Apr 26 2013
A year ago, Klauf Lighting got to work on an LED linear fixture which could deliver new technologies, dimmability, better light, and a price point accessible to most consumers.
Black Light Bar - Klauf Lighting. (PRNewsFoto/Klauf Lighting)
The company tried and tested many new LED technologies, giving up on most. Then, better-quality TRIAC dimming drivers and remote phosphor technologies started making steady headway into the luminaire industry. In rapid development form, the Klauf staff worked through difficult challenges, developing a lamp which exploits these cutting-edge technologies, yet could be deployed with quality components at a lower consumer price point.
Enter the Klauf light bar. The end result of a year of research and development is a quality-made, warm white, and dimmable (with standard inexpensive dimmers) linear lamp. It doesn't look much like an under-cabinet lamp, nor does it resemble most other linear fixtures from local big box stores. It's in a class of its own.
Sporting a high-tech extruded aluminum housing and a yellow-orange diffuser, which consumes much of the fixture's exterior profile, the Klauf light bar is different. It's unique. It's interesting. It's cutting edge. And it's very bright!
Typical high-brightness LEDs are manufactured with a potting compound, containing phosphor, flooded on top of the tiny and heat-sensitive, light-producing chip. When the chip's blue light waves pass through the phosphor, they are combined with yellow light waves and a more natural white light is produced. However, this also keeps a blanket of heat at the source, diminishing the LED's light quality and lifetime.
By separating the phosphor from the LED chip and instead coating the Klauf light bar's diffuser with the phosphor compound, the LEDs are ensured a cooler operating temperature. This also ensures a longer life and allows the fixture to produce better-quality light - 80CRI and a 2700K warm white color temperature.
More innovations are packed into the Klauf light bar. One is the ability to near seamlessly chain multiple fixtures, end-to-end, and with only one power cord. No bulky and unsightly transformers are required, as the LED driver electronics are all somehow contained in the small fixture's housing (self-driven). The light emitted is fluid, not pixelated like most other linear fixtures, eliminating multiple shadows on work surfaces. And since the fixture is cool to the touch and small enough to hold in your hand, the light bar's design also allows for portability. It's available in 6 and 12-inch segments, can be used as a standalone fixture, or connected to a series of other light bars.
The most intriguing thing about the Klauf light bar is its price point. At only $55 for the 12-inch unit, it's more than 70% less expensive than linear fixtures from other quality manufacturers – fixtures using nearly the same or even less forward-thinking technology.
Klauf has decided to launch its light bar on Kickstarter.com, a crowdfunding source. "With this new and innovative fixture, we wanted to put it in the hands of the real consumer, people who might not have been able to afford newer LED technologies," states Susan Hendrix of Klauf. "The Kickstarter community is made from people who are excited to back projects by companies which strive to produce better, more efficient, and affordable products."
The Klauf light bar's Kickstarter campaign will run for only 30 days, starting Thursday, April 25, 2013. Kickstarter members are able to get their own Klauf light bar at a 40% discounted price, or more.
For more about Klauf and the innovative light bar, visit http://Klauf.com and click the Kickstarter link at the top of the page, or access the campaign directly here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/klauf/klauf-light-bar-bright-dimmable-phosphor-led.
Source: http://klauf.com/