs are the same....the best LED is from Cree and many manufacturers mention that fact in their specification
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Your comment...
I don't have any specific advice for you, except to note that this seems like a very wise decision. I am quite sure that LED lighting will be the way of the future. The much maligned CFL bulbs are on their way out, I believe.
My suggestion is to contact a lighting architect. You can find them at the larger quality lighting stores. Their job is to determine your lighting needs to suggest locations, height, design and a whole hose of other things. The biggest mistake anyone can make is incorrect placement of fixtures. You can install a ton of these and still end up with shadows, dark spots and difficulty seeing if done wrong. A good quality designer will be able to assist you in correct placement, lens style, wattage and more. I applaud you on going this route. Although very expensive out of the gate, your savings will be seen in a very short time. Keep us posted on how you make out. Just another plug if your thinking about this type of lighting, also think strongly about spray foam insulation. Another expensive initial install, but energy savings is also quite high, as you need smaller HVAC and your home becomes quite comfortable as well. Pay back can be in as little as five to seven years. Good Luck!
I live in Casper Wyoming, a large lighting store doesn't exist for 150 miles in any direction. Will see what I can come up with on a google search for lighting architects.
Oh, the roof is spray foam, and the walls are all ICF and over half of the house is buried. My dad has been building energy efficient homes for 35 years, and this one was built by him.
I had a great electrician, who specialized in lighting design for homes. See if you can find one in your area and pay for an hour or so of consulting in your home for suggestions. Don't skimp on the quality of the fixtures/drivers or they will not last. Above all, make sure your work spaces are well lit in areas where your body won't shadow the space (like kitchen counters). Different styles of LED lighting give different patterns of illumination, so I think paying for a consult would be a great idea.
I have never heard of a lighting architect - most I know like James Bedell go by the term lighting designers If you cant find one nearby an interior designer that understands lighting really well would be my second choice (or maybe first) Or as Leslie points out, there are some good electricians out there that understand the throw, diffusion, kelvin & all that fun stuff - I would stress having them bring in the lights to see how they illuminate a space as this is something you have to see in many cases to understand As for the lighting itself, if you can & its feasible, you might want to see about wiring it as low voltage rather than standard - that cuts down on the transformers & size of the heat sinks
@Celeste K when I built my off grid cabin in Northern New Mexico, I also went with 100% LED lighting. In my case I took it even further by working in a 12 Volt DC native environment, (our small PV system is 12 volt) By working in this voltage I do not incur voltage loses by the inverter running or the loses in the conversion to 120 V AC. Finding 12 volt LED's was a bit of a challenge, and I initially needed to convert some pre-existing style fixtures. I later found a source for the 12 V DC bulbs in the GU10 base. I wrote up a tutorial on it. http://kmswoodworks.wordpress.com/2009/12/29/to-build-a-better-light-bulb/ We can light the entire cabin with only 38 watts...that is everything tuned on which often is not needed. Since setting all of that up I have found that with the higher 8 to 10 foot ceiling the multi led bulbs are a little wimpy if I were to use them at night for detailed cleaning needs where lots of light is needed, I have found the "Cree" style LED's to put out way more light. You also need to keep in mind the temp rating of each Many LED's are cool white which seem a bit harsh...warm white is closer to what most folks are used to. Look in the comments section of my above blog post for a Temp table of common light sources.
Try completing the info on this form http://www.tenlist.com/lighting-design/casper-WY/ I'm sure you will be put in contact with a lighting specialist even if it is a commercial architect, I'm sure they can give you the guidance and lighting plan you are seeking. Please keep up up to date on your progress Happy Holidays, Gary
Another idea that might be possible is to work remotely with a lighting designer. If you have plans, and can provide relevant info such as daylight, elevations and direction, etc.. then you may be able to gain the guidance you need over email and phone. I have lighting design contacts in St. Louis who would likely be willing to work in that manner, although you might be best served by sourcing someone as close to you as possible. Just a thought.
Good for you! We did an LED retrofit on all of our recessed can lighting, and replaced all incandescent lightbulbs with LED's as well. We literally cut our electricity bill in half!
After looking for a lighting consultant and having no luck finding an affordable lighting designer, we just spoke with the electrician doing the wiring. He said just to use LED bulbs in conventional fixtures. The bulbs cost about $10 so really not that expensive where the LED fixtures are about 3 times as much money as conventional. So we are going to use conventional fixtures and buy LED bulbs. such as http://www.globalindustrial.com/c/electrical/bulbs/led-bulbs
Celeste......before buying from Global Industries, ask them the color temperature of the LED lamps. Look for a temperature of 3000K which is as close to the 2700K of the standard warm white incandescent light bulb. If the color temp is in the 5600K to 6000K you will have lamps with the cold look of a fluorescent bulb. For recessed lighting, you can use a LED retro kit, using a standard recessed housing in either 6 inch or 4 inch version and using the corresponding retro kit. I know you will be happy with the lighting, and more so with the really low energy bills. Good lighting, Gary PS: Not all LEDs are the same....the best LED is from Cree and many manufacturers mention that fact in their specification
Have you looked into http://www.litepods.com low voltage LED lighting you can install in your home?