Lighting controls explored

Posted on 15th February 201321st September 2021 by Charles Barnett

Last updated on 21st September 2021

The most basic form of lighting controls consist of simple on/off switches built into lamps themselves. That’s fine for such things as table lamps and work lights and in its most advanced form gives us the ability to switch the lamp on or off just by touching the base. The most developed types even provide brightness control.

Then there are the familiar wall-mounted switches, usually placed just inside the doorway controlling lights fixed in various places in a room. Again these can incorporate dimmers to control the level of brightness. For landings and staircases the switches can be two-way so that the light can be switched off or on at the top or at the bottom. For some situations, communal staircases in apartment blocks for example, timer switches provide the simple solution to human forgetfulness. The Electronic Time Delay Switch is a perfect example. When the light is switched on it remains on for long enough for anyone to ascend or descend the stairs and then is automatically switched off. The timing is adjustable to suit the situation.

Activated by changing levels of light is the Flush Mount Photocell Sensor controller. This clever piece of kit is capable of controlling as many different lights as you wish and can be overridden by the normal manual wall switch when required. The level of light is variable by adjustment too.

Another lighting control suitable for controlling multiple lights according to natural light levels is the 250W Dusk To Dawn Photocell. Part of a range of dusk to dawn photo cell controllers, these can control outside security lighting as well as indoor lights.

The next level of sophistication in lighting controls works, not on light level but by detecting movement. If someone is moving about in the dark they must need a light, so the light obligingly switches on and stays on until a pre-determined time after all movement has ceased. This is all made possible by the Passive Infra Red detector, PIR for short.

PIR controllers come in many forms. Some such as the Timeguard 360° PIR Light Switch, can be used to control a number of separate lights from one location. The Light Switch with Movement Detector, is also used to replace the normal light switch and turns an ordinary lighting set-up into an automated system.

For a really unobtrusive PIR system of lighting controls there are small Flush Ceiling PIR Movement Switches. Several of these mounted at intervals of about 5 metres will ensure detection of movement everywhere in the room. These versatile units can be used with lamps of any kind and can even be used to control fans!

These controllers are ideal for use in rooms which are not occupied all the time, such as cloakrooms, so that lights are only on when actually needed. These lighting controls are not only a great convenience but over a year can save a great deal of expensive electricity.

The 360° PIR Light Controller is another one. Cunningly designed to detect movement over 360 degrees it doesn’t matter what the angle of approach, there is no blind spot. The length of time the light stays on when activated can be adjusted to suit the location making them ideal for corridors and staircases that are not in constant use.

Lighting controls then do rather more than take the effort out of flicking switches. They enable lights to come on when you enter a room with both hands full and similarly go out when you leave. Much better than trying to turn the lights off with your chin! They turn on lights when someone enters where they should not, alerting others to the incursion. Whilst performing these useful functions, lighting controls are also saving a fortune in electricity.

Looking for more news, information or inspiration? Try our Lighting Advice section.

Charles Barnett Managing Director

Charles started Lyco in 1995 with just 4 enthusiastic employees and has grown it considerably over the past 25 years. Charles is also the Managing Director of Lighting Direct and newly acquired Online Lighting. He now has a team of 50 lighting experts working on growing Lyco Group to be the UK leader in lighting for both businesses and homes. Away from the office he is a keen cyclist and is proud to have cycled 1017 miles from Lands End to John O’Groats to raise money for a new residential centre for adults with multiple learning difficulties.

Wattage comparison – Goodbye Watts – Hello Lumens

Posted on 30th November 201229th July 2021 by Charles Barnett

Last updated on 29th July 2021

Not so very long ago, when incandescent bulbs ruled the roost, choosing the right light bulb based on brightness was incredibly simple, as it was all done in watts. And what’s a watt? Well it’s a measure of energy transfer (named after James Watt, the pioneer of steam engines), but that was always irrelevant. For years, everyone knew that 60 watts meant standard room lighting, 40 watts was a bit dingy, 100 watts was nice and bright for kitchens and bathrooms, and anything brighter than that was best left for surgeons and interrogators.

