Newest light fixtures are works of art

LEDs are taking over the world. The color from light-emitting diodes is continually improving, the price is continually dropping and homeowners are paying attention to the energy that they can save using these unique LED fixtures, said Benson Littman, co-owner of Littman Bros. Lighting in Schaumburg.

The incredibly long-lasting, environmentally friendly LED technology allows lighting designers to create fixtures that are more like pieces of art that hang from the ceiling, he said.

Littman Bros. already has many fixtures that have been designed exclusively for LEDs.

“Fashion lighting designers can now build fixtures without worrying about fitting light bulbs in. Virtually no space is taken up by the LEDs; they last forever and use very little energy but offer the same brightness as a conventional bulb,” Littman said.

“The only drawback to LEDs is the price. The cost is coming down and there are even bargain LEDs out there on the market now, but the cost still discourages some people,” he said.

“You can now buy frosted flame-tip LED bulbs for $15 per bulb so you see people buying them for those hard-to-reach foyer fixtures. But few are yet buying them for the dining room fixture that isn't difficult to access,” Littman said. “But the price point is becoming less of a problem.”

The fact that LEDs burn for between 30,000 and 50,000 hours (that is 10 to 17 years, burning eight hours a day) without being changed is a huge benefit, especially in difficult-to-change places like rooftop lighting, recessed indoor lighting, two-story foyer chandeliers and under-the-cabinet applications, Littman said.

“LEDs aren't actually bulbs. They are computer chips that illuminate with the aid of a low-voltage transformer. In under-the-cabinet situations, the diodes are attached to electrified tape,” he said.

“But the future of lighting is definitely LED. They are replacing incandescent and fluorescent and everything that came before. It is only a matter of time before all types of bulbs are replicated in LED.

“Most of our fixtures can already accept LED, if the homeowner so chooses. They haven't replaced halogen bulbs, but that is eventually coming, too, because they give off a more natural light. Halogen also burns very hot and LEDs are cool to the touch.”

The new lighting also saves so much on energy costs. Most consume only one-tenth of the energy used by conventional lighting.

Littman Bros., located at 845 S. Roselle Road, Schaumburg, has been in business since 1979. It is owned by brothers Dan and Benson Littman.

“We were in our early 20s when we started the business, which originally sold ceiling fans exclusively,” Littman said. “At that time, everyone perceived ceiling fans as something to be used only in warm-weather locations.”

The Littmans were the first to recognize that fans could also be efficiently used to reclaim heat from the ceiling in colder climates. If a fan were run slowly enough, it could bring heat that had collected near the ceiling back down into the room.

“We opened our first fan store in Chicago and all of the fans we sold back then were pretty utilitarian. They were not a design item then,” Littman said.

Within seven or eight years, the ceiling fan market had taken off and the Littmans had about 20 stores around the Chicago area, as well as in Milwaukee and St. Louis.

“But then the home centers got into the ceiling fan category and took the low end of the market away from us. We eventually closed a bunch of our stores and expanded more in the direction of lighting,” Littman said.

Today the company has morphed into a single-location, 10,000 square-foot store in Schaumburg. They sell residential and commercial lighting fixtures and lamps and they also have a massive e-commerce site (www.littmanbros.com) selling to customers around the world online.

Littman Bros. is unique in the business because of the range of services it offers homeowners and contractors, alike. The website allows consumers to shop before they visit the store or even to order completely online.

Store designers will also visit a client's home to help them choose new fixtures for only a small fee that is applied toward the purchase. Installation is also offered so that clients don't need to locate and hire a separate electrician.

Finally, they offer contractor pricing, Littman said.

For more information, call (847) 895-5155.