Lighting Glossary

Acrylic

Sometimes referred to as resin or plastic. Acrylic is a type polymer, (a plastic) which can be used in many ways. In the lighting it is mainly used in it’s clear hard form to imitate glass or crystal. Advances in acrylic technology mean that acrylic can be a cost effective alternative to real crystal lighting.

Ballast

A type of Control Gear. Used to modulate electrical current to the required parameters of the lamp. Different lamps require specialized ballasts designed to maintain the specific voltage and current levels needed for varying fluorescent tube designs.

Bar Pendant

A Bar or Linear pendant is a pendant arranged in a straight line. This format has gained a lot of popularity in recent years. It works great over an open plan breakfast bar or island or over a long dining table.

Bayonet Cap (BC or B22)

This is a more traditional British bayonet fitting for lighting, due to trade between Europe (who only use Edison Screw type lamps), these are becoming less common. They can come with and without a push bar switch. We estimate that the majority of houses still have Bayonet (BC or B22) lighting battens installed. With this in mind Woodway Lighting normally provide an adapter to enable shades or easy fit lighting glass to fit both Bayonet and Edison Screw lighting battens.

Batten (Lighting Batten, Suspension)

A lighting batten or suspension is the most basic type of ceiling light fitting and consists of a ceiling plate, cable (flex) and lamp holder which can be E27 (ES), E14 (SES) and B22 (BC) although a BC batten or suspension is traditionally more common in UK lighting as new homes are being constructed E27 (ES) is gaining popularity as this is standard across Europe.

Bluetooth

This is a short-range wireless technology. Any of our products indicated as having Bluetooth capability are fitted with a Bluetooth speaker. Any smart device with Bluetooth capability can then connect to the speaker and play music through it. There is a Bluetooth guide provided that covers most problems that can occur when connecting.

Brass (Solid Brass)

Brass is an alloy and although expensive it can be worked to create a fine finish. It can be polished or aged and also takes electro plating much better than steel. Most of the high end and expensive lighting is made from solid brass.

Candle Light Bulb (Lamp)

A candle light bulb is as the name suggests in the shape of a candle flame, it can also have a twisted top known as ‘coupe de vent’, translated as gale. This Light bulb (Lamp) shape is generally found on E14 (SES) light bulb shapes.

Ceiling Plate or Ceiling Cup

This is a metal canopy which houses the electrical connections and hides the ceiling fixings on ceiling lights. There are a variety of ways of attaching the ceiling plates. Traditionally houses had a plaster ceiling rose which embellished the ceiling around the ceiling cup.

Ceramic

Ceramics cover a wide range of materials. But in lighting, generally we refer to earthenware or porcelain as ceramic. Normally we use ceramics as table lamp bases with many different types of glazes requiring specialised firing techniques. Most continents have ancient traditions of ceramic making and we dar lighting work with some very fine ceramics companies in Europe and the Far East who have passed down and improved methods over 1000s of years.

Chandelier

Chandeliers are pendant lights with multiple arms and sometimes tiers of arms, often draped in luxurious crystal. The most famous shape and style of a chandelier is the 'Marie Therese' and is the shape most people think of when they picture a chandelier. There are also more modern types of chandelier. If you want to create a sense of luxury a chandelier is the way to go.

Class or Classification

This denotes the electrical safety type of the luminaire and means the following:

• Class 1 (also known as earthed)

  The device has an earth wire that is connected to the household earth. Any unsafe electrical situation arising to the metal casing of the luminaire will then flow to the earth and cause the household consumer unit to trip out protecting the user from an electric shock.

• Class 2 (also known as double insulated)

  The device has all current carrying parts separated from the user by two layers of insulation at all times.

• Class 3 (also known as SELV – safety extra low voltage)

  The device operates on a voltage less than 50V A.C or 120V ripple free D.C, and the control gear (transformer/driver) can be separated from the device.

Cluster Pendant

Cluster pendants are a lighting type where multiple lamps are hung from cables often covered with glass, crystal or metal decoration. They make a great impact as staircase lighting or can be hung over a grand dining table to great effect.

Control Gear

A device that is fitted to the luminaire in order to control the power to a light source. These can be Transformers, Drivers, Remote Receivers, and Ballasts.

Crystal

Sometimes known as crystal glass. Traditionally crystal was made by adding lead and other additives when making glass. The Traditional lead crystal is still the most desirable with the percentage of lead determining the amount of refractivity (when light bends through a material) which creates the sparkle and shine which is necessary to create a statement chandelier. K9 Crystal is a more modern formula to make a very similar effect using 15% less lead and is made from Optical Borosilicate Crystal. It was original developed for scientific and practical applications such as lenses for telescopes and optical equipment but the same clarity and high refractive index make it a flawless alternative to the traditional lead crystal. Both K9 and Lead Crystal can be cut polished or faceted like jewels to create any number of different effect playing with the refractivity to give a sparkle where needed.

