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Light Fixture

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Light fixture



 
 
A light fixture is an electrical device used to create artificial light or illumination. A luminaire is a lighting fixture complete with the light source or lamp
Lamp (electrical component)

A lamp is a replaceable component such as an incandescent light bulb, which is designed to produce light from electricity. These components usually have a base of ceramic, metal, glass or plastic, which makes an electrical connection in the socket of a light fixture....
, the reflector for directing the light, an aperture (with or without a lens
Lens (optics)

A lens is an optics device with perfect or approximate axial symmetry which transmittance and refraction light, converging or diverging the beam....
), the outer shell or housing for lamp alignment and protection, an electrical ballast, if required, and connection to a power source. A wide variety of special light fixtures are created for use in the automotive industry, aerospace, marine and medicine.

Light fixtures are classified by how the fixture is installed, the light function or lamp type.

ee-standing or portable — table lamps, standard lamps and office task lights.






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Encyclopedia


A light fixture is an electrical device used to create artificial light or illumination. A luminaire is a lighting fixture complete with the light source or lamp
Lamp (electrical component)

A lamp is a replaceable component such as an incandescent light bulb, which is designed to produce light from electricity. These components usually have a base of ceramic, metal, glass or plastic, which makes an electrical connection in the socket of a light fixture....
, the reflector for directing the light, an aperture (with or without a lens
Lens (optics)

A lens is an optics device with perfect or approximate axial symmetry which transmittance and refraction light, converging or diverging the beam....
), the outer shell or housing for lamp alignment and protection, an electrical ballast, if required, and connection to a power source. A wide variety of special light fixtures are created for use in the automotive industry, aerospace, marine and medicine.

Light fixtures are classified by how the fixture is installed, the light function or lamp type.

Fixture types

Chandelier Q
Tiffany Dragonfly Lamp With Pigeon Sculptures
* Free-standing or portable — table lamps, standard lamps and office task lights. Note: The use of "lamp" to describe light fixtures is different from its use to describe electrical components - see Lamp (electrical component)
Lamp (electrical component)

A lamp is a replaceable component such as an incandescent light bulb, which is designed to produce light from electricity. These components usually have a base of ceramic, metal, glass or plastic, which makes an electrical connection in the socket of a light fixture....
.
  • Recessed light
    Recessed light

    A recessed light or downlight is a light fixture that is installed into a hollow opening in a ceiling. When installed it appears to have light shining from a hole in the ceiling, concentrating the light in a downward direction as a broad floodlight or narrow spotlight....
     — the protective housing is concealed behind a ceiling or wall, leaving only the fixture itself exposed. The ceiling-mounted version is often called a "downlight".
    • "Cans" with a variety of lamps — this term is jargon for inexpensive downlighting products that are recessed into the ceiling. The name comes from the shape of the housing. The term "pot lights" is often used in Canada and parts of the US.
    • Troffer light — recessed fluorescent lights (the word comes from the combination of trough & coffer)
  • Surface-mounted light — the finished housing is exposed; not "flush" with surface
    • Chandelier
      Chandelier

      A chandelier is a branched decorative ceiling-mounted light fixture with two or more arms bearing lights. Chandeliers are often ornate, containing dozens of lamp s and complex arrays of glass or crystal prisms to illuminate a room with refraction light....
  • Pendant light
    Pendant light

    A pendant light, sometimes called a drop or suspender, is a lone light fixture that hangs from the ceiling usually suspended by a cord, chain, or metal rod....
     — suspended from the ceiling with a chain or pipe
  • Sconce
    Sconce (light fixture)

    A sconce is a type of Lighting affixed to a wall in such a way that it uses only the wall for support, and the light is usually directed upwards....
     — provide up or down lights; can be used to illuminate artwork, architectural details; commonly used in hallways and/or as an alternative to overhead lighting.
  • Indirect lighting — light reflects off the ceiling for general illumination
  • Cove light — recessed into the ceiling in a long box against a wall
  • Track lighting
    Track lighting

    Track lighting is a method of lighting where light fixtures are attached anywhere on a continuous track device which contains electrical conductors....
     fixture — individual fixtures (track "heads") can be positioned anywhere along the track, which provides electric power.
  • Under-cabinet light — mounted below kitchen wall cabinets
  • Outdoor lighting — used to illuminate walkways, parking lots, roadways, building exteriors, landscape and architectural details.
    • Pole or stanchion
      Stanchion

