Chandeliers have always been perhaps the most lavish and elegant way to light up a room. While other types of lamps have changed a lot over the years, there has always been quite a crowd for chandeliers that look traditional – like the history of design stopped dead in its tracks hundreds of years ago. But even though many chandeliers today look almost exactly like they did back then, one particular thing has changed: The lighting element.
In the big wrought iron chandeliers of medieval times, it was the candle that provided the light, and this was all you could get for hundreds of years,
save for oil lamps. Gas came along later and had its time, which must have changed the look of chandeliers a little as well. The really big change came with the advent of the incandescent bulb of course. It needed electricity, it needed a socket, and it was kind of big and bulky at first. But there was still a desire to keep the traditional look of the chandelier, and soon you could get models with sockets that looked like candles, and bulbs that looked almost like flames when lit. How the lighting element looks on a chandelier is very important, so flame shaped bulbs were one solution, lamp shades attached to the bulbs were another. This has been the case until now. Crystal chandeliers have the advantage, that the bulbs can often be hidden behind the crystals – which can almost seem like they emanate the light themselves.
Recently there has been a big change in lighting generally, which also affects chandeliers: LED technology is reaching a level where it is becoming usable for more than indicator lights and markers. High powered versions of these tiny light sources have entered the market, and are improving all the time. These are much more efficient with the use of power, can emit light in any color you can imagine, and are so small that they can be placed anywhere. They will also make an impact in the world of chandeliers. Just how they can be implemented in a traditionally styled lamp, will be very interesting to see.
This was a guest post by Chris H, for homebuilderstips.com.