Dimmers

There are different types of dimmers available and depending on the luminaire you are using it for depends on the type of dimmer that is required for proper function.

Dimmable LED luminaires and LED lamps

We advise using the Varilight V-Pro dimmer to control our dimmable LED luminaires and LED lamps. This dimmer is intelligent (can detect the type of control gear and make adjustments to compensate) and can be programmed in different modes to adjust to most types of control gear.

• Note 1

  If a dimmer is used to control an LED lamp or luminaire that is not suitable for dimming then damage can occur to the dimmer, the lamp/luminaire or both.

• Note 2
  

  If a dimmer is being used to control a number of LED lamps, this needs to be checked with the dimmer manufacturer’s guidelines. Although the maximum loading may be within the specified limits, the dimmer may have a minimum and or maximum limit of how many LED lamps it is able to operate to function correctly.

Low Voltage Luminaires incorporating a transformer (G4, GY6.35 and MR16)

All of our low voltage luminaires that incorporate control gear are designed to function with trailing edge (sometimes referred to as phase lagging or reverse-phase control) dimmers.

• Note 1

  If leading edge (sometimes referred to as phase leading or forward-phase control) dimmers are used, this will cause audible buzzing from the dimmer and or the control gear incorporated into the luminaire.

• Note 2

  If the luminaire has 10 x 20w G4 lamps fitted, this equals 200W of power being consumed. The dimmer therefore needs to be rated to handle the 200W of load, we would always advise over specifying the dimmer load to handle 20% more than what it is loaded to.

Dual-Mount

Dual Mount lighting fittings come with a fully adjustable chain. But this can be removed and attached directly to the ceiling much like a semi-flush light fitting. This helps ensure that the light fitting can fit in homes with small ceilings.

Dimmable Traditional (Incandescent) Lighting

• Standard E27, E14, B22, G9, GU10 and R7S luminaires

  The light fitting itself is compatible with any type of dimmer, as there is no control gear that dictates the dimming requirement. Note: The selection of lamp type, LED, CFL or incandescent will have an effect on the type of dimmer required; the lamp type being used by the consumer must be suitable for dimming.

Double Insulated (Class 2)

This is another term for class 2 lighting where each connection and cable is covered by at least 2 layers of insulation to avoid any short circuits. This is useful in older properties where no earth cable maybe available in the house.

Driver

Used to control LED luminaires, the driver converts 240v AC (Alternating) into a DC (Direct) current, which is required to power LEDs. (LEDs cannot be powered directly by the mains voltage power supply without this driver). All dar light fittings incorporating LEDs include all the necessary drivers and require no additional purchases. The LED and what the LED requires to be ‘driven’ at determines the voltage and current output for the driver. Sometimes the driver is built into the LED module and conversion is done on board, in this case, there is not a separate driver.

E27, E14

Light bulb (lamp) cap types common throughout the UK and Europe. E27 (ES) has a 27mm screw cap and E14 SES has a smaller 14mm screw cap. Dar lighting sell a full range of both E27 and E14 lamps here

Earth and Earthed fittings

Also known as class 1. Used in the context of lighting and mains electrical systems; earthing is used to protect you from an electric shock. It does this by providing a path (a protective conductor) for a fault current to flow to earth. It also causes the protective device (either a circuit-breaker or fuse) to switch off the electric current to the circuit that has the fault. All fittings with a class I symbol are wired for earthed applications where each metal part is connected to the earth terminal. Another way to make a safe electrical product is by double insulating making it class II.

Easy-Fit Pendants (Non-Electrical Pendant)

An easy-fit pendant attaches to a pre-existing lighting batten or suspension to create a more substantial light fitting. Easy Fit pendants can be fitted in minutes and require no re-wiring or an electrician. They can be anything from a soft lamp shade to a small crystal type ‘chandelier’. Due to their ease of fiting, they are a cost effective solution and are very popular with people in rented accommodation or in hotels as they can be changed easily and quickly.

Efficacy or Efficiency

Efficacy is used in lighting to state how efficient a light source is at converting power to usable light, the higher the efficacy the more efficient the light source is at converting the power to light. This is why LED are so good as they convert a low power to a high lumen output.

Electro Plating

Electro plating is used to cover a metal with another metal. This is desirable to alter the appearance of the metal, often plating it with a higher value material. It is also useful to stop corrosion. Once plated the resulting surface can be polished, brushed or oxidised to make any number of effects. To make high quality yet good value lighting a lot of our lighting products are electro plated steel In a variety of finishes: Polished Chrome, Antique Brass, Satin Nickel.

