Wander through a Home Depot lighting department and very little looks much different than it did 10 years ago. But jump online to either www.trendir.com or www.archiexpo.com, and you’ve entered the very definition of futurism.

Both of these websites are authorities on influential design trends and new age products including an astounding number of light fixtures—569,432 products on Archiexpo.com alone under architectural-lighting.

In the years since the lightbulb replaced the candle, lighting design advanced, albeit slowly. Interestingly, precocious Midcentury Modern lighting designers introduced designs that are still in use and/or are imitated today. The five iconic designers included:

• 1935, George Cardwardine, the Original 1227 Task Lamp
• 1948, George Nelson, the Saucer Lamp
• Early 1950, Gino Sarfatti, the Sputnik Pendant Light
• 1958, Paul Henningsen of Louis Poulsen, the PH5 Pendant Light
• 1962 Achille Castiglioni of FLOS, the Arco Floor Lamp.

But a revolution is afoot in lighting design, and it’s all due to integrated LED lighting fixtures. 

This new type of lighting do not simply use LED lightbulbs, but are, in fact, LED fixtures in which the lighting functionality is integrated into the construction of the light fixture itself as a single unit.

LED-integrated fixtures are revolutionizing home and office new construction and remodeling projects so much so that LED-integrated fixtures are forecast to outpace LED-lightbulb ready fixtures by 2022.

When LED bulbs first came on the market, consumers found it hard to believe that bulbs could last 50,000+ hours. The savings is not only in fewer bulb replacements but in energy savings as well. ENERGY STAR® certified LEDs use 80% less energy than incandescent equivalents, saving more than $100 in energy costs over the lifetime of each LED bulb.

LEDs’ also produce less heat which introduces substantial opportunity for light fixture design. Traditional light fixtures had to be designed to accommodate the lightbulbs or tubes available. LED integrated fixtures can be as shallow as 1” deep. They can be molded free form. There is no limit to the creativity of design in the works today.

Take a look at examples of LED integrated lighting fixtures available from www.allmodern.com below. And then call Allstar Electrical for an appointment to ensure that your home or office wiring is as updated as your new choice in fixtures. Or email Allstar at gstone@allstarelectrical.com.