Getting rid of confusion

Everything’s changed now though, with the decline of incandescent bulbs and the rise of energy-saving and LED bulbs. All of a sudden, the wattage has changed drastically while the brightness has stayed the same, leading to a good deal of confusion. When energy-saving bulbs were first introduced, manufacturers initially dealt with this by printing the wattage the bulb was equivalent to on the packaging, e.g. ‘11w – 60w equivalent’. You can find a table of the more common equivalents at the bottom of the page, which is a reasonably good guide to the likely brightness level of your bulbs (not all energy-saving bulbs give off quite the same light, but then neither did incandescents). However this isn’t the whole story.

While it’s easy to make a rough comparison between incandescent and energy-saving bulbs, lighting is not just about these two types of bulb any more. There are also now various different types of LED bulb, not to mention halogen bulbs, and assorted tubes, so it’s virtually impossible to find a measure of energy that can be applied to all bulbs and still mean anything to the layman. Which is where lumens (lm) come in.

What is a lumen?

A lumen is a measure of the light given off by any light source that can be perceived by the human eye (i.e. not including the invisible wavelengths). Lumens basically cuts out any measurement of how much energy it takes to produce a given amount of light, and just measures the light given off. This is like your car’s speedometer measuring how fast you’re going, rather than the amount of energy it takes to get you to that speed, and is a far more sensible way of defining light levels.

You’ll need to get used to Lumens too, as EU legislation now states that the lumen value of a particular bulb must be printed most prominently on packaging. It’s not hard to see watts and equivalent wattages going the way of pounds, ounces and the dodo in the fullness of time. So how do lumens work then?

Rough equivalents

As a rule of thumb, lumens are very roughly equivalent to the incandescent wattage times ten, plus a little bit, so that a 450lm light source is roughly equivalent to an old 40 watt bulb, while an 800lm light source is similar to a 60 watt bulb. Comparisons for the most common sizes are in the table below.

Get ahead

Due to the huge variety of possible light levels available from new generation energy-saving and LED bulbs, it’s a good idea to get into the habit of thinking in lumens. It’s also a very good idea to buy spares when fitting multiple light sources in the same space, as wattage is now no longer a guarantee that a bulb will be the same level of brightness. Plus because bulbs lasts so much longer now, if one of your bulbs looks wrong, you won’t be stuck with it for months, but maybe for years!

Energy-saving bulb	Incandescent Bulb	Average Lumens
4-7 Watts	25 Watts	300
9-11 Watts	40 Watts	450
13-16 Watts	60 Watts	800
18-20 Watts	75 Watts	1100
22-25 Watts	100 Watts	1500

Need a particular bulb? Try our light bulb finder!

Looking for more inspiration, advice or news? Try our Lighting Advice section.

Charles Barnett Managing Director

Energy Saving GLS – Traditional Bulb Replacement

Posted on 12th October 201229th July 2021 by Charles Barnett

Last updated on 29th July 2021

The traditional light bulb that has been such a familiar part of our lives for generations is soon to be no more, replaced by LED GLS Light Bulbs. Before long the incandescent lamp will be just another relic of the past. Already the sale or importation of pearl or frosted bulbs is prohibited throughout the EU although existing stocks can still be sold. Those stocks have already dwindled to the extent that it is now virtually impossible to source such bulbs.

Replacing old friends

It is all in the interest of reducing our carbon footprint by means of energy saving and the new bulbs that have taken the place of our old friends are all energy saving in one form or another. When energy saving GLS light bulbs first appeared in the shops many people were put off first by their appearance which was radically different to what we were all used to and then by apparently inferior performance in terms of light produced for a given wattage.

Things have moved on since then. Manufacturers soon realised that sticks and spirals were not to everyone’s taste so alongside these shapes which so proudly proclaim their up to the minute nature they produced energy saving GLS light bulbs that look quite similar to the more familiar incandescent bulbs. They fit in existing fittings so much better too and perform much more like the old bulbs. Now you don’t have to worry. When the last of your stock of traditional bulbs finally expires you will be able to replace it with a new energy saving lamp such as an LED GLS from Lyco that will not only use as much as 79% less electricity and save you money that way but will also last at least eight times longer than the old type and save you even more even though it costs more to buy in the first place.

