How quickly humans forget! With palm pilots which let us order our lives and even go online and home entertainment centers that rival a cinema, we hardly give a thought to the wonder of lighting. Yet lighting is just that-nothing short of a marvel. Have you ever tried to do anything by candlelight during a power outage? Effortless things like reading and climbing the stairs to bed become difficult. And it was not that long ago that our forefathers lived out their whole lives in that manner. No wonder everyone went to bed at dusk and got up at first light!
Far-seeing inventors fooled with the idea of electric lighting fifty years before Thomas Edison famously made it happen. It was not that other inventors could not create an electric light, it was that they could not come up with a safe, economical, unwieldy system practical for home use. When Edison finally got that miniscule filament of carbonized sewing thread to stay lit for thirteen and a half hours, life changed forever.
With today's tech lighting we enjoy beautiful light in our homes in styles designed to suit any taste. The variety of lighting choices today is staggering! And unlike Edison's first bulb, today's incandescent lights burn an average of 1000 hours. To be truly "green", millions of people are installing compact fluorescent bulbs, which burn for an incredible 10,000 hours!
No matter which type of bulb you choose, there are lots of fixtures to suit any home. Some of today's lighting designs look as if they would be at home in a modern art gallery. Traditional tastes can be satisfied, too, with fixtures ranging from pendants, wall sconces, ceiling mounts, chandeliers, and monorail lighting. Modern lighting completes any home.
In the whole of human history, it has not been that long since we were fumbling around in the dark. To see the advancements in tech lighting in less than a century and a half is awe inspirinig.
