Interior designer Matt Cunniff was in a quandary. He needed a source of low light for a media room, but the lights that were available didn't appeal to him.
"Incandescent lights tend to change color when they're dimmed. They turn sort of 'orangey,'" Cunniff says. "They also tend to hum when they're turned down--they can 'sing.'"
So rather than using traditional methods, Cunniff took a more modern approach. He installed fiber-optic lighting in a celestial motif.
"The fiber optics had real potential to maintain a very low level of light evenly throughout the room," he says. "It's a nice illusion; you lose the sense of space ."
Even a small fiber-optic cable can be made up of hundreds of tiny strands of flexible glass fibers. When a light shines into one end of the cable, the other end lights up. Many fiber-optic users have their light sources hidden away in an attic or other out-of-the-way area (figure A). The light sources use only one bulb, so they 're energy efficient and maintenance is easy.
Fiber-optic lighting isn't a new technology, though. In fact, it's been used in Europe for several years.
According to Gersil Kay, of Conservation Lighting International, fiber-optic lighting is one of the best things for your home.
"It's safe, it's very energy efficient, and it's cool," Kay says. "It doesn't introduce heat into the area that's being lit. It's discreet, so it doesn't have a negative impact on your decor. It's very long lasting, and it has excellent color rendition ."
Steve Wilson and his wife, Laura Lee Brown, decided to try fiber optics in an 1830s farmhouse they're restoring. They were considering moving an extensive art collection to the house, but they had concerns about the lighting.
"We've been collecting art for many years," Brown says, "and it was a challenge to figure out how to light it in a way that wouldn't be as harmful as incandescent lighting is."
Because fiber optics don't put out heat, the incandescent lighting issue was quickly put to rest. But there are some aesthetic benefits as well.
"It doesn't interfere with the look of the room," Wilson says. "We won't have to have 20 track lights coming down from the ceiling."
Guests Matt Cunniff
Interior Designer, Matt Cunniff Design Associates
1823 Sansom
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Phone: 215-751-0964
Fax: 215-751-0984
Gersil Kay
Lighting Consultant, Conservation Lighting International
1901 Walnut St. Suite 902
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Phone: 215-568-0923
Fax: 215-568-4592
David Lynch
Electrician, Midland Electric
Also in this Episode
)
