s HOME CHOICE WEEKLY Friday, August 1, 2008 luminating the Future of Kitchen Lighting: Energy Efficiency doesn't matter if you live with home a modern kitchen a that has all the fancy upgrades, or one that just has a single overhead light in the center of the room. If you're not using the latest generation of enerqy-efficiebulbs, it's time for a lighting upgrade. "Kitchen lighting has made great strides in the past couple of years, not just from a design standpoint but (ARA) - It uct category, whether you're looking in for something traditional, modern or with artsy. "We know consumers want to capitalize on the fact that compact fluorescent bulbs are approximately three to four times more efficient than incandescent bulbs, and LEDs can be up to 10 times more efficient, so we've dedicated a lot of resources to developing new fixtures that utilize the technology," says Scott Roos, nt regards to energy efficiency. So upgrades are definitely Holtkoetter International, Inc., a manufacturer of residential lighting fixtures based in St. Paul, Minn., plans to release several models of fixtures that use LEDs early next year. But energy saving products are nothing new for Holtkoetter. "We've been offering fixtures that take halo- gen IRC bulbs, capable of improving really enhance what you get out of a compact fluorescent," says company president George Chandler. No matter which of the new technologies you choose to go with, when shopping for energy-ef-- energy efficiency by 50 percent, for the last five yars," says company president Paul Eusterbrock. Infra Red product must meet specific perfor- mance criteria for performance set by the U.S. Depart ment of Energy. As for concerns people may have about the quality of light given off by compact fluorescents and LEDs, "in the past, color rendering may : have been a concern, but that is no longer a ficient fixtures, says it is important to look for the Energy Star label. In order to qualify for one, the Rey-Berre- energy-efficie- worth looking into," says Joe the education consultant for the American Lighting Association (ALA) and an associate professor at the University of Kentucky's School of Interior Design. He travels the country tracking trends and one he's noticed lately is the focus on energy conservation. - (0 f - : f problem," says "Consumers can rest assured the quality closely matches that of incandescents." Today's advancements are quite impressive, but what does the future hold? expects the lighting industry to work hard at getting more products on the shelves that use the most Rey-Berrea-u. " I -i c V jl : ,1 "Lighting manufac- turers are spending a considerable amount of time, and dedicating a Rey-Barrea-u lot of resources to developing fixtures capable of using more energy-ef-Jicielight sources than the standard incandesnt energy-efficie- .- cent," he says, "And it's no coincidence that this trend is growing iSOS .- While recessed cans provide the general lighting in this kitchen, these Progress pendants provide task lighting over the center island. in popularity at a time when energy costs are on the rise." As recently as two years ago, the only fixtures available for the kitchen that used the most energy-efficielight sources available today - fluorescents and Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) - were not aesthetically nt pleasing. In today's marketplace, however, decorative energy-efficiefixtures nt are available in every prod- - vice president of product design for Juno Lighting Group. "We'll be t introducing an LED fall in the unit thdfrequires just eight watts of energy to provide the same under-cabine- illumination as an ffO-wa- tt halogen light source. Our new LED down light will be 40 percent more energy efficient than a compact fluorescent and 75 times more energy efficient than an incandescent." bulbs are designed in such a way that the heat they gener- ate can be recycled and turned into (IRC) light. Hubbardton Forge, a lighting manufacturer out of Chandler, Vt., meantime has concentrated its efforts on developing decorative fixtures that take compact fluores cents. "We have offerings in every category for decorative, fixtures that nt technology developed to date - LEDs. "Right now LEDs are still kind Lighting of expensive, but once they become more ily available, cost will come down significantly," he says. For more information about kitchen lighting or to find a local American Lighting Association (ALA) showroom, contact ALA at www. americanlightingassoc.com or call (800) BRIGHT IDEAS. Courtesy ofARAcontent