TLS100-UNV Smart TransformerIn this final video of our series on the smartest led low voltage landscape lighting transformer, we discuss using a Wall Switch to control turning low voltage outdoor landscape lighting on or off by a simply flip of a switch. It's flipping simple!
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TLS100-UNV Smart TransformerIt's the smartest because it meets the needs of so many of our customers. It's the smartest because it will work with any home automation system, It's the smartest because it's easy to use. It's the smartest because it tell's you if it's working. It's the smartest because it's simple and easy to use. It's the smartest because . . . well we could go on. Watch the video and see for yourself :)
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Tags: Landscape Lighting Transformer, LED low voltage lighting, Simple Transformer, Smart Transformer
Who is ready to remodel that kitchen? Maybe you need extra light to meal prep, or you want to host a fabulous dinner party now that we can have people over. Under-cabinet lighting is an excellent option for that touch of class in your kitchen. Sadly, not all under cabinet fixtures are the same and choosing the right one can be daunting. Join us as we discuss some of the key features to look for when selecting an under cabinet fixture.
Overall Construction:
Even though this fixture is hidden under your cabinet, the quality of the fixture is important. No one wants to buy a fixture only to replace it years later due to poor craftsmanship. Our under cabinet fixture comes in two colors: white or bronze. It is well made and intended to last well into your next bout of creativity. Not only is the fixture made to last, but it is simple and elegant.
Compatible Lengths:
Cabinets come in varying lengths to accommodate our creativity as well as functionality in our kitchen. No one wants to locate the perfect fixture just to find out that it only comes in two lengths. Fortunately, our undercabinet fixture comes in 9”, 12”, 18”, 24”, 34”, 42”, and 46-inch lengths. Now that the lengths are covered, what about color temperature?
Color Temperature:
Not sure what color temperature is? Learn more here.
Color temp is a personal choice. Whether you like a cooler or warmer-looking kitchen, we got you covered. With our fixture, you can switch between 3000K (warmest), 3500K, and 4000K (coolest). Now you don’t have to buy a new fixture or swap out a light bulb just to change the color temp.
The nitty-gritty:
This information may be more interesting to your electrician, but the details are important when selecting a fixture. Our 1⅛” by 3 ½” LED fixture has an excellent color rendering of 90CRI along with an average life of 50,000 hours. It can be dimmed from 10% to 100%.
Like most LEDs, this fixture uses 75% less energy than the standard under cabinet lighting. With the following approvals: Energy Star, JA8, Title 24, and ETL, this eco-friendly fixture does not require an external transformer. See our kitchen blog for how to properly light a kitchen. Plus it is easy to install by any qualified electrician.
Hopefully, you learned a little more about under cabinet lighting, and are excited to try it out. Thanks for dropping by our website. We are a small family business and hope that no matter where you shop you consider buying from a small business. We are Total Lighting Supply and we know lighting. We have been doing it for 30 years plus :)
See our video that we make specifically for this LED Under Cabinet CCT Selector Light.
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Tags: LED under cabinet lighitng, Energy Saving, kitchen lighting, DIY Projects, Budget Friendly, CCT Selector
As more and more states are lifting capacity restrictions, we are seeing an uptick in track lighting projects. Whether these businesses are remodeling or starting new, we know businesses have limited resources and time to get things up and running. For some time now, 8’ track has been the go-to length for many commercial track lighting projects. But what if there was a way to be under budget on your next project? We have 4 reasons why you should consider using 6’, 4’, or even 2’ power track lengths in your next project.
1 - Using shorter lengths of track on your project is usually less expensive than using 8’ track
2 - 6’ track suffers less damage when shipping and has a smaller minimum order requirement than 8’ track.
3 - By using our 2’, 4’, and 6’ power track lengths, you can build almost any configuration
4 - 6’ track uses the same number of hanging points if you are using our suspension system.
If you could save over $200 dollars on your project, would you? Of course! Let’s say you are installing a 48-foot track system. As per the graphic, eight pieces of 6’ track will cost approximately $300; whereas, six pieces of 8’ foot track will cost over $500.
Since both systems come in a single box, why is the 8' track system more expensive? The simple answer: shipping. Because no one wants to ship a 101-inch long box, shipping carriers charge fees to discourage it. If you want more information on the intricacies of shipping, check out our “The True Costs of Free Shipping” video.
