Glossary

Following are general definitions of some of the common terms used in the lighting industry as well as some of the terms we use in describing our products and techniques:

Color Temperature – Relative ‘warmth’ or ‘coolness’ of light, is measured in the units of absolute temperature, Kelvin. Typically used color temperatures range from 2700K to 5000K.  The higher the value the ‘cooler’ or bluer and brighter the light.  General residential and commercial decorative fixtures are typically between 2700K and 3000K, while task-oriented residential and commercial settings are best served above 3000K.

Damp Location – Exterior locations where the fixture is not directly exposed to wet conditions such as a driven rain or snow.

Dark SkyAn international movement to reduce light pollution. The advantages of reducing light pollution include an increased number of stars visible at night, reducing the effects of electric lighting on the environment, improving the well-being, health, and safety of both people and wildlife, and cutting down on energy usage.

Distressed – A random texture that is hand-applied to surfaces of our metals.

Dry Location – Interior locations.

Full CutoffA Dark Sky term used to describe luminaires that have no direct uplight (no light emitted above horizontal). In addition to that limitation, the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) definition also requires luminaires to comply with the glare requirement limiting intensity of light from the luminaire in the region between 80° and 90° to 10%.

Fully ShieldedA Dark Sky term used to describe luminaires that emit no direct uplight, but have no limitation on the intensity in the region between 80° and 90°.

Lamp – Generic term for a light bulb of any type. Our fixtures are provided without lamps.

Lamp Life – The average rated life of a lamp in hours as provided by the lamp manufacturer.

Lumens – The unit used to measure the quantity of light output by a lamp. Since our fixtures are decorative in nature, we do not provide photometric data which describes the light output of our fixtures.

Peened/Peening – A random, hand-applied texture of round indentations achieved with a ball-peen hammer.

Punching – Hand-punched holes used for decoration and dramatic light patterns in our fixtures.

Tinning – On copper and brass, we use this technique to apply solder to the metal surface to achieve a pewter-like color in decorative patterns. It is usually bordered by punching around the tinned area.

Voltage – The measure of electrical power supply brought to the fixture by the building’s wiring. Typically, residential wiring is 120 volt while commercial wiring can be 120 or 277 volt. For a 277 volt power supply we can provide compact fluorescent or integrated LED lamping in our fixtures.

Watts/Wattage – The unit used to measure power consumption of a lamp. Our fixtures are labeled with the maximum wattage that may be used. Refer to this handy chart shown below for wattage equivalencies and lumen output across incandescents, CFLs, and LEDs:

Light Output LEDs CFLs Incandescents
Lumens Watts Watts Watts
450 4-5 8-12 40
750-900 6-8 13-18 60
1100-1300 9-13 18-22 75-100
1600-1800 16-20 23-30 100
2600-2800 25-28 30-55 150

Wet Location – Exterior locations where the fixture is directly exposed to wet conditions such as a driven rain or snow.

Installation Instructions

[More to come!]

Operating & Maintenance

Download our O&M instructions for Two Hills Studio products.

Care & Cleaning

Routine maintenance information for our products is included in the O&M instructions that were provided with your purchase and can be found in the O&M section above. Cleaning our darkened (ie, antiqued) fixtures is a pretty delicate but straightforward job.  The darkened finish is the result of a controlled chemical reaction on the surface of the metal, so it’s important you don’t remove, scuff, or otherwise damage it with chemicals or too much elbow grease.  If you do, those exposed areas will darken, patina, and/or tarnish on their own and differently than the rest of the fixture.

Basic cleaning steps:

  1. Wash your hands or wear latex or nitrile gloves. The natural skin oils can stain the metal permanently.
  2. For very dirty or dusty fixtures, brush off the debris with a soft paintbrush.
  3. Mix a small amount of mild soap with water. Be sure that the soap doesn’t have any harsh chemicals, especially bleach.
  4. Moisten a soft, lint-free cloth (old T-shirt or flannel, chamois) with the soapy mixture and gently wipe away any remaining dirt and dust. Don’t rub too hard or you could scratch or damage the surface,especially if there are any abrasives in the dirt or dust (or cloth!).
  5. After it’s all wiped down, gently rinse with clean water. Use distilled or filtered water if you have hard tap water.

That’s really it. You can apply a clear lacquer that’s made for copper and/or brass, but those don’t last more than a few years.

There aren’t any easy ways to remove patina, which is an extension of the controlled darkening process we use and a function of your local climate.  Really, to remove the patina, you need to effectively strip the copper or brass and re-darken, which is a pretty significant commitment and difficult to do without disassembly.

We do refinish our fixtures, which can take 2-4 hours for each and at our standard shop rate may not always be cost-effective.

Warranty

Two Hills Studio offers a standard one year full warranty.

Two Hills Studio offers a one year full warranty from the date that our products are accepted by our client. Two Hills Studio warrants that our products shall be free of defects in manufacturing and shall materially conform to the previously accepted specifications.

This warranty does not apply if our products (a) have been subjected to abuse, misuse, neglect, negligence, accident, improper testing, improper storage, improper handling, abnormal physical stress, abnormal environmental conditions, or use contrary to any instruction issued by Two Hills Studio; (b) have been reconstructed, repaired, or altered by anyone other than Two Hills Studio or its authorized representative(s); or (c) have been used with any third-party products or hardware that has not been previously approved in writing by Two Hills Studio, and subject to the following exceptions:

A five (5) year warranty applies to interchangeable electrical components installed by Two Hills Studio in our fixtures only when those components have been properly handled, stored, wired, transported, operated, and maintained in accordance with applicable specifications. Two Hills Studio shall bear no responsibility for those components which have been damaged or modified by external causes, mishandling, misuse by end user, or third parties. Components may include but are not limited to: sockets and wiring, with the exception of compact fluorescent ballasts, LED modules, and LED drivers, which shall bear the manufacturer’s warranties. Field labor and shipping excluded.

Project-specific warranty letters are available upon request.

Please keep and refer to the attached copy of our Operating & Maintenance Instructions for additional information.

UL Listings

We provide Underwriters Laboratories (UL) labeling on most of our light fixtures for dry, damp, or wet locations in the United States and Canada.

  • Incandescent listings are applicable for Surface Mounted Luminaires with screw base incandescent and LED bulbs under File No. E158255.
  • Fluorescent listings are applicable for Surface Mounted Luminaires with self-ballasted and ballasted compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs with 2- or 4-pin plug-in bases, as well as twist and lock bases used for self-ballasted CFL and LED bulbs under File No. E187081.

Refer to this handy chart of bulb bases.