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It’s hard to overstate the versatility of LED lighting. There are fixtures that literally couldn’t have existed a decade or two ago without the advances in LED lighting technology. Not only have LEDs evolved to be able to replace nearly every kind of incandescent and fluorescent lamp known to man, they’ve created an entirely new way to approach lighting that was unthinkable in the recent past. In fact, just about the only kind of light LEDs may not be able to fully replace is the appliance bulb in a lava lamp: you’ll never produce enough heat to get that wax moving!

There are numerous ways to take advantage of everything LEDs have to offer. Of course there are the cost and efficiency benefits, but we don’t want to overlook the style benefits as well.

Faucets and showerheads

Americans love their kitchens and bathrooms. Just watch any home improvement show or program about people looking for their dream home and the two most important things anyone mentions are the kitchens and bathrooms. LEDs now come integrated into faucets and showeheads to give your water fixtures updated, futuristic looks. Wet rated bulbs, like SunLake’s PARs, recessed downlights, and vintage-style filament bulbs can be used in bathrooms and other places that are exposed to lots of moisture without causing a problem. LED rope and panel lights built right into the walls are another way to create amazing and unique designs and there are even designer sinks and tubs with LEDs already integrated into them. These are a great touch not only for home use but in restaurants, hotels, and more.

Accent lighting

Often used on stairwells, under cabinets, and kitchen islands, LED accent lighting is a cost-effective way to light your home or business. It can also be used in bookcases, on shelves, on top of cabinets, above slightly augmented crown molding, and anywhere else a little pop of light or color is desired. It’s effortless, too: using flexible LED strips or rope lights, which can fit almost anywhere.

Furniture

Whether as a DIY project or something bought off the shelf, LEDs embedded in dining tables, buffets, TV consoles, and other furniture are increasingly popular. Something as simple as running an LED rope light around the underside of a glass coffee table can bring new life to an otherwise tired piece of furniture.

Wallpapers

Similar to furniture, rigging LEDs into walls, especially in bathrooms, is nothing new. But advances in LED technology have led to the chips being so small, versatile, and dependable, that they’re being integrated into semi-permanent decor like wallpaper. While SunLake doesn’t offer LED wallpaper, we can provide you with nearly any other LED bulb you may need to accent artwork on your LED enabled wall, or otherwise illuminate your space.

Food prep areas

It’s not just their efficiency and longevity that are making LEDs a staple in commercial environments. The FDA requires shatter resistant bulbs in areas where food is being prepped in commercial spaces. Flimsy fluorescent tubes can shatter if accidentally hit with something showering everything below them not just with shards of glass, but with harmful levels of mercury as well. SunLake’s LED T8 tubes on the other hand contain no mercury and are made of plastic so, while they may crack should something hit them hard enough, they won’t shatter. For use in more than just commercial kitchens, these fluorescent replacement LED tubes should be used anywhere broken glass could pose an undue hazard including manufacturing, schools, and daycares.

Recessed lighting

Recessed lighting has become a staple in nearly every home and business. Unobtrusive and often with a wide beam angle, it can be used to effectively light nearly any space. Part of the problem with old, out of date can lights is that they use energy sucking, heat producing incandescent bulbs. Enough of these bulbs used at the same time can actually cause a noticeable increase in temperature in the room. But more than that, if not installed properly or if unrated cans are installed, they can cause fires from the heat they produce causing the insulation in the ceiling to combust. SunLake lighting offers LED versions of standard bulbs used in recessed lighting. Some of the most popular are our PAR30, PAR38, BR20, BR30, and BR40 bulbs. Another option for retrofitting existing cans to LEDs are SunLake’s recessed downlights which come in 4” baffle and smooth trim and 5 / 6” baffle and smooth trim varieties.

Trendy vintage lighting

It seems like every restaurant and new boutique these days is sporting the classic Edison filament bulb look. The filament versions of these are fairly energy hungry and running enough of them especially throughout a large space can pretty severely negatively impact your energy bill. Vintage-style LED bulbs don’t have this problem. The same energy-efficient technology that goes into a standard LED bulb is on display (quite literally) with the filament models. Rather than running a current through a filament to cause it to glow, led chips are arranged in such a way as to mimic the classic Edison look. SunLake Lighting carries a number of varieties of these vintage style bulbs including the B11 candelabra, the A19 standard, and the ST19 Eidson shape.

There are LED options for nearly every lighting application you can imagine. There may never be a bulb that replaces the one in the bottom of your lava lamp, but it may not be the worst thing if we wind up relegating incandescents to novelties. LEDs are here to stay and for good reason.