Have you ever tried shipping a 101 inch tube weighing about 3 pounds? Well, it is not pretty. Due to the hardware needed to install the track, the 8’ track comes in a 101 inch long tube. A single piece of track doesn’t do well on the conveyor belt or transport trucks. For this reason we have a minimum quantity requirement. We found that six or more pieces of 8’ track transport better than one to five.
However, even with our special care to packing, the track can arrive damaged. Imagine getting a box like this the day before installation. Nothing is more frustrating and costly than damaged materials.
Most 8’ foot track lighting projects can be configured using 6’, 4’, and even 2’ track sections. Why is this important? Besides the hundreds of dollars of savings from shipping and damages, shorter lengths are easier to install. Trying to manage an 8’ long wobbly track can get quite tiresome, believe me. What if you want to suspend your track? Well, we got you covered there too. 6’ track uses the same number of hanging points when using our track lighting suspension system. An easier and faster install can make all the difference when staying on budget.
Here at Total Lighting Supply, we have over 30 years of experience designing all types of commercial projects, galleries, restaurants, and retail spaces. All of our track parts work together, are affordable, and all of them are H style. We know track lighting and track suspension.
Thank you for dropping by our website. We are a small family business. No matter where you shop for your next track lighting project, we encourage you to consider buying from a small business. Have a blessed day!
7 Fast & Easy Steps to a complete track lighting system
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Tags: Track Suspension System, Free Shipping, Saving Money, Small Business, DIY Projects, Easy Instal, Saving Time, Shop Small
Two Shipping Myths Big Business Doesn’t Want You to Know
Who doesn’t like saving money? How many times have you left a website because they didn’t offer free shipping? As a small family-operated online retail company, we get hundreds of questions a day. However, the most popular questions we get are about shipping prices. Almost everyone wants free shipping. Today we are going to share the top two myths big business doesn’t want you to know.
Myth 1: Free Shipping Always Saves Me Money!
The other guy offers free shipping, why don’t you? We get this question every day, and every day we tell our customers the same thing. “Shipping isn’t Free.” In all our years of business, we haven't found a single carrier who is willing to ship our orders for free. In fact, every week, our shipping carrier sends us that pesky little invoice requesting payment for service.
So how does that other guy get away with calling it free shipping then? Here is what they don’t tell you. Let’s say you order a recessed trim for $21.41 with free shipping, and live in a state with 10% sales tax. The cost of the trim is $2.41 and the shipping cost is $19.00. However, you are getting free shipping so these two costs are combined into 1 line item. The 10% sales tax on the $21.41 trim is $2.14, making your total order $23.55. It is only $2.14.”I can’t get a cup of coffee for that much.” “I am getting free shipping, so I don’t mind giving away my money.”
What if the other guy decided to charge you shipping? Let’s find out. Back to our favorite $2.41 recessed trim. Because they charge you shipping, the $19.00 is a separate line item. This means the 10% sales tax is only being applied to the $2.41 trim, making the order total $21.62 instead of $23.55. You just saved $1.93!! Still not a cup of coffee, but savings is savings.
Now that we know sometimes free shipping isn’t always the best deal. I bet you are wondering “Why does it cost $19.00 to ship that $2.41 trim.” You are not alone. Let’s see why.
Myth 2: The Cost Of Shipping Depends On The Cost Of The Order.
How could something so inexpensive, cost so much to ship? This recessed lighting trim has to go into a box so it gets to you undamaged. No one wants to delay their DIY project due to a cracked or dented trim. To prevent this mishap, the warehouse puts bubble wrap, air cushions, or paper inside the box to prevent movement. Then they tape, and label the box. We want to focus on the shipping cost, not the handling costs, right? We use UPS to ship this trim; however, all the common carriers are about the same.
How are shipping costs determined? All the popular shipping carriers have a shipping calculator on their website. This calculator asks for the delivery location, the dimensions of the box ( Length, Width, and Height), and the weight of the box. With that information, they will tell you how long and how much it cost depending on when you want the package. We use ground service as it is the least expensive. In our $2.41 trim example, we enter the following information: Miami, Florida, 11” x 8” x 8”, and 1 pound. Why Miami? We have been shipping a lot of boxes there right now, but you can go to UPS.com to test this for your location.
