Phantom Lighting System

What is the best way to light exposed truss beams using your lighting strip?
Indirectly lighting the top of an exposed beam or between truss sections can be a very effective form of ambient mood lighting. Depending on the shape or style of the truss construction, more than one section of cove lighting must be used to completely illuminate the structure. Because Phantom fixtures are low profile and flexible cove lights, they can be custom fabricated to fit most designs. Small blocks or strips of wood can be strategically placed inside the truss members to completely conceal the light source. Upon installation, the lights may be shimmed or repositioned to alleviate shadows and to expand lighting coverage across the ceiling.

We actually build every cove lighting fixture according to the dimensions of the mounting surface. To ensure a seamless fit to trusses and curved ceilings, our strip lights feature a unique engineering design that allows them to be molded to fit any radius, or bent to a full 360 degrees when necessary.

What size groove should I route into the top of the beam to conceal your cove lighting fixtures?
We recommend that you install a 1-1/2” wide x 1-1/2” deep groove in the top of the beam. This allows enough room for heat dissipation, beam spread and height to fine tune the lighting eliminating seeing the source from severe angles. During cove light construction, provisions must be made to allow for wiring to and from the remote transformer during installation. For existing beams, small strips if wood can be added on top of the beam to conceal the lights and low voltage wiring to and from the remote transformer may be surface mounted and concealed.

What is the best wattage lamp to use if I have a dark wood ceiling?
Dark wood ceilings do not reflect light well and require higher levels of illumination compared to a white drywall ceiling, for example. You can offer business owners and residents a wide range of lighting choices and effects with Phantom CM cove lighting fixtures. Lamp options for our linear strips include 3 watt, 5 watt, and 10 watt Incandescent festoon lamps (rated for 7,500 hours) or Xenon festoon lamps (rated for up to 20,000 hours).

We recommend that you use 10-watt, 24-volt lamps spaced 4: on center for best results. For hard to reach areas or where routine maintenance is a concern, one should use LED energy saving lamps. Click here to compare festoon lamp specifications.

Are cove lighting fixtures from Phantom lighting dimmable?
Yes, all Phantom lighting strips are manufactured to operate on a dimmer control. As a leading linear light manufacturer, we feel it is important for not only aesthetics, but for energy saving and to extend the lamp life of the Xenon, incandescent or LED festoon light bulbs.

Incandescent lamps are generally preferred by home builders who need a warm color lighting source over an interior soffit or custom cove. Xenon lamps, due to the exceptional quality of the white light they produce, are also the favorite source of display lighting for commercial lighting designers. LED festoons are made with a patented 3-bulb design that allows their luminance to closely approximate the luminance of xenon lamps. Older festoons can be removed and new Phantom festoon light bulbs can simply be snapped into place—provided, of course, that the existing linear cove light fixtures are low voltage and support the festoon lamping design.

How far away can I position the low voltage transformer from the cove lighting fixtures?
We recommend that you try and locate the transformer 20-30 feet from the lighting strips to avoid voltage drop problems. Voltage drop is a condition where the lights appear dim due to inadequate voltage supplied from the transformer. This is caused by improper wire size which restricts the flow of current causing this unfavorable condition. To assist our clients and contractors we have a helpful and informative voltage calculation chart complete with fusing requirements in our low voltage transformer literature.

How do I know what wire size to use from my transformer to the cove lighting fixtures?
We suggest using a wire gauge matched to the secondary fuse(s) on your Phantom transformer. Of course, length of run, wire size and operating voltage may require some engineering to determine the correct size. Any qualified electrician or lighting agent will be able to assist your with these calculations.

The following are some of the common wire sizes:

#14 gauge wire - 15 Amps
#12 gauge - 20 Amps
#10 gauge wire - 30 Amps
#8 gauge wire - 40 Amps

Our lighting manufacturing facility is located in Houston, Texas with professional lighting sales agents located throughout the United States that enable us to service all of Canada, Mexico, Central America, South America and the United States including Washington DC, Nashville Tennessee, Reno Nevada. Portland Oregon, Oklahoma City Oklahoma, Tucson Arizona, Los Angeles California, Atlanta Georgia, and Palm Springs California.