ES SES (Edison Screw, Small Edison Screw)

ES and SES are light bulb (lamp) cap types common throughout the UK and Europe. ES (E27) has a 27mm screw cap and SES (E14) has a smaller E14 screw cap.

Flex

This is the technical term for electrical cable and can be in a variety of finishes and materials such as clear PVC or fabric coated and even braided fabric for a traditional look. We carefully match the flex we use to the style of the light fitting during the design phase.

Fluorescent Lamps

These are very efficient light sources too and are second only to LED. Fluorescent lamps come in all shapes and sizes, as with LED, some are dedicated and some are retrofit. A dedicated fluorescent lamp is a luminaire that incorporates a replaceable fluorescent lamp that requires a separate ballast to function. The lamp type dictates the ballast that is required and then these items are incorporated into a luminaire. A fluorescent luminaire can generate a high lumen output for a low overall power consumption but the efficacy is not as good as most LED luminaires. A retrofit fluorescent lamp (CFL Compact Flourescent Lamp) is a fluorescent lamp that can be installed as a direct replacement of an incandescent lamp thereby reducing energy consumption. The retrofit lamp is self-ballasted (requires no separate control gear) so can be fitted as a direct replacement to the old lamp.

Flush Ceiling Lights

Flush lights are as the name suggest go flush with the ceiling sometimes called bulkhead lights. They work great in rooms with lower ceilings, if you live in a newer house in the UK this will most likely apply to you.

Glass

Glass manufacturers uses different mixes for different levels of refraction and clarity. For cut glass decorations, you want the glass to sparkle, so other additives are used in the mix to make it optically clear and give it a higher refractive index (such as lead in lead crystal glasses). Other types of glass will just be a standard mix ensuring a clear colourless cover for the lamp. Glass can be cut, etched, frosted, coloured etc. whilst remaining translucent (allowing light to pass through). A combination of these methods can also be used to give a more appealing, decorative look.

• Art Glass

  The most expensive type of glass often mouth blown using a variety of ancient techniques many developed in Murano, Italy. Different colours of glass are combined at very high temperatures, an artist then works the glass whilst still hot applying different moulds or chemicals or even how they spin glass effects the patterning on them. Although very beautiful the results are unique and never the same. For this reason with art glass you should expect some differences in each glass such as different shades of colour or varying patterns and small bubbles are the norm and sometimes intentional for this type of hand made glass.

• Coloured Glass

  Coloured glass can be made in two ways. Additives can be added to the mix to create a coloured glass, or clear glass can be taken and a paint applied to the glass.

• Mirror Effect Glass

  Mirror glass is made either by applying a coating to the glass using chemicals, a film or by electroplating the glass to give a reflective coloured metal finish.

• Tempered Glass

  Tempered glass (sometimes referred to as toughened glass) is a type of safety glass that when broken fractures into many hundreds of tiny fragments that are less likely to cause serious injury. Only flat glass sheets can be tempered due to the process for tempering glass. The glass sheet is heated to near melting point and then cooled quickly. If curved glass were heated to this level, it would slump and lose its shape.

GLS Light Bulb (Lamp)

This is a light bulb shape you will be most familiar with and stands for General Lighting Service. It is mainly found in ES (E27) and BC light bulb caps. Available in opal and clear glass capsules.

Golf Ball Light Bulb (Lamp)

This is a light bulb shape as the name suggests resembling a golf ball in size and shape. It is mainly found in SES (E14) or BC light bulb caps but can be found in ES (E27).

Halogen

Halogen is used to describe a group of lamp caps (GU10, G9 G4) which traditionally had a tungsten filament lamp encased in a glass envelope containing halogen gas. These could burn brighter and longer than the traditional by using an effect called the halogen cycle. Although these are marginally more efficient than original filament lamp new LED technology means that most of these lamps can be replaced by LEDs providing a more efficient and longer lasting light source.

Incandescent lamps (Filament Light Bulbs)

These lamps use a filament. The filament heats up as it conducts electricity and this heat causes the filament to glow generating light. Due to the heat generated by the filament resistor, a lot of the power consumed is wasted because you are using power to generate heat rather than the power consumed being used efficiently to generate light. These are now being replaced by much more efficient LED lamps. These normally have the traditional lamp caps of E14 (SES), E27 (ES), B22 (BC).

IP Ratings (Ingress Protection) IP44, IP65

IP stands for Ingress protection and is used to inform the customer on suitability for areas where there is the possibility that water may come into contact with the fitting (bathrooms and outdoor). An IP rating is stated as a two digit number, the first digit dictates how protected the fitting is against solid objects whilst the second digit dictates how protected the fitting is against liquids. All of our outdoor lighting and bathroom lighting are IP43 or greater for example IP44, IP65.