If the box weighs 1 lb, why is the billable weight 5 lbs? All shipping carriers combine the weight and the size of the box to determine the actual cost to transport your package from us to you. The industry calls this “dimensional weight.” After plugging all this information in the shipping calculator, the cost to ship this trim ground from New Mexico to Miami, Florida is $19.00.
What if I put a $5,000 diamond ring into the same box, would it cost more? The delivery location is the same, the box dimensions are the same, and it weighs less than a pound. Using the handy shipping calculator, we find that it still costs $19.00 to ship UPS ground from New Mexico to Miami, Florida.
If shipping isn’t free, why do we offer free shipping? First, we know that is what people want. Many times that is the first thing consumers seek out when buying online Second, we need to stay competitive, and offering “free shipping” on some of our products helps us do that. We are a small family business and we have to try to compete. If you run a small business you know how hard this can be.
Why do we still charge shipping on some items, if people want free shipping? Well, we want to give our customers the opportunity to find the best deal for their project. Many times a customer can save money having shipping as a separate line item, especially when buying larger quantities or heavier items.
We know you have choices out there, and hopefully, after reading this you are a more informed consumer that will choose Total Lighting Supply for your next lighting project.
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Tags: Free Shipping, Big Business, Savvy Shopper, Getting a Deal, Saving Money, Dimensional Weight, Small Business, Shop Local, Family Operated Business, DIY Projects, Myths
Don't make the same mistake as one of our customers. He bought on price from a popular online retailer that sold him the wrong LED MR16 lamps for his low voltage track lights. Was it the retailers fault? Not necessarily but they offered little to no help. The customer simply was not educated on what to purchase. Had he purchased the light bulbs with his track lighting purchase his costly mistake could have been avoided. Please, if you are buying lighting products purchase them from a lighting company that knows the products and can answer your questions. It will save you money, time and grief!
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Tags: led, video, Track lighting
We just completed a new video guide at Total Bulk Lighting on converting your old fluorescent T8 lighting fixtures to modern energy saving LED T8 lighting. We show you the tools required, the LED T8 light bulb kit to buy that includes everything you need from non-shunted sockets to the LED T8 light bulb tube and the steps it takes to go from fluorescent T8 to LED T8 lighting. So sit back and discover how easy it is to go from your old fluorescent T8 lighting to modern energy saving LED T8 lighting with our video guide :)
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Tags: led, t8 fluorescent ballasts, video, fluorescent T8, LED T8, retrofit, conversion
You can make your next recessed lighting project less frustrating and more efficient with the recessed lighting kits that Total Recessed Lighting has put together. We find that a lot of people aren't sure about which trim goes with which fixture and bulb, so we've put together recessed lighting kits in hopes of eliminating the frustration and guesswork.
These recessed lighting kits include a lighting trim, a housing and a light bulb. The kits are available for 2", 3", 4", 5" and 6" recessed lighting fixtures.
recessed lighting kit
If you are ready to make your recessed lighting projects easier, be sure to check out the recessed lighting kits that we offer.
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Tags: recessed lighting kits, 2" recessed lighting kits, 3" recessed lighting kits, 4" recessed lighting kits, 5" recessed lighting kits, 6" recssed lighting kits, kits
Many of you are familiar with the "KISS" method? Keep it super simple (well, there is another version out there-the "keep it simple s-----", but we won't use that language here!) Sometimes simple is the best. One of our clients that does large trade shows in the fashion industry came to us with a dilemma. They had three days to light a huge color banner of one of their models for a trade show in Austin, Texas. The trade show facility vendor wanted to rent them $1800 in LED lighting for the three days they were there- which was way outside of their budget. They needed the banner to stand out and be seen, but the quoted rental fee definitely put it out of reach. The owner of the fashion company called and talked with our lead lighting designer, Mark Scott. Mark has been in the lighting industry for 30 years and has wonderful and creative solutions to just about any lighting dilemma. His simple solution got the banner to stand out with even, bright light all for under $300 total. The client also got to keep the lighting fixtures for their next upcoming show too. Sometimes a simple solution is the way to go. So, what was the simple solution? They used two 500watt wide flood Par64 fixtures with bulbs, and one PAR64 flood to highlight the banner on the top left so it would be slightly brighter there.