We invite you to call toll free 800-863-1184 to request literature online or visit our lighting blog to learn more about Phantom custom low voltage lighting products.

Cove lighting in buildings is a great way to accent variances in ceiling elevation or variances in the adjoining space between the upper portion of the wall and the ceiling. Cove lights can be used as either the primary lighting source in the room, or a luxurious and ambient source of accent lighting. Because this form of luminance has become so popular in custom homes, many builders install rope lights or fluorescent fixtures. Both of these cove lights are very energy efficient, with rope lights also offering the building contractor a lower purchase cost. However, there are some drawbacks to both light sources. Cove rope lights operate in a series, so if one bulb fails, the entire rope light will need to be replaced. This will pose hassle to the new homeowner, who will have to find a lighting designer or electrical contractor to replace the string. Fluorescents have a much longer lamp life in comparison, and they can offer quality lighting at a fixed level. Fluorescents cannot be dimmed, however, making them incompatible with lighting controls and dimmers.

In buildings and homes where users want a controlled and flexible source of cove lighting that will save power and provide a long-term, low maintenance source of general or ambient lighting, linear strips are a much better choice for builders, architects, and electrical contractors to install. One of the primary advantages that low voltage lighting systems offer over other lights sources is a concealed presence. Strip lights such as the Phantom CM series are extremely thin and can fit into any soffit, cove, or valance in an office or home. These fixtures are designed to keep a low profile in cove lighting applications and feature a remarkable adaptability to any commercial or residential environment. They can be fitted to any radius desired because they are custom cut to the exact specifications of the contractor. This ensures the most seamless fit possible to produce the special sourceless lighting Phantom has become known for.

With energy costs rising, it is also important to point out the power saving benefits that Phantom CM cove lighting offers to any building or residence that is conscious of electrical costs. Low voltage linear lighting strips are a significant solution to high price points that people have to pay for the luxurious qualities of xenon lighting. An added benefit that low voltage strips offer is the extended lamp life they create. Provided that natural lighting levels are relatively low in the room, the lights can be powered up to full and provide a primary light source over a foyer or a hallway without fear of running up the light bill. When other lighting is in use, they can be turned down to provide ambient, supplemental lighting.

This type of controllable, low voltage xenon cove lighting is often found in buildings and homes that feature faux painted ceilings or detailed block paneled ceilings. For warm ceiling colors, we recommend using incandescent lamps, and for cooler colors or very dark colors of wood, xenon lamps. Both sources will provide an excellent source of controlled lighting that the end user can adjust at will.

If you are working in California, or another locale that discourages the installation of incandescent fixtures due to pending laws, we recommend installing LED linear strip. LED lamps are available for all Phantom linear fixtures, including CM series cove lights. These unique, patented festoons offer the commercial builder and electrical lighting designer a “green solution” to pass onto clients interested in lowering operating costs and contributing to a more sustainable future. Phantom’s unique lamping technology allows white or colored LEDs with a lumens output equivalent to that of incandescent and nearly approximate to xenon. It might be best to propose to your clients the advantages of investing in LED replacement lamps now rather than later.

If you have been hired to replace existing linear cove lights in a building with a better or more energy efficient solution, you can save your client a great deal of money by simply replacing the lamps in their existing fixtures. Provided these fixtures are currently using festoon style lamps, you can obtain LED festoon lamps from one of our Agents and simply to the existing cove lighting strips in the building. This is an excellent way to win bids with companies worried about the costs of upgrades in the midst of the recession.

Boardrooms, halls, restaurants, private clubs, and meeting rooms are some of the many areas where commercial building cove lighting may be used with success. Call an Agent today for more information on Phantom CM custom cove lights for buildings and homes.