      A stanchion is an upright bar or post, often providing support for some other object. Some specific uses:* An architecture term applied to the upright iron bars in windows that pass through the eyes of the saddle bars or horizontal irons to steady the leadlight....
       mounted — for landscape, roadways, and parking lots
    • Pathway lighting — typically mounted in the ground at low levels for illuminating walkways
    • Bollards — A type of architectural outdoor lighting that is a short, upright ground-mounted unit typically used to provide cutoff type illumination for egress lighting, to light walkways, steps, or other pathways
  • High bay/Low bay lighting — typically used for general lighting for industrial buildings
  • Strip lights or industrial lights — often long lines of fluorescent lamps used in a warehouse or factory
  • Emergency lighting or Exit light — connected to a battery or to an electric circuit that has backup power if the main power fails
  • Balanced arm lamp
    Balanced arm lamps

    A balanced-arm lamp is a lamp with an adjustable folding arm which is constructed so that the force due to gravity is always counteracted, regardless of the position of the arms of the lamp....
     is a spot light with an adjustable arm like anglepoise
    Anglepoise lamp

    The Anglepoise lamp was designed in 1932 by the British people designer George Carwardine....
     and Luxo L1.


Lamp types

Lightbulb
*Fuel lamps
Betty lamp
Betty lamp

The Betty lamp is thought to be of Germany, Austrian, or Hungary origin. The Betty Lamp first came into use in the 18th century. They were commonly made of iron or brass and were most often used in the home or workshop....
, butter lamp
Butter lamp

Butter lamps are a conspicuous feature of Tibetan Buddhist lhakhang and monasteries throughout the Himalayas. The lamps traditionally burn clarified butter yak butter, but now often use vegetable oil....
, carbide lamp
Carbide lamp

Carbide lamps, also known as acetylene gas lamps, are simple lamps that produce and burn acetylene which is created by the reaction of calcium carbide with water ....
, gas lighting
Gas lighting

Gas lighting refers to a technology used to produce lighting from a gaseous fuel including hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, or ethylene....
, kerosene lamp
Kerosene lamp

The kerosene lamp is any type of lighting device which uses kerosene as a fuel. There are two main types of kerosene lamp which work in different ways, the "wick lamp" and the "pressure lamp"....
, oil lamp
Oil lamp

An oil lamp is a simple vessel used to produce light continuously for a period of time from a fuel source. The use of oil lamps extends from prehistory to the present day....
, rush light, torch
Torch

Originally, a torch was a portable source of fire used as a source of light, usually a rod-shaped piece of wood with a rag soaked in pitch and/or some other flammable material wrapped around one end....
, candle
Candle

A candle is a source of light, and sometimes a source of heat, consisting of a solid block of fuel and an embedded candle wick.Today, most candles are made from paraffin....
  • Arc lamp
    Arc lamp

    An arc lamp or arc light is the general term for a class of lamps that produce light by an electric arc . The lamp consists of two electrodes typically made of tungsten which are separated by a gas....
    s
Safety lamp
Safety lamp

A safety lamp is any of several types of Light fixture, which are designed to be safe to use in coal mines. These lamps are designed to operate in air that may contain coal dust, methane, or firedamp, all of which are potentially flammable or explosive....
s: Davy lamp
Davy lamp

The Davy lamp is a safety lamp containing a candle, devised in 1815 by Sir Humphry Davy. It was created for use in coal mines, allowing deep seams to be mined despite the presence of methane and other flammable gases, called firedamp or minedamp....
 & Geordie lamp
Geordie lamp

The Geordie lamp was invented by George Stephenson in 1815 as a solution to explosions due to firedamp in coal mines.Although controversy arose between Stephenson's design and the Davy lamp, , Stephenson's original design worked on significantly different principles....
, Xenon arc lamp
Xenon arc lamp

A xenon arc lamp is an Lighting source. Powered by electricity, it uses ionized xenon gas to produce a bright white light that closely mimics natural daylight....
, Yablochkov candle
Yablochkov candle

A Yablochkov candle is a type of electric carbon arc lamp, invented in 1876 by Pavel Yablochkov....
  • Incandescent lamp
    Incandescent light bulb

