The Peking Duck is quite good:
Friday, January 28, 2011
Lighting Fixtures for Non-Pacifists
There's been a huge buzz here recently about lighting fixtures. So, since I haven't had time to write new content, I'll just post more lighting, this in a Chinese restaurant located where I've been working abroad, a chandelier made from (I'm told) over 10,000 tassels:
The Peking Duck is quite good:
The Peking Duck is quite good:
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6 comments:
"The Peking Duck is quite good:"
That's way more important than the lighting!
Interesting fixture, though.
I got to wondering what kind of light bulbs they're using in that crystal chandelier - and how they change them. It's very yellow light... It could be incandescent, or more likely, HID. It isn't metal halide - too yellow. Assuming it's sodium, then, it could be low pressure or high pressure. Low pressure would have a longer life - probably at least 3-5 years (depending on how many hours a day it stays lit). Both require a ballast, weight of which depends on the wattage, but not inconsiderable whatever wattage. And of course, said weight is in addition to the crystals - which I'd bet are lead crystal. Wow. HEAVY!!!
Ultimately though, they _will_ have to change the bulb(s). I wonder just how they do _that_!!!
The Chinese one, now. Not so much light there. I'm guessing fluorescents to light up the top, and who knows what for the bottom. Lots of fabric in that fixture, I'd bet - and not nearly the weight that it appears it could have. The Chinese are masters of deception - in more ways than one!
Sue: First, forget incandescents--they're frowned upon, if not illegal. I suppose it could be high intensity discharge -- obviously, I wasn't close enough to see -- but most lighting in country is CFL. Second, changing bulbs probably isn't a problem--labor is very inexpensive there, even on big ladders or sliding down guy wires. Third, the landlord is quite proud of the ten thousand-tassel chandelier in the restaurant. And, finally, the duck made more of an impression on me than the lighting, but you're starting to convince me otherwise!
Yeah...they probably send their 10 year olds down the wires.
I really wasn't thinking about the cost of the labor...more like the cost of the chandelier if it went boom! or other possible catastrophes.
Of course, this is a page I check out frequently (they change it about every week or so), so maybe I'm just overly pessimistic...
http://www.public.navy.mil/navsafecen/Pages/photo/Photo-of-the-Week.aspx
OMG, I spent nearly half an hour thinking about the ballasts in the chandelier and trying to figure out the minimum weight. I figured that the panel/stripping on the outside frame produced the color and that it was incandescents behind, but it could be CFLs. If you left it on always they'd last a while.
It is clear that SueK and I are twins separated at birth. I do not even have the excuse of a lighting business.
Ditto on the tassel affair. It looks very light - I would not be afraid to walk under it. I like the top effect.
The good Chinese restaurants that I have found all have very subdued lighting. It's relaxing, in a way. In another way, it always makes me look suspiciously at my food and tea.
> OMG, I spent nearly half an hour thinking about the ballasts in the chandelier and trying to figure out the minimum weight. I figured that the panel/stripping on the outside frame produced the color and that it was incandescents behind, but it could be CFLs. If you left it on always they'd last a while.
Is this place brand new -- as in completed in the last couple years?
The chances are, it's incandescents -- it's almost certainly grandfathered in regardless of newer CFL requirements.
Mind you, this means you'll never see its like again in that state.
Incandescents - maximum life is pretty much 15000 hours - and that's if you have a 130 volt long life (5k hours) running on 120v. Who _knows_ what voltage wherever has, and what accommodations would be made to extend life! Nevertheless, 15k hours is longer than most compact fluorescents - which are generally 10k hours (or 2500 turn ons, whichever comes first). If they left the lights on 24/7, chances are that the bulbs would last longer, but I don't know how much.
Hubby says they certainly have a means of a motorized lowering of the chandelier to change bulbs...I'm thinking ... 23 floors??? OK...maybe only 20 floors...and the chandelier is about 25 ft high????
I think I'd make the trip just to see it done!!
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