Jewelry lighting for convention expo and trade shows is an essential and critical consideration. Take a look around most arts and craft shows or jewelry trade show venues and you will find a vast array of different lighting selections. Industry experts will tell you that jewelry specifically is very difficult to exhibit properly under any kind of artificial lighting. The goal for the art and jewelry convention vendor booth is to have vibrant colors and in the case of jewelry, to have brilliant white diamonds as well as vibrant colors. No matter what type of items you sell, proper booth lighting will attract buyers from across the jewelry show venue, like a bear to honey. Too many vendors spend a lot of money making mistakes with jewelry lighting because there is not one specific cure for this difficult lighting problem. The problems to overcome are numerous when dealing with lighting for your convention booth. Cost, reliability, storage space and ease of setup are foremost considerations for your trade show lighting solution. Other things to consider in your convention booth is wattage, weight, brightness, aesthetics, quality of the light and its effect on your merchandise. In this article we will explore the pros and cons of LED vs halogen, pop up lighting vs track lighting and specialty booth lighting solutions. All of these solutions are frequently seen at various fine arts and craft shows and jewelry exhibits. Which one is the best for your needs?
What is a Led? The LED bulb draws very little power and puts out bright light. The greatest asset for LED lighting is the excellent lumen per watt ratio. An 8 watt led will produce as many lumens as a 50 watt halogen, and even better, they produce almost no heat at all. The average 8 watt LED bulb will run warm at 110 degrees vs 540 degrees for a halogen. A 8 watt LED will average 90 lumens per watt. LEDs can be ordered in a wide range of colors. Jewelry display booths would look their best with 2800K (warm) to 5000K (neutral) to 6000K (cool). LED bulbs will also last a VERY LONG time. The average lifespan of an 8w bulb is 30,000 hours or 20 shows a year for 20 years or more. Some require the use of a transformer but most standard bulbs have the transformer built into the bulb. Some specialty LED bulbs and high power LED solutions may require an external transformer. LED convention, expo, trade show booth lighting can provide both warm and cool spectrum creating natural sun balanced light when used together. LED lighting can make your trade show display or arts and craft display look amazing and filled with vibrant colors and sparkle. LED trade show lighting and LED craft show lights are not only bright but they are very energy efficient and are great for use at any trade show, craft show and are perfect for a display tent. Keep your trade show tent cool and well lite with LED lighting.
CLAMP ON LIGHTS
Clip on lights are a simple and inexpensive solution when a small amount of light needs to be cast on an individual piece of art or a small area of space. Clip on lights are usually a clip with a shaft and a shield that can hold various type of bulbs. The downside is all of the unsightly cords and the time it takes to set up. While this is a good solution for a very small scale exhibit display, it is not a viable solution for the professional jewelry vendor or larger trade show expo display booth.
ARCHITECTS LAMP
Architect lamps are frequently seen at trade shows and convention expos due to their low cost but they don't look very professional. They also tent to be halogen so get very hot and are not very energy efficient. The typical architects light has a spring-loaded arm and a clamp to attach to the table. It will accept 150 watt halogen bulbs and put out a lot of light but it is warm color so is not at all sun balanced. Your colors do not look vibrant and nothing sparkles. They run at 2700 kelvin and are very hot to the touch because it is halogen. The new LED variance of this old classic draws much less power and puts out a much better quality light with almost no heat at all. The LEDs are substantially better than halogen bulbs.
FREE STANDING HALOGEN & LED
LED free standing lights are ideally suited for a lot of trade show booths, craft show displays and display tent lighting. They are compact, lightweight, and easy to set up while putting out a lot of light. A 10 foot booth would only require one or two free standing LEDs to light up the entire booth. When lighting a display booth with freestanding halogens on the other hand you will draw a lot of power and it gets very hot in the booth or your trade show tent. Recently released LED versions of free standing halogens do not get hot and typically draw about 50 watts of power. They put out the same amount of light as a 500 watt halogen bulb without all that heat. This new breed of LEDs sometimes requires an external transformer but many do not. Free standing LED lighting is the better choice over the extremely hot and power sucking halogen or metal halide. Many high heat producing bulbs are being banned from trade shows entirely due to their potential fire hazard. Please check with your venue to make sure they allow the use of high heat producing bulbs which draw excessive power and cause power failures at the trade shows.
SHOW TRACK LIGHTING
Track lighting is another solution that is often employed for the trade show expo booth. It is relatively low cost, is very flexible with the bulbs it can handle and if using LEDs can be very bright using minimal power. Track lighting for your trade show booth will require some type of support system such as aluminum poles. The aluminum frame works are readily available online or to be rented at larger art shows and jewelry convention expo venues. If you get the right track lighting bulbs like LED then setup can be quick and your booth can be well lite. The drawbacks if you get the wrong type of trade show track lighting will be the amount of time it takes to set up properly. If you do not attach them to a rigid enough pole the lights tend to sag in the center if not properly supported. Keep in mind your storage space requirements when selecting length of track.
SHOW TRUSS LIGHTING
Truss systems would be considered for larger booths, typically 50 foot and larger would employ a truss system. Aluminum truss systems are a beautiful and heavy duty framework that can hang a wide variety of lights from track lighting to stage spot lighting and everything in between. These are big, relatively heavy and expensive but are one of the very few solutions available for a convention booths 50 foot or larger. If you travel in a large van or something as large as a semi-truck you would consider trust lighting as your solution.
JEWELRY DISPLAY CASE LIGHTING
LED lighting strips designed for the inside of a display case are becoming very popular. These long narrow strips with embedded LED’s which are bright, very clean looking, and they will make your items explode with brilliance. Typically these display case lights should put out about 200 lumens per foot and cost about $30 ft. Don’t forget that this is only part of a total lighting solution as you will need light above your display cases too.
The differences between halogen, metal halide and LED lighting are HUGE. LED produces a higher quality light than does halogen or metal halide. This is because LED lights spend 90% of their energy producing light and only 10% of their energy producing heat. Metal halide and halogen produce a poor quality light because 70% of their energy is spent making heat and only 30% of their energy producing light. You do the math and see how important the light to heat ratio really is! LED is extremely energy efficient saving on the amount of power you will require while ensuring no power outages. Metal halide and halogen lights draw excessive amounts of power and are prone to causing power outages. LED lighting runs cool in temperature compared to the searing heat of the halogen and metal halide. Keep in mind many trade show venues and craft shows are banning high heat producing bulbs at their shows because of their extreme power requirements and their potential for a fire hazard. The high heat producing bulbs are not Las Vegas approved but LED bulbs are absolutely Las Vegas approved.
POWER CABLES FOR YOUR SHOW BOOTH