What’s in a name

In case anyone is wondering, the term ‘GLS’ simply stands for ‘General Lighting Service’ and refers to the kind of bulb to be found in any household and ‘Energy Saving GLS’ is the same thing but in an energy saving form. The standard energy saving GLS light bulbs already mentioned work on the same principle as a fluorescent light tube which is why the earlier designs look rather like a small tube doubled over or a group of straight tubes.

You can have energy saving with brighter light by using Energy Saving Halogen GLS bulbs as a direct replacement for your old incandescent bulbs. These work by heating Halogen gas inside them just like your car headlamp bulbs. You get the energy saving of Halogen bulbs, about 30%, at a price much closer to that of the traditional bulbs and you still get twice the life of an incandescent lamp, at 2000 hours. You’re saving money again as well as helping the environment.

Switching problems overcome

Dusk to dawn sensors, time switches and dimmer switches have always been a problem for Energy Saving GLS Light Bulbs but Lyco have the answer in Philips Dimmable Master LED GLS. These bulbs are more expensive again but they come with a 3 year guarantee and give a colossal saving in energy consumption of 80%! LED Energy Saving GLS Light Bulbs work on an entirely different principle to any of the others. They contain a light emitting diode, an electronic device that produces a lot of light for a very small amount of electricity. It is the most efficient method yet discovered of converting electrical energy into light energy.

Do yourself a favour!

For long term savings it would be well worth while for any householder to replace all the old incandescent bulbs in the house with the appropriate Energy Saving GLS Light Bulbs rather than waiting for the old bulbs to go ‘pop’. If you want to do the planet a favour and save money at the same time it’s worth thinking about right now.

Take a look at our full range of LED GLS Bulbs.

Looking for more news, inspiration and advice? Try our Lighting Advice section.

Charles Barnett Managing Director

Do I go for sticks and spirals or covered shape bulbs

Posted on 24th September 201229th July 2021 by Charles Barnett

Last updated on 29th July 2021

Back when there were only incandescents, choosing a bulb was fairly simple – get the right fitting, shape and wattage and you were pretty much sorted, even if you did occasionally end up with a reflector bulb looking a bit odd in a lampshade.

However, since the advent of energy-saving bulbs, there seem to be any number of permutations, as manufacturers find ever new ways of bending fluorescent tubing into strange shapes. A lot of this is just slight variance between manufacturers though, as there are basically three main types of energy-saving bulb – sticks, spirals and ‘covered’ bulbs.

A stick bulb has a number of small, straight fluorescent tubes rising vertically from the base, and tends to be longer and narrower than a traditional bulb. A spiral bulb, meanwhile, has one continuous spiral tube that forms a round balloon shape like a traditional bulb (or a stylised ice cream cone!).

So is there any difference between these two types of bulb? To put it simply, not a huge amount. Spiral bulbs have more density of tubing, so they can give off somewhat more light than stick bulbs. Also, due to their more traditional outline, spirals can be better suited to traditional fittings where space is limited, or where you want to achieve a traditional ‘bulb’ look. Sticks, on the other hand, can make a real statement when used in modernist or minimalist light fittings, and are often better suited to long, narrow fittings, as they’ll provide light further along the length of the reflector or diffuser. In case you think these bulbs are only available as replacements for standard bulbs, however, you can also get them to suit golfball and candle fittings.

All of which brings us to covered bulbs, such as the GLS CFL bulb (GLS stands for ‘general lighting services’, i.e. the traditional bulb shape, while CFL stands for compact fluorescent lamp). This type of bulb looks much more like a traditional incandescent pearl bulb, with a single bulb shape rather than any visible tubes. As with spirals and sticks, these bulbs are also available in candle and golfball styles

A GLS CFL bulb works in exactly the same way as a stick or spiral, however, as underneath the translucent covering is a stick or spiral tube, just like one of those bulbs. Although it may look very tempting to get this type of bulb for tradition’s sake, there are a couple of reasons to choose a stick or spiral instead. Firstly, stick and spiral bulbs don’t have to squeeze into a cover, so have more length of tube, and hence give off more light. Nor do they have a diffusion layer, which again saps some of the brightness. GLS CFL bulbs tend to be somewhat pricier as well.

Basically, if your light fittings make the bulb visible, and you or the person you’re fitting them for is adamant about having traditional-looking bulbs, go for a covered bulb. Otherwise, for maximum light output at minimum cost, it’s worth choosing a spiral or stick.