    The incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe is a source of electric light that works by incandescence, ....
A-lamp, PAR Parabolic reflector lamp (PAR), Reflector lamp (R), Bulged reflector lamp (BR) (Refer to lamp bases)
  • Obsolete types: Limelight
    Limelight

    Limelight is a type of stage lighting once used in theatres and music halls. An intense illumination is created when an Oxyhydrogen is directed at a cylinder of lime , which can be raised to 2572?C before melting....
    , Carbon button lamp
    Carbon button lamp

    The carbon button lamp is a single-electrode incandescent lamp invented by Nikola Tesla during his effort to get around the Thomas Edison patent for the incandescent light bulb....
    , Mazda (light bulb)
    Mazda (light bulb)

    Mazda was a trademarked name used by General Electric and others for incandescent light bulbs from 1909 through 1945; Mazda brand light bulbs were made for decades after 1945 outside the USA....
    , Nernst glower
    Nernst glower

    The Nernst glower is an obsolete device for providing a continuous source of infrared radiation for use in spectroscopy. Typically it was in the form of a cylindrical rod or tube composed of a mixture of certain oxides such as zirconium oxide , yttrium oxide and erbium oxide at a ratio of 90:7:3 by weight....
  • Novelty: Blacklight, Lava lamp
    Lava lamp

    A lava lamp is a Novelties used for decoration rather than illumination; the slow chaos theory rise and fall of randomly-shaped blobs of wax is suggestive of lava, hence the name....
  • Special purpose: Heat lamp
    Heat lamp

    A heat lamp is an incandescent light bulb that is used for the principal purpose of creating heat, the spectrum of black body radiation emitted by the lamp is shifted to produce more infrared light....
    , Nernst lamp
    Nernst lamp

    Nernst lamps were an early form of Electricity incandescent lamps. Nernst lamps did not use a glowing tungsten filament. Instead, they used a ceramic rod that was heated to incandescence....
    , HQI
  • Halogen
    Incandescent light bulb

    The incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe is a source of electric light that works by incandescence, ....
     - special class of incandescent lamps
  • Gas discharge lamp and High-Intensity Discharge lamp
    High-intensity discharge lamp

    A High-intensity discharge lamp is a type of electric light which produces light by means of an electric arc between tungsten electrodes housed inside a translucent or transparent fused quartz or fused alumina arc tube....
     (HID)
Mercury-vapor lamp
Mercury-vapor lamp

A mercury-vapor lamp is a gas discharge lamp which uses Mercury in an excited state to produce light. The arc discharge is generally confined to a small fused quartz arc tube mounted within a larger borosilicate glass bulb....
, Ceramic discharge metal halide lamp
Ceramic discharge metal halide lamp

The Ceramic discharge metal halide lamp is a relatively new source of light that is a variation of the old mercury-vapour lamp. The discharge is contained in a ceramic tube....
, Metal-halide, Sodium vapor
Sodium vapor lamp

A sodium vapor lamp is a gas discharge lamp which uses sodium in an excited state to produce light. There are two varieties of such lamps: low pressure and high pressure....
 or "high pressure sodium", HMI
Hydrargyrum medium-arc iodide

Hydrargyrum medium-arc iodide, or HMI, is a Mercury -halide gas discharge medium arc-length lamp with a multi-line spectra emission. The name implies that hydrargyrum, an archaic term for Mercury , is held as a vapour mixed with other rare halides in a quartz-glass envelope with two tungsten-coated electrodes of medium arc separation...
  • Neon sign
    Neon sign

    Neon signs are luminous-tube signs that contain neon or other inert gases at a low pressure. Applying a high voltage makes the gas glow brightly....
    , Plasma lamp
    Plasma lamp

    Plasma lamps are novelty items which were most popular in the 1980s. The plasma lamp was invented by Nikola Tesla after his experimentation with high frequency electric current in an evacuated glass vacuum tube for the purpose of studying high voltage phenomena, but the modern versions were first designed by Bill Parker ....
  • Fluorescent
Linear fluorescent
Fluorescent lamp

A fluorescent lamp or fluorescent tube is a gas-discharge lamp that uses electricity to Excited state mercury vapor. The excited mercury atoms produce short-wave ultraviolet light that then causes a phosphor to fluorescence, producing Light....
, Compact Fluorescent Lamp
Compact fluorescent lamp

