david k warfel
Finding the perfect downlight feels as easy as finding the end of the rainbow. History and literature are full of great tales of adventurers seeking the unattainable. There is the quest for the Holy Grail (“We’ve already got one.”), the search for the fountain of life (find it or die trying), and the hunt for... Continue Reading →
A year ago, when I was planning my 2022 blog writing, I imagined a series on gear where I could talk shop about different fixtures and technologies. I saw myself geeking out on light bulbs, recessed adjustable downlights, tape light, step lights, and any other piece of equipment we use in our work every day.... Continue Reading →
A few years ago I spent a rather silly amount of time buying and testing light bulbs from local retailers in the hopes of finding something I liked. I failed. I tried again in 2020 and found a few I liked and our team built a buying guide around them. Now that buying guide is... Continue Reading →
"What is the lighting budget for our new home?" "We have 68 recessed cans at $150 each." The Lord of the Rings books and films are staples in our household. The kids share LOTR memes, we have the extended-way-too-long movies, and there are copies of all the books strewn about the house. The beloved stories... Continue Reading →
"We don't want any recessed cans in our home." Architects, interior designers, and homeowners occasionally tell us they do not like recessed can lights in their projects and homes. My habit is to get defensive, to fight back, to draw upon decades of lighting design experience to tell them why they do want recessed cans... Continue Reading →
My Gear Talk series is an excuse to geek out a bit while attempting to simplify some of the complex conversations we have about lighting. It is less about the theory, science, and application and more about the tools. And one of those tools has almost nothing to do with the photons themselves: voltage. We... Continue Reading →
Just about two and a half years ago I saw my first sample of COB tape light and I bet my jaw literally dropped. Tape light- a generic name for flexible linear LED strips- is a key tool in our quest for good lighting. We use it just about everywhere, and that makes us a... Continue Reading →
There is a popular story that ties the Space Shuttle technology to the width of Roman horse's backside, and it just occurred to me that there is may be a parallel in lighting. The first story goes something like this: the booster rockets on the Space Shuttle were a certain diameter because they had to... Continue Reading →
What is the best color temperature for electric light? My answer is "all of them." In this Gear Talk post I share photographs from a single business trip to Dallas, Texas. Call it a Lightseeing post...and I saw warm-dim everywhere. I think warm-dim should be a minimum standard, not an add-on. To explain, I’m going... Continue Reading →
the language of light 