• Bathroom Zones

  You need to decide where each light will be fitted wuthin your bathroom. This positioning will determine which bathroom lighting zone that your light is placed within. Outside of all zones, any rated light fitting can be used. Note: All lighting fitted in a bathroom or shower room must be supplied via a 30mA RCD in accordance with IEE regulations. Please refer to the diagrams below as a guide to where IP rated lights can be used in the bathroom.

• Zone 0Zone 1Zone 2

  

  Within the bath or shower tray. All lights fitted within this area must be IP68 rated and low voltage.

  

  Above the bath or shower to a height of 2.25m. All lights fitted within this area must be a minimum of IP44 rated. IP44 is suitable where there is no shower head above the bath. IP65 is required if there is a shower head or demountable hand shower fitting in use.

  

  0.6m outside of zone 1 and a 60cm radius above washstands. All lights fitted within this area should be a minimum of IP44 unless there is a danger of direct jet spray. In this case, an IP rating of IP65 is required.

Lamp Shade (Light Shade)

Lamp shades are used to deflect the glare of the light bulb. Lamp shades are often made of fabric such as silk, cotton or a poly cotton mix. They are used often used on table lamps but are also found on pendants and wall lights as small Candle shades’ A lot of our table lamps come with carefully selected shades but we also sell individually lamp shades to suit most lights.

Lantern

This is a pendant type light fitting which is generally a small armed fitting in a glass or metal frame. They are traditionally hung in hall ways or large porches especially in the Georgian and Victorian period. They also look great in a country kitchen.

Low Voltage Lighting

Low voltage lighting is any lighting which is driven with a DC voltage much less then mains voltage. Typically these run at 6v, 12v or 24v. This type of lighting has control gear inside to convert the mains voltage to this lower voltage. Traditionally these would have included G4 and MR16 halogen lighting. But now most low voltage lighting is very efficient LED lighting.

Light Bulbs (Lamps)

In the lighting industry light bulbs are traditionally called lamps, they are available in a variety of different technologies, LED Lamps, Incandescent Lamps, CFL Lamps.

Lumens (lm)

The amount of visible light a lamp or luminaire emits. For decades, lamps have been selected by wattage (which is actually a measurement of power) however as more energy efficient, low-watt lamps like CFLs and LEDs have become readily available, watts have become an unreliable metric for selecting lamps. Manufacturers are now indicating the brightness of their energy efficient bulbs according to lumens, as this is a true measure of light output. Because lumens measure brightness and watts measure energy output, there is no simple method for converting watts to lumens. However we generally know how many lumens an incandescent lamp emits we can put a comparison together. Below is a table demonstrating the lumen output of the old incandescent wattages through to the newer more energy efficient lamp technologies. As you can see the power consumption significantly decreases to get the same amount of light output.

Outdoor Lighting (Garden Lighting)

As you may expect outdoor lighting is lighting which is fitted on the outside of the building or in your garden. Outdoor lighting should be rated to at least IP43 but we recommend IP44 and IP65 where possible. All of our outdoor lighting is also salt spray tested which is a test to ensure the finish can withstand the elements of the outdoor world.

Pendant Lighting

Pendant lighting hangs from the ceiling normally from a chain or in some cases directly from the cable. They are often height adjustable. Pendant lighting can have arms (a multi-armed fitting) or simply be a metal or fabric shade or sphere.

Portable Lamps

A technical term for table and floor lamps. This term is used in the lighting industry to describe lamps (luminaires) which can be unplugged and moved from one room to another.

Semi Flush Lighting

This is a lighting group suitable for low ceilings but more decorative than a flush light. In general they are below 38cm in height and so fit the most common ceiling height in the UK. Semi flush lighting is one of our most popular lighting categories.

Task Light

Task lighting is focused and adjustable lighting which is often used on a desk or when ready or doing any craft work. Industrial ‘anglepoise’ style lamps are popular in this category as well as modern LED tasks light.

Touch Lamps

Touch lamps as you’d expect operate when you touch them. A lot of people like this functionality, it is fun but also very practical, you don’t have to reach for the switch and is easy to use for people with reduced motor functions. Great for the elderly or first thing in the morning when fumbling for the light switch. There are two types of touch lamps that we supply:

• Touch On/Off This is a luminaire that turns on or off when touched
  Touch 1 = On
  Touch 2 = Off
• 3 Stage Touch This is a lamp that changes light output as it is touched (effectively a touch sensitive dimmer). It has 3 stages of illumination:
  Touch 1 = On at 33% intensity
  Touch 2 = 66% intensity
  Touch 3 = 100% intensity
  Touch 4 = Off

Wall Washer

A type of wall light which specifically directs the light back onto the wall, creating a soft inviting light. They can be used on smooth walls or on a rough stone wall to accentuate the texture.