TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT
Practical Elegance
BY: SORIANA STERN AND LYNN HOPFFGARTEN
Modern luxury is renewable luxury. Imagine your kitchen or bathroom clad with crisp lighting, clear walls—a room that has features that can stay one step ahead of you.
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itchens and bathrooms are becoming areas that incorporate greener technology, and increasingly energy-efficient systems.
Tere are several ways to improve energy efficiency throughout the home, including installing automated systems, such as lighting controls, retrofiting spaces by replacing incandescent lighting with LED lighting, or even integrating systems into one component by, for example, combining a mirror with a built-in television.
Tis is the beauty of modern luxury—it is energy ef- ficient, and beter for our environment.
The Bulbs, They Are A-Changing According to current predictions, 2013 will be the year of LED lighting; 80 percent of new construc- tion will include installation of some form of LED lighting in rooms throughout the home including kitchens and bathrooms. Market predictions see an increase in LED installation from applications involving under cabinet lighting to even lighting ap- plications for the entire area.
12 create | A REMODELING RESOURCE FROM NARI METRO DC
What is LED Lighting? LED stands for light emiting diodes. More than three times as efficient as an incandescent bulb, one LED light bulb’s life span is equivalent to that of about 20- 25 incandescent bulbs. In addition, LED light bulbs emit very litle heat; whereas incandescent bulbs emit about 90 percent of their energy as heat.
Most LEDs last from 20,000 to 30,000 lifetime hours, and glow brightly at, typically, 10–15 wats per bulb. Incandescent light bulbs, on the other hand, last for 1000 to 2000 lifetime hours, at a range of 40–75 wats.
LED retrofits are easy to install and require less mainte- nance than other lighting systems. And, because most LED light bulbs only need to be replaced once every 20 years, the hazards and inconvenience of swapping out bulbs in hard-to-reach places is greatly reduced.
Hands-Free Lighting and Climate Control By the end of 2014, 90 percent of new kitchen ap- pliances are also likely to be equipped with some form of wireless network connectivity. Tis means
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