Looking for more inspiration, news and advice? Try our Lighting Advice section.

Charles Barnett Managing Director

New Build Part 1 – (Living Room & Hallway Lights)

Posted on 17th September 201229th March 2022 by Charles Barnett

Last updated on 29th March 2022

There’s something special about the process of taking a set of plans and turning them into a finished house, but installing your choice in lighting is one of those pivotal moments when a house turns into a home. It’s important, then, to get it right, and in the first of a series of features on choosing light fittings for a new build home, we look at some key advice and top product suggestions for illuminating the living room and hallway.

Whether you’re designing a house from scratch, fitting an existing build according to a client’s brief, or looking to make a change to a new build before moving in, the impact of your choice in lighting is huge.

There’s the obvious functional benefit of light – there’s little worse than a poorly lit home after all – but there’s also the aesthetic value of lighting too. And there are few spaces in the home where getting that balance right matters more than in the living room and hallway. They’re typically the first two rooms you experience when entering a house, and both serve a vital function within the home too.

The living room, after all, is where the entire family will look to relax and spend time together, while the hallway is the main artery running through the home, linking bedrooms, bathrooms and living areas together.

So what should you think about when choosing living room and hallway lighting? Let’s take a look, and then check out a couple of great product suggestions that fit the bill.

Living Room Lighting

Because the living room serves such a multitude of uses these days, getting the lighting right can be easier said than done. A lot of the finer touches will come down to the placement of things like lamps or cabinet lighting, but there are also some fundamental considerations worth thinking about long before that point.

Size

Especially with a new build, it can be difficult keeping a sense of perspective between the size of your light fitting and the size of the room. It can be tempting to choose a striking ceiling light to make a bold style statement, for instance, but you don’t want to end up completely overpowering the room.

Balance

Does your choice and placement of light fitting create an even balance of light throughout the room? If possible, try to make sure you’re left with no problem areas with insufficient light, or areas that are too bright for that matter – neither is ideal in the living room.

Direction

If you’re planning to install wall lights, be aware of where the TV is most likely going to go. It’s important that the screen isn’t the only source of light in the room, but you certainly don’t want the two competing against each other.

Up or down

Traditional ceiling lights are the most popular and visually noticeable style of lighting for your living room, but if you want a more understated approach or want to draw attention to the ceiling itself, wall-mounted uplights are an elegant alternative.

Hallway Lighting

The hallway may not be a room in the strictest sense of the word, but don’t overlook it – there’s every chance the hall lights will spend more time switched on than any other light in the house. It’s an oddly shaped space, and unlike any other in the house it’s purely used to walk through, and so should be lit with both those points in mind.

Quantity and placement

The typical hallway is long and narrow, and is unlikely to have a natural light source of its own. This means you’re relying solely on artificial lighting to keep the hallway feeling light and open, but you also don’t have much space to work with. The solution is to install more than just one light – ideally about three to four metres apart.

Safety

The hallway is a busy place in any home, and there’s every chance it’ll be linked to a staircase too. This area needs to be well lit, and should have light switches at both the top and bottom.

Style

Discreetly placed track lighting is both effective and elegant – especially for long hallways – while matching wall and ceiling light fixtures from the same product range can be combined unobtrusively to provide sufficient light without getting in the way. Consider the height of the ceiling too. If you’re designing a new build from scratch, recessed wall lighting is a stylish way to get around that, but otherwise opt for a flush ceiling fitting suitable for hallways with low ceilings.

Recommended: Zaragoza pendant and wall light set

It’s easy to see why the Zaragoza range is so popular, not just in the hallway but elsewhere in the house too. The combination of classic styling, polished chrome finish and simple yet elegant cream, red or black ridged shades makes this an enduring favourite.

The 400mm Three-Light Pendant looks understated, but with three 60W bulb fittings it’s more than up to the task of lighting the dimmest of hallways, and can be partnered by the equally capable semi-circular Standard Wall Light.

The Three-Light Table Light continues in the same vein should you be looking to break up the visual impact of a longer hallway with a well-placed table, while you can add a touch of class to wider or irregularly shaped hallways or entrance halls with the simple yet stylish Standard Floor Light.