Our Agent network functions as the backbone of our sales, customer service, and technical support. Agents assist commercial contractors and private individuals with developing entire strip lighting systems for homes and offices. We have lighting agents in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America and South America who will answer any questions, provide literature and schematics, and arrange for local product demonstrations. Our team of experienced technicians is always willing to share their knowledge of fine art and display lighting.

Together, the professionals at Phantom Lighting will ensure that your next project is an astounding success! We invite you to call 713-863-1133 to request literature online or visit our lighting blog to learn more about Phantom custom low voltage lighting products.

Phantom’s unique linear strip light fixture engineering allows the product to be field cut for right angles, radius bends or serpentine applications. This allows our fixtures to be used as flexible cove lights in environments too difficult to fit standard, pre-manufactured linear strips. Regardless of the bend or angle in the ceiling, flexible Phantom lighting installations can seamlessly fit ceiling interiors, valances, and foyers. Many contractors will also install CM series linear cove lights in kitchens above custom cabinets in order to provide an ambient wash of light along the ceiling, and to compliment the illumination of cabinet lighting.

Phantom’s agent services and low voltage manufacturing processes are extremely contractor-friendly and highly flexible. Cove light fixtures are custom manufactured after an extensive consultation with an Agent. The Agent will gather data things such as foot candle minimum requirements, interior design themes, and interior structural keynotes that distinguish the interior architecture of a home or office. This data is further used to determine the exact dimensions for the cove lights themselves as well as the low voltage transformer requirements. After manufacture, the finished product will be shipped in sections labeled for easy installation in the field.

Unlike fluorescent cove lights or rope cove lights which are clearly visible to the viewer, Phantom’s flexible cove lighting strips can be repositioned inside the cove itself and hidden from normal viewing angles. This ability to conceal our light sources led to the origin of our company name-“Phantom”-because the apparently sourceless light our flexible linear cove lights and display lights generate adds mystique and eclectic accent to any room or display. Because of the way our strips reflect the light off the ceiling in a more diffused, even pattern of dispersal, they also do a much better job of overcoming unsightly shadows that may occur from more awkwardly positioned, bulky, and less flexible cove accent lighting fixtures.

Unlike cove rope lights which are wired in series, Phantom uses a parallel wiring method. This means that individual festoon lamps may be replaced if a bulb happens to fail. Contractors who are building out large custom homes should think twice about installing rope lights in ornate and eclectic residences. New homeowners will not like the inconvenience of having to replace an entire string of rope lights when a single bulb fails. Phantom offers a much more convenient and cost-effective method of both maintenance and future upgrades. Thanks to a patented engineering design, our lamping technology is far more original, user friendly, and flexible as an accent lighting tool. Cove light strips by Phantom are manufactured using a heavy duty galvanized steel trim with individual festoon sockets with standard and custom on center spacing. This enables individual lamp replacements without the hassle and cost of replacing the entire cove lighting fixture itself. It also offers additional advantages and flexibility for cove lighting upgrades. Incandescents can be upgraded to xenon or LED light bulbs by simply leaving the cove lights in place and switching out the festoon lamps.

Phantom linear cove lights are designed for flexibility and versatility in a wide range of residential and commercial settings where ambient, sourceless down light is required to contribute to an eclectic sense of decorum. Phantom cove light fixtures are fully dimmable and can be linked to automation or lighting control systems so the home owner or office manager can manipulate them at will.

Call an Agent to discuss your clients’ needs and how the versatility and flexibility of Phantom custom cove lights can add value to your lighting design proposal today. We have lighting agents in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America and South America who will answer any questions, provide literature and schematics, and arrange for local product demonstrations.

Our team of experienced technicians is always willing to share their knowledge of fine art and display lighting.Together, the professionals at Phantom Lighting will ensure that your next project is an astounding success! We invite you to call 713-863-1133 to request literature online or visit our lighting blog to learn more about Phantom custom low voltage lighting products.