| Fluorescent lighting has always
been an option with Derek Marshall Lighting, using the very
convenient and efficient screw-based compact fluorescent
bulbs available at most hardware stores. These bulbs, which
fit any standard screw based (incandescent) lighting
fixture, have the convenience of being able to change the
wattage should a brighter or dimmer bulb be desired in any
particular application. This entire area of lighting has
been going through some rapid changes lately.
There has arisen a need for "hard wired"
fluorescent lighting, particularly with regard to commercial
and hospitality applications, and also California's recent
Title 24, all of which require fluorescent fixtures to be
hard wired, that is, without the possibility of reverting to
an incandescent bulb.
Fluorescents have several
limitations which make them not quite the ideal light source
that some would have us believe. For one, they do not offer
a full spectrum of color, although they are getting better
all the time. For another, they do not radiate as evenly as
incandescents, making glass sconces appear unlit in some
areas. However, new shapes are alleviating this problem, to
some extent.
A new type of fluorescent system has
recently become available and has made switching some of
Derek Marshall designs over to a hard wired system
possible. Without getting too technical, these systems use a
twist-lock ballast which makes it very compact and makes
possible the easy switching of ballasts to either replace a
faulty ballast, or change the wattage to increase or
decrease the amount of light the fixture puts out. For all
practical purposes, a dimming fluorescent system does not
yet exist, at least in the normal sense. When such are
available, we will offer them.
We now offer the pendants in a hard wired fluorescent form in wattages
of 13, 18 and 26 watt sizes. These come with the bulb in
4100K (a white light) or 2700K (similar to incandescent
color), and 3500K, something between the other two. Of
course, the bulbs and the ballasts can be changed easily on
location to change both the power and color of the fixture.
As yet, we do not have UL listing with these hardwired
fluorescents, but all the components are UL listed and wired
in accordance to UL 1598. We will apply for UL listing with
these fluorescents shortly, when we are sure that the
evolution of these systems is somewhat stable as we move
into the future which holds, among other things, more
powerful LED lights. Please call for further details on
this rapidly changing lighting program (800-497-3891).Some of our fixtures
are also available in hard wired fluorescent. We continue to
develop more products that meet the hard wired requirement. |