Conclusion

Choosing the interior lighting for any new build involves taking a good number of practical considerations into account, but make the right decisions from an informed perspective and there’s still plenty of room for expression and creativity.

This concludes part one of our focus on lighting a new build 2-bedroom home. In part 2 we focus on the bedrooms and bathrooms and in part 3 we concentrate on kitchen/diner lighting as well as other interior and exterior spaces.

If you’re looking for more inspiration, news and advice, please check out Lighting advice.

Charles Barnett Managing Director

LED GU10 – MR16 – good for what?

Posted on 24th August 201229th July 2021 by Charles Barnett

Last updated on 29th July 2021

The GU10 and MR16 have become a massively popular double act, a lighting type you’d be able to find on just about any street in the country. If you want stylish lights, you can’t discount the MR16. For the uninitiated, a MR16 is a multifaceted reflector bulb with a diameter of two inches, while the GU10 is a ceramic bi-pin twist-to-lock mount.

Useful lighting

What makes GU10-variant lights so useful is that they use mains voltage 240v rather than the 12v used by other types of MR16 lights. This makes them lower maintenance in a few respects than low voltage alternatives, especially when designing your lighting.

Most importantly, there’s no need for transformers, making certain fittings such as ceiling lights much easier to fit into rooms – transformers aren’t invisible, after all. The voltage drop in long lengths of cabling is also much less of an issue with GU10s than in 12 volt lights. Of course, there are benefits to lower-voltage MR16 lights too, such as increased safety, greater efficiency and brighter output. Each type has its benefits.

The GU10-MR16 combo has become a mainstay of homes and businesses, but the MR16 started out its life with an entirely different purpose in mind. It was originally designed for use with slide projectors, but now can be found in use in a wide array of domestic and commercial roles.

Directional

Thanks to the reflective glass inner of the MR16, it offers very clear directional light output, making it perfect within recessed ceiling light fixtures, pendants, track light fittings or even standalone desk lights. A key benefit of lights like the MR16 is that they’re small, letting them become “invisible” in-situ much more easily than a traditional incandescent bulb. This is what makes them so useful as ceiling lights, able to fit within much more discreet housings than most other types of lights. If you’re after style and lighting power, you can’t go wrong here.

The directional output also offers great control, letting you keep certain areas in the shadows if need be, although wider-throw options like the wide flood Sylvania Halogen bulb are also available. Wide-throw bulbs tend to offer a beam of up to 60 degrees, which although extremely precise are generally less powerful than the 10 degree models that are also available. The MR16 halogens offer superb overall control over the lighting of a room, or a specific object if moody spotlighting is what you’re after.

Issues

There are a few downsides to halogen-based MR16-GU10 team-ups, though. The pressurised bulb gets extremely hot in operation, which means it need to be placed carefully to avoid becoming a fire risk, and next to modern energy-saving bulbs they’re relatively power-hungry. Our most popular MR16 halogens are 50W, such as our own bestselling low-cost Halogen bulb, and 35W bulbs are also common. The lifespan of a bulb is generally between 3,000 and 5,000 hours too. It’s not bad by any means, but doesn’t match the stamina of LED.

But solved by…

All these little issues are solved by what’s been seen for a long time as a “holy grail” within the lighting biz – an LED-based retro-fit alternative. A bulb like the Sylvania LED GU10 is incredibly versatile and will fit into the same fixtures as a traditional Halogen MR16 model, using the GU10 base and being of a similar size. It’s a little more expensive than the traditional pressurised Halogen type, but for many the extra initial cost is more than worth it.

The Sylvania is rated at 350 lumens, equivalent to a 50W GU10 halogen bulb, but consumes just 5.5W of power. It runs much cooler, and will naturally cost less in electricity too, 87% less than the halogen equivalent. If that doesn’t get your energy bill dropping, nothing will.

Using an array of white LEDs, the Sylvania’s lifespan is incredible – rated for up to 25,000 hours of use, almost ten times the stamina of some halogen bulbs. You could leave these running all day in an office or bar for literally years.

There are very few disadvantages to these new kind of MR16 lights, as they can be dimmed just like more traditional bulbs and pack just as much lighting power. LED GU10s tend to offer quite as highly-directional options as halogens, though, as they do not use the same carefully cut reflective interior that helps to form tight beams in traditional MR16 bulbs.