Easy solution, and boy did that banner stand out-it was easily seen from the other side of the convention center. No matter what your project is, from kitchens to landscape lighting, good lighting can make all the difference in the world. The staff at Total Lighting Supply are not about just selling part numbers on box, they are about getting you the light you need to make your project sparkle.
Looking up at the par lights above the trade show booth
Full view of the poster (well lit, we might add!)
We here at Total Lighting Supply are on a mission to demystify lighting aspects one bulb, one fixture at a time.
Want to be demystified even more? Go to our You Tube Channel and check out the informational videos that we've made for you.
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This posting is in response to a very long thread on the Garden Web Lighting forum (Disappointed With My LED Recessed Lighting)-the original post was from 2008. Our lighting designer and guru was fascinated by all the comments an remarks and varying levels of input from the community at large. He thought it was time he should weigh in and we'd thought we'd share his insights and knowledge with you. To see the original thread that this post was based on, please be sure to use the link through for Garden Web.
"I know this post has been around for a while-please forgive me in responding to such an old post, but the technology has changed so much since then that I thought I'd weigh in. The improvements made in LED recessed lighting has addressed so many of these issues that I find it no longer disappointing. In addition, I get questions related to kitchen lighting all the time and thought I might be able to provide some quick insight from a lighting designer's point of view.
First of all, it seems that many lighting designers shy away from kitchen lighting, although I'm not sure exactly why. I have done hundreds of lighting designs for kitchens and I always take the approach that kitchen needs to have at least two different levels of lighting along with under-cabinet lighting. The quality of light is very important in any space-particularly the kitchen.
Kitchen light needs to be bright, white and even. In most cases, halogen lighting will not work. Halogen is a specular light source and tends to create harsh shadows. Not to mention the heat that it produces in addition to the heat that you get from the stove and the oven.This is something that an electrician or a contractor is not likely to take into consideration.
Fluorescent light can work well if done right, but you have to select your housing, trim and the color temperature of the lamp very carefully. As for the color temperature, we like to use lights that are 30K (or even higher) in color. The light output at this color temperature is closer to daylight.
LED fixtures now offer many choices of color temperature but most of my clients seem to like the 30K range the best. After years and years of looking at various samples we finally have found a LED module that seems to meet everyones needs. First and foremost, it fits just about every recessed housing out there. It actually fits both 5" and 6" line voltage recessed
housings. And even though I do not believe in dimming a kitchen light, the LED module can be dimmed with a number of common dimmers. Just know that a dimming system will add another level of complications to your lighting system.
I prefer splitting the kitchen lighting into at least two parts of lighting levels (and on two different on/off switches), if you will. One level is a 'support level'-providing light for ambiance and resembling having dimmed lights and the second level (along with the first) is the full on work mode that is needed for food preparation, cleanup, etc.
In addition, LED fixtures are at such a low wattage and are very energy efficient that they can be left on all day. In fact, the circuit in the LED lamps like to be left on and over time, can loose their efficiency by being turned on and off all the time. Turning LED lamps on and off frequently throughout the day will actually shorten the life of the LED driver in the fixture. Another great addition to your kitchen lighting design is under cabinet lighting. Adding a quality LED under cabinet lighting fixture as a third lighting level option can also help to create an even distribution of light in your kitchen. From a design standpoint and from a user standpoint, offering at least two to three levels of lighting will make all the difference in the world and eliminate the 'need' for having to dim your lights."
Note: ALWAYS USE A LICENSED ELECTRICIAN (not your buddy) AND TO ALWAYS CHECK THAT YOUR PROJECT IS IN COMPLIANCE WITH LOCAL BUILDING CODES. WE WELCOME BLOG TOPIC SUGGESTIONS: SEND US YOUR 'Q'S' AND WELL GIVE YOU AN 'A'. AND, WE WELCOME YOUR COMMENTS AND WOULD LOVE TO SHARE YOUR 'BEFORE' AND 'AFTER' PICTURES (send them to us!).
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Tags: led, going green with led recessed lighting, efficent led recessed lighting