File:Energiesparlampe 01 retouched.jpgA compact fluorescent lamp , also known as a compact fluorescent light or energy saving light , is a type of fluorescent lamp....
 (CFL)
  • Cold cathode
    Cold cathode

    A cold cathode is an element used within some Nixie tubes, gas discharge lamps, gas filled tubes, and vacuum tubes. The term 'cold cathode' refers to the fact that the cathode is not independently heated....
  • Fiber optics
  • Induction lamp
  • Light-Emitting Diode
    Light-emitting diode

    A light-emitting diode , is an electronic light source. The LED was discovered in the early 20th century, and introduced as a practical electronic component in 1962....
     (LED) (Solid state lighting)
  • Nuclear: Self-powered lighting
    Self-powered lighting

    Self-powered lighting is a generic term describing devices that emit light continuously without an external power source. Self-powered lighting is most frequently used on wristwatches , gun sights, and certain emergency and tactical equipment....


Light fixture controls

  • Light switch
    Light switch

    A light switch is a switch, most commonly used to operate electric lights, permanently connected equipment, or electrical outlets.In modern homes most lights are operated using switches set in walls, usually 6-10 inches away from a door, to operate overhead ceiling lights....
  • Dimmer
    Dimmer

    File:Etcdimmer.JPG Dimmers are devices used to vary the brightness of a Light fixture. By decreasing or increasing the root mean square voltage and hence the arithmetic mean power to the lamp it is possible to vary the intensity of the light output....
  • Occupancy sensor
    Motion detector

    A motion detector is a device that contains a physical mechanism or electronic sensor that quantifies motion that can be either integrated with or connected to other devices that alert the user of the presence of a moving object within the field of view....
  • Timer
    Timer

    A timer is a specialized type of clock. A timer can be used to control the sequence of an event or process. Whereas a stopwatch counts upwards from zero for measuring elapsed time, a timer counts down from a specified time interval, like an hourglass....
  • Touch
    Touch-sensitive lamp

    A touch-sensitive lamp is one that is activated by human touch rather than a flip, pushbutton, or other mechanical switch. These lamps are popular as desk and nightstand Lamp s....


See also

  • Architectural lighting design
    Architectural lighting design

    Architectural lighting design is a field within architecture and architectural engineering that concerns itself primarily with the illumination of architecture, including academic/institutional, corporate, hospitality, monumental structures, residential, retail/entertainment and site/facade lighting projects....
  • Coefficient of utilization
    Coefficient of utilization

    A coefficient of utilization is a measure of the efficiency of a luminaire in transferring luminous energy to the working plane in a particular area....
  • History of street lighting in the United States
    History of street lighting in the United States

    The use of street lighting was first recorded in the Arab Empire from the 9th-10th centuries, especially in C?rdoba, Spain, and then in London from 1417 when Henry Barton, the mayor, ordered "lanterns with lights to be hanged out on the winter evenings between All Saints and Candlemasse." However it was introduced to the United States by fame...
  • Lighting designer
    Lighting designer

    File:Robert Edmond Jones.jpgThe role of the lighting designer within theatre is to work with the theatre director, set designer, costume designer, and sometimes the sound designer and choreographer to create an overall 'look' for the show in response to the text, while keeping in mind issues of visibility, safety and cost....
     for the theater
  • List of light sources
    List of light sources

    This is a list of sources of light, including both natural and artificial sources, and both processes and devices....
  • Luminous efficacy
    Luminous efficacy

    Luminous efficacy is a figure of merit for light sources. It is the ratio of luminous flux to power . As most commonly used, it is the ratio of luminous flux emitted from a light source to the electric power consumed by the source, and thus describes how well the source does at providing visible light from a given amount of electricity....
  • Timeline of lighting technology
    Timeline of lighting technology

    Timeline of lighting technology* Since the dawn of man, about 200,000 years ago, people use the sun as their main source of light.* 70,000 BCE A hollow rock or shell or other natural found objects was filled with moss or a similar material that was soaked in animal fat and then ignited...


External Links

  • Look at the Chart and Pick Out the Reflector You Need, Popular Science
    Popular science

    Popular science, sometimes called literature of science, is interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is broad-ranging, often written by scientists as well as journalists, and is presented in many formats, which can include books, televi...
     monthly, February 1919, page 75, Scanned by Google Books: http://books.google.com/books?id=7igDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA75 Category:Articles with citations to Popular Science archive Category:Articles with verifiable citations via Google Books