Efficient lighting

Better for the environment, safer and better for your pocket in the long run, it’s no wonder that thousands of business owners were waiting for years for something like these energy-efficient MR16s to come along. However, whether halogen or LED sounds like your cup of tea, our wide range of bulbs offers the perfect lighting complement to any stylish interior.

Take a look at our full range of LED GU10 light bulbs

Looking for more news, inspiration and advice? Try our Lighting Advice section.

Charles Barnett Managing Director

Why Henry hoover is a vacuum star

Posted on 31st July 201221st September 2021 by Charles Barnett

Last updated on 21st September 2021

Vacuuming isn’t a task that brings a smile to most people’s faces, but one chirpy character has been keeping floors clean with a smile on his face for over 30 years.

Henry, Numatic’s smiley red dust-buster, is the vacuum world’s very own celebrity – instantly recognisable all over the world. Born in Britain in 1981, ‘Henry Hoover‘, as he is affectionately referred to most, is the industry’s very own David Beckham.

Technology has improved dramatically over the last 30 years, and a wave of new and exciting vacuums have hit the market, but Henry is here to stay. He’s even brought his family along to help with the cleaning.

Henry history

It all started in 1968, when Numatic’s founder and owner, Chris Duncan, set out to make a vacuum cleaner from oil drums, with attached carrier handles adapted from suitcases and wheels made from furniture castors. Henry’s smiley face was Duncan’s idea too; he wanted to create a friendly companion for late night and early morning cleaning staff.

In 1981 ‘Henry Hoover’ arrived, mainly cleaning the floors of schools and hospitals, where it was seen by a lot of people who fell in love with the little fella. The vacuum was originally designed for commercial use, but Henry now finds himself cleaning the carpets in homes all around the world too. Numatic make 4,500 products a day, many of which are Henry vacuums (and family members), of which 40% are shipped overseas.

Today, there’s an army of over 7 million Henry vacuums spread across the globe.

Henry the great

So why is Henry Hoover so popular? Well, Numatic’s owner, Chris Duncan, put it best when he said, “it’s simple, relatively cheap, and comes out of the robust tradition of commercial rather than domestic cleaners.”

Ultimately Henry is popular because he’s a great vacuum cleaner. He has a simple design, which is easy to carry, maneuver and store, and it has a powerful suction system that effectively removes the dirt from your floors. It was designed to deal with hard-to-clean commercial floors, and that extra power has been a real hit for homeowners as well as businesses.

The latest iteration of Henry features a full TwinFlo’, two-stage, 1200w professional motor, designed to provide more power but less noise. An AutoSave system helps to conserve energy while vacuuming, using 50% of Henry’s potential power, as well as being 20% less noisy and providing 30% better air quality. However, if you’re cleaning really dirty floors, a flick of a switch increases Henry’s suction power. And although he may look compact, Henry has quite an appetite – he can hold up to 9-litres of dust and dirt, so you won’t have to regularly change his dust bag.

A 10m cable gives you the flexibility needed to easily maneuver Henry around furniture and tight corners. The cord rewinds into Henry when he’s not in use too, making the happy vacuum easy to store away.

Meet the family

After years of doing all of the cleaning himself, Henry has brought his family along to help him out:

Hetty

Hetty (short for Henrietta) is Henry’s sister. Anything that Henry can do, Hetty can do too. The only difference is that she comes in a pretty pink colour, and has long eyelashes.

James

Look at James as the young brother of the family, an enthusiastic member who likes to whizz around and keep your floors clean. He features a new cable tidy system that makes it easy to keep him looking neat, and to store him away, after use. His EcoTwin long life motor keeps the noise levels low and saves energy on previous Henry models. It also shares the same AutoSave settings as Henry.

Charles

Charles is a real grafter, capable of cleaning for 300 hours without a break. What’s more, he’s not afraid of a bit of water, so you can use him to vacuum up spillages as well as dust and dirt. He has a 9-litre capacity for dry mess and 15 litres for wet use. Charles comes with a safety float valve, a commercial filter for dry use, and a 10-piece accessory kit with stainless steel suction tubes.

