M
ore than just a high-tech novelty, fiber optic lighting offers creative solutions to some of your trickiest lighting problems. Also known as remote source lighting, this is possibly one of the safest technologies you can use in your home. It is energy efficient, projects no heat or UV radiation with the light and provides an aesthetic appeal that often can't be achieved through any other means.
Fiber optic lighting contains three components: the light source, or illuminator, a coupler that connects a bundle of fiber optic cables to the light source, and lighting devices at the terminating end of the fiber. The illuminator contains either a metal halide or halogen light bulb, a cooling fan, and if desired a color wheel that can be set to project a specific color or continuously rotate for changing colors. The coupler that anchors the fibers into the illuminator has a fixed diameter allowing for only so many fibers to be attached to the illuminator.
It's a dazzling effect -- imagine having a star-strewn path or floor under your feet. Add a color wheel and the lights in your sidewalk can glow almost any shade in the spectrum.
With the light source tucked away in a closet, attic space or storage shed, the fiber cables carry no electricity and deliver no heat. This makes fiber optic lighting an attractive lighting solution in wet areas. As David Atiles, owner of Mirage Lighting, a company that specializes in landscape lighting explains, "Fiber optics works especially well for lighting around swimming pools, spas and waterfalls, becausence no electricity is brought near the water." The light fibers are available in two styles, end-emitting that produce a point of light at the fiber end, and side-emitting that provide illumination along the entire length of the cable. Side-emitting fibers used along the perimeter of a pool create a heavenly band of light that seems to magically float above the surface of the water. End-emitting fibers are often used to create points of light within waterfalls or even walkways and patios by installing the fiber directly into the concrete.
Indoors, fiber optic lighting is often used in kitchens where additional heat from lights is undesirable, around wet bars, in stair rails or under stair treads, in chandeliers, and to illuminate artwork that is sensitive to heat and UV radiation. Besides reducing visual clutter in a room, the small size of the fiber optic light fixtures makes them the perfect solution in areas where standard recessed light fixtures are too large to fit into a limited ceiling space. Having to change only one light bulb that affects multiple fixtures is especially helpful above stairways located in areas with high ceilings. Instead of the dangerous prospect of balancing a ladder on your stairway, you can safely access the illuminator located in a closet or attic space.
Lighting levels offered by fiber optic lighting are typically too low for task or reading applications, but the light is perfect for general illumination and specialty lighting situations. One intriguing use of fiber optic lighting in homes is the 'star ceiling'. Bernard Wolf of Lighting Unlimited, a company that offers lighting products and design services explained, "The majority of our residential fiber optic lighting projects revolve around star ceilings." Using end-emitting fibers that terminate in a 'star', ceilings can be designed to replicate a summer or winter night sky, or even the star pattern on the day you were born. Star ceilings, once only found in commercial applications are now popular in home theatres, media rooms and master bedrooms.
A magnificent example of a star ceiling can be seen in the Hobby Center for performing arts. Richard Laster, production manager for the theatre explained that the ceiling incorporates 2,000 fiber stars, lit by six illuminators. This particular star pattern was designed to imitate the summer evening sky over Houston, with the occasional computer generated 'shooting star' flashing across for a little excitement.
Bottom Line
A variety of fixtures are available for interior and exterior applications, many with optional lenses and filters to focus or vary the intensity of the light output.
Fiber optic lighting can provide the homeowner with unique illumination solutions, but the technology is more expensive than standard lighting. For example, installing standard lighting, excluding labor but including with wiring and a controller, would cost roughly $185.00, compared to around $450 for fiber optic lighting, says Wolf.
Fiber optic lighting is most effective in careful combination with standard lighting systems, and usually requires the experience of a lighting designer for aesthetically pleasing and cost-effective solutions; one reason you won't find this technology in your local home improvement center. With proper design, fiber optic lighting will add drama and excitement to your home, no matter what your budget.