Modern track lighting can add a touch of drama to any room. If you have been planning on changing or updating the interior décor of any of the rooms in your home, adding track lights can give you the most bang for your buck.
What exactly is contemporary track lighting? First of all, it is one of the most versatile of all of the types of lighting available today. The tracks themselves are easily installed and offer an unlimited number of variations in path layouts. Pathways can be linear, curved, or freeform.
You can add as many or as few track lights as needed or as desired. Each lamp is independent of the other and can be situated at any location on the track. This independence, combined with mobility, allows you to create interesting and unique lighting patterns that can be customized according to your decorating needs.
Directional spotlights are a special type of modern track lighting and are the ideal choice when you want to showcase that special accent piece or when you are looking to illuminate certain areas of a room. Spotlights are also an excellent choice when it comes to adding dram to vaulted ceilings.
Contrary to popular belief, cable lighting (which is also referred to as monorail lighting) does not fall into the category of traditional track systems. Whereas contemporary track lighting systems are made up of a series of lamps attached to a track mounted on the ceiling or the wall, cable lighting systems involve suspending a series of lamps along one of a pair of cables mounted to the ceiling. Monorail systems are excellent solutions for use in cathedral or vaulted ceilings as well as rooms with ceilings that are broken up by beams, exposed ducts, or soffits.
How does modern track lighting work? The track systems themselves are relatively simple, and are easy to install. The track can be surface-mounted to a ceiling, to a wall, a beam or dropped from the ceiling on stems or cables. It contains a channel that holds the lamps (or "heads") in place. With the help of special adapters, power can be fed from the end (an "end feed" or "live end") or anywhere along that channel.
These special adapters help in making various track layout configurations for each of the contemporary track lighting systems used in your home. Corners are L-shaped and branches are T-shaped. Unfortunately, the types and sizes of the various components in a modern track lighting system are only compatible within a manufacturer’s product line. This means that company X’s parts will not fit on company Y’s track.
Types of tracks include: standard track, monorail track, and two-circuit monorail track. The basic difference between modern track lighting systems and monorail track lighting styles is that the monorail track is flexible and can be bent into a variety of shapes and designs. Please also note that monorail cable lighting and monorail track lighting are not one in the same.
Most people prefer contemporary track lighting over any other type of lighting because the tracks are configurable to suit your space, tailored to your own specific needs. Once it is mounted on the ceiling or on the wall, you can reposition the lamps based upon your unique requirements or even for special occasions.
Selecting fewer elements when using larger size fixtures to avoid a crowded look on your track run is the best decision that you can make. Accent and wall wash lighting are two subtypes of modern track lighting; use these types of lamps for illuminating and highlighting pictures, bookcases, and decorative pieces placed on a wall. Pendants are fixtures that hang below the track system on a flexible cable. You can use pendant lamps to provide illumination as well as color accents. Individual lights can be installed independently without a track or they can be easily snapped into a new or existing track system.
To avoid glares and shadows these, individual lamps should be aimed either at a nearby wall or directly down onto a work surface. Keep in mind that contemporary track lighting systems are primarily used for accent and task lighting. When it comes to highlighting your artifacts, furniture, or any architectural details in your home, the track should be placed ideally 18-36 inches out from the wall (for most normal ceiling heights) to maximize the effect.
Versatility is the key feature with modern track lighting as you can opt to move the heads around, add more units, change types, point them in different directions; take the time to experiment! Contemporary track lighting systems are very cost effective, energy efficient and highly customizable, with detachable lamps that can easily be rearranged to match your home or office needs.