George

George is the multi-talented member of the family, capable of cleaning dry floors, wet floors, carpets, hard-floors and even unblocking the sink! George has a 3-stage filtration system that cleans to hospital standards, so he makes a great choice for commercial areas, which regularly need to be cleaned to a really high standard.

Henry Xtra

Henry Xtra is a beefed up version of the immensely popular Henry model. It features an Airo Power brush, which is even better at removing stubborn dirt and pet hairs from deep carpets. It’s a good choice for carpeted commercial buildings and pet owners, and also comes with a charcoal activated filter for removing unpleasant odours.

Harry

Harry (POA) is the pet lover of the Henry family, designed to remove stubborn pet hairs from floors and remove unpleasant pet odours. He shares the same specifications as Henry and Hetty, but has a couple of additional features. These include a dual purpose HairoBrush, designed to pick up hair on the floor and on upholstery and fabrics, and a MicroFresh charcoal filter for keeping the air fresh.

Why not take a look at our Numatic range or alternatively check out our full range of vacuum cleaners.

Looking for more news / inspiration? Take a look in our Lighting Advice section.

Charles Barnett Managing Director

Festoon Lights For Dazzling Outdoor Areas

Posted on 29th July 201029th July 2021 by Charles Barnett

Last updated on 29th July 2021

If you own a pub or restaurant or even a hotel with an outdoor space then you will appreciate the summertime is a fantastic opportunity for you to increase your turnover and profits.

The reason being is that with the onset of summer there is a new found enthusiasm from the local residents to spend time together socialising and to enjoy the warm evenings. There is no better place to do this than the local pub beer garden and so people will happily flock there after work or on a Saturday afternoon to enjoy a few drinks and perhaps a bite to eat.

So as you can see with an upturn in trade you will be able to take a greater profit throughout the hotter months which will keep you ticking over when it becomes quieter later in the year.

The outside space that you have will need to be in full working order before the end of the spring so as to ensure that as soon as the demand is there it can be used to its full potential. This doesn’t have to be an expensive change at all, it can simply be a case of a few cosmetic changes to the exterior area to ensure that when the customers do arrive they are comfortable and feel warm and welcomed into the pub environment.

Lighting is a key part of this and especially outdoor lighting, in this case you can choose from a variety of different lighting options to use throughout the different stages of the evening and night to help create a different atmosphere should your guest require it.

One of the popular lighting options available are the festoon lights, these lights help to create a bright and colourful display in your outside space. They can be used in the pub beer garden, restaurant terrace or even on a shop front.

The festoon lights are designed to be completely weatherproof which is vital in this country as you can have four seasons in one day. The fittings, which are usually bayonet, are also insulated and weather proof and all of the cabling included with the festoon lights is double insulated for the same reason. The festoon lights come with a long cable too so that you can place them up to three metres away from your mains power source, they also come as a set so you will have all of the cable, bulbs and clips that you need to get the festoon lights up and running in time for the party.

If you have a look online you will be able to see that festoon lights are widely available and also the bulbs come in a variety of colours, this gives you the freedom to choose which sets of colours that you think will work best in your place of business rather than having to go with the ones that are chosen for you. Remember to shop around and find the best deals online before committing to the final purchase.

For more inspiration, advice and ideas take a look at our Lighting Advice section.

Charles Barnett Managing Director

Lighting controls explored

Related Articles

Wattage comparison – Goodbye Watts – Hello Lumens

Getting rid of confusion

What is a lumen?

Rough equivalents

Get ahead

Related Articles

Energy Saving GLS – Traditional Bulb Replacement

Replacing old friends

What’s in a name

Switching problems overcome

Do yourself a favour!

Related Articles

Do I go for sticks and spirals or covered shape bulbs

Related Articles

New Build Part 1 – (Living Room & Hallway Lights)

Living Room Lighting

Size

Balance

Direction

Up or down

Hallway Lighting

Quantity and placement

Safety

Style

Recommended: Zaragoza pendant and wall light set

Conclusion

Related Articles

LED GU10 – MR16 – good for what?

Useful lighting

Directional

Issues

But solved by…

Efficient lighting

Related Articles

Why Henry hoover is a vacuum star

Henry history

Henry the great

Meet the family

Hetty

James

Charles

George

Henry Xtra

Harry

Related Articles

Festoon Lights For Dazzling Outdoor Areas

Related Articles