Phantom Lighting System

Library shelf book lighting is often very different from display and cabinet lighting. Private libraries tend to feature shelving units that are much taller than collectible displays and storage cabinets. They also tend to be highly decorative in nature to better showcase collections of books. Only the finest woods, staining techniques, and finishing methods are used in their construction. Shelves must be easy to adjust, because different groupings of books may feature different spine lengths that require library shelving heights to be adjusted to their dimensions. Lighting such an environment effectively requires a shelf lighting strip that will compliment the aesthetics of the bookshelf and facilitate unencumbered repositioning of shelves at will.

Mill workers can more easily achieve these objectives with library shelf lights that are built into the bookshelves at the time of construction. Attempting to retrofit fixtures to a cabinet that has already been constructed seldom generates satisfactory results. Finding a fixture that will precisely match the dimensions of custom library display bookshelf often proves a time-consuming challenge. Even if such a match is located, lights and wiring are also difficult to conceal, and the value of the presentation is diminished as a result.

Phantom library shelf lighting fixtures are engineered in anticipation of all these concerns and provide a flexible alternative to the cumbersome challenges of forcing a generic fixture fit on a high-end cabinet build out. These cabinet lighting systems are built to the exact dimensions of each library shelf and are powered by wireless technology built into the bookshelves themselves. Rather than requiring our clients to devise time-consuming and awkward strategies for concealing long wire runs, we use buss bars that are installed in the vertical walls of the cabinet to deliver power to the strip lights. Each buss bar is cut to match the vertical height of the bookcase on either side and is made with multiple screw holes that allow metal shelf supports to be mounted at any desired height. Contact pads affixed to the under surface of each shelf complete the circuit when the shelf is laid on top of the supports.

Because our library shelf lighting solutions feature a low-profile design that operates on an adjustable, wireless platform, the aesthetic results our fixtures can produce are far superior to competing, generic cabinet lighting fixtures. The fixtures are small enough to be concealed behind shelf reveals, providing a hidden light source that emanates light downward and backward over book spines. They are also completely dimmable, allowing collectors to raise lighting levels to search for books, and then reduce illumination when low-level, decorative lighting is desired.

Phantom library shelf lighting can be ordered in a variety of color temperatures that compliment a wide range of wood types and finishes. Our patent-pending festoon lamp design enables us to replicate the quality of xenon lighting with LED 2800K lamp technology that is much safer than incandescent technology when it comes to lighting old and rare books. As a light source the outputs no heat and no ultraviolet radiation, an LED lamp can be left on indefinitely with minimal power consumption and no risk of damaging book collections.

Call us today for more information on cove lighting design in commercial and residential interiors. Our lighting manufacturing facility is located in Houston, Texas. A network of nationwide distributorships and United States lighting sales representatives fans out throughout all 50 states into cities like Ft. Lauderdale, FL (FLL), Orlando, Florida (MCO), Santa Monica, CA, (LAX) Columbus, Ohio (CMH), (LGA) New York, NY, (JKF), St. Louis, MO, Detroit, Michigan (DTW), Madison, WI (MSN), San Francisco, California (SFO), and Omaha, Nebraska (OMA). We also service clients internationally, with lighting manufacturer representatives working out of Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America.

We invite you to contact us at 800-863-1184 to obtain more information. You can also visit our mobile website, lighting supply page or read through the many informative summaries and frequently asked questions located on our lighting blog. All of these resources contain a wealth of information about our custom; low-voltage lighting products.

Does library lighting require special equipment and techniques?
Absolutely. Even the way you install cabinet lighting matters in library lighting. The classic aura of antiquity and eloquence that a library establishes calls for exceptional attention to be paid to the quality, nature, and level of the light itself. It also requires special fixtures and installation techniques to be truly effective.

What types of fixtures provide the best lighting for libraries?
Linear strips provide the best sources of library cabinet lighting system because they can be so easily concealed. However, not just any linear strip will do. The strip has to be thin enough and small enough to fit under the shelf and not protrude visibly into the line of site. Standard fixtures are too bulky. Phantom Lighting manufactures custom strips to accommodate the need for a more compact, completely concealable source of lighting in bookcases and libraries. These in cabinet lighting fixtures are made specifically to fit the dimensions of particular shelves and are so low-profile in design they actually fit to the under surface as if they were part of the shelves themselves.

If your strip lights are that thin and compact, how do you power them?
That is an excellent question. There are two ways to deliver power to Phantom’s linear lighting strips. One way is to build them into a new library bookcase and use the buss bars in the case to send low-voltage power to the contact pads. In older libraries, however, this may not be possible because the bookcases do not have metal bus bars. In this case, small wires can be run through the spaces between the sides of the case and the edges of the shelves, then connected to the contact pads accordingly. As you will see in our gallery of images, what results is an apparently sourceless form of library lighting that appears to make the books themselves glow with light.

Can we leave these lights on all night?
Yes. These are low-voltage lights that generate no heat if fitted with new, 2800K LED festoon lamps. They are also dimmable, so varying levels of ambient lighting appropriate to time of evening and general lighting conditions around one’s privately library can be appropriately set. Another significant advantage to using today’s newest LED light bulb technology is that it to date has produces the safest form of luminance known to science. There is absolutely no ultraviolet light or infrared heat produced by an LED light. This means that even rare books are safe from degradation and overheating even with the lights left on 24/7

Is this affordable?
LED uses only 20% of the power as incandescent lighting to begin with. When combined with a dimmer control, power savings are even greater. The quality of today’s LED cabinet lights is so superb that you cannot distinguish them from incandescent or high-end xenon lamps.

Their power-saving functionality, combined with the superior presentation they afford, makes Phantom fixtures some of the most eclectic and elegant choices for library lighting found anywhere in the world.

What are Phantom Strips and who makes them?
Phantom linear strips have earned the reputation of being some of the most unobtrusive fixtures for this type of lighting, and have led to the coining of our motto, "See the light, not the fixture."
Visit our online gallery here, and visit our phantom website to read more about such topics as cove lighting, curio cabinet lighting, under cabinet lighting, and retail display lighting.

Where do you manufacture and distribute your products?
Our bookcase and cabinet lighting manufacturing facility is located in Houston, Texas. Contact us toll free at 800-863-1184 for assistance on strip lighting or art lighting projector equipment. We have a network of nationwide distributorships, interior designers and sales representatives spread out throughout all 50 states into cities like Scottsdale, Arizona, Seattle, Washington (SEA), Los Angeles, CA, (LAX) Boston, Massachusetts (BOS), Princeton, NJ (EWR), Philadelphia, PA, Dallas, Texas (DWF), Pasadena, California, Chicago, IL (ORD), Baltimore, MD (BWI), and Minneapolis, MN (MSP).

We also service clients internationally, with lighting manufacturer sales representatives working out of Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America.

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