# Accent lighting and CA title 20



## RAD COM (Mar 3, 2019)

Most of my work for the last 20 years is obtained through interior designers doing mid budget custom lighting. I have used a 4" low voltage remodel housing popularized by the Halo 1499 series with MR-16 lamps. These lamps are unparalleled in there versatility for shaping the beam spread and dimmability. You can go from 9 to 60 degree spread and 20 up to 75 watts of power. Combined with a spread, soft focus or linear lens I can contour the light for a soft even glow that is restricted to the art being lit.
I have known that California has passed title 20 which no longer allows the sale of the Halogen MR-16 bulb in this state and have been struggling to find a suitable replacement. Even Soraa, which I feel makes the best LED bulbs on the market does not dim low enough nor offer enough in wattage selection. This has led me to stock up on these halogen bulbs before the deadline approached. It's very ironic that some of these manufacturer's are headquartered here and warehouse their product here but can't sell them here. But of late I've been having a problem obtaining the recessed lighting housings with them being back ordered for a month now. I've tried Halo, Elco, Nora, and Liton, none having any stock or the parts to assemble them. 
So my question to anyone doing custom lighting is what are you using? Is California driving the whole national lighting market or do other states have similar restrictions? 
Attached is a photo of some accent lights I hid behind the valance. I used landscape lighting bullet lights and 10 watt MR-11 10 degree lamps that I bought at a surplus store called All Electronics. The bulbs were 3 for a dollar and they give the perfect glow the client wanted. I experimented with making my own fixtures using flashlight type LED's but getting a narrow beam spread and the color temperature correct was beyond my skills.


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## SWDweller (Dec 9, 2020)

Great looking effect. 
Personally I always hated Halogen anything. They get so bloody hot and hot is not really needed in Phoenix in the summer months. 
I am sort of surprised that Halo or other has not taken on the challenge with Kalifonia and the codes that they pass. 
both of these links sound like sales pitches to me








50 Watt LED Lights | LED Replacement for MR16 Halogen Bulb


Find an LED replacement for MR16 halogen bulbs today! Shop for individual or packages of dimmable 50 watt LED lights that are also Energy Star certified.




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Why is Replacing Halogen 12V MR16 with LED A Challenge? Updated Late 2016


Over two years ago, when we wrote this original post, there was general angst from lighting designers, contractors and owners about the usefulness of LED MR16 bulbs as viable replacements for halogen MR16 in commercial display lighting applications. At the time, we cited a USDOE report from...




www.prolampsales.com


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## RAD COM (Mar 3, 2019)

The article from prolampsales dated 2016 states exactly what the engineering problem is and here we are not much farther down the road in 2021. I know I can buy MR-16 bulbs out of state and have them shipped in but are they disappearing off the shelves in other states? Can you go to a Home Depot in Phoenix and buy a halogen MR-16?


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## RAD COM (Mar 3, 2019)

As an update I still have the low voltage recessed lights on back order from Nora. On a whim I went to e-bay and found the housings (Elco brand) I need from some company called Build.com. They were a few dollars more than what my local supplier would charge. So the funny thing is that the packing slip shows it was direct shipped from Elco to me. 
What is going on here? Is Build Company just like a manufacturers rep company that sells other peoples product without ever having to stock it? If so why wouldn't my local supply house be able to by them directly from Elco? They were told the product was out of stock when I tried to order. I've always wondered why lighting manufactures use reps, you don't see that with any other electrical supplies do you?


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## SWDweller (Dec 9, 2020)

All of the switch gear I ever got was direct shipped from the MFG. I knew my salesman well enough that If I hit a certain dollar amount they would direct ship everything to me and take a smaller percentage because they did not have to handle it.
Todays world of logistics I would bet over 50% of the companies can do direct shipping. Saving the vendor money. Most of the people on the retail sites are resellers anyway and not having to handle the products would save them money. It all depends on the MFG's concept of going to market.


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