LED Handles and batteries a discussion

This week I wanted to reach out to get feedback on whether there is a demand for LED door handles that are battery operated rather than hard wired. When we designed our handles and particularly the longer lit pulls finding an LED spot that was small enough to fit in a 1.5” diameter pull was a challenge but one that American Illumination were able to solve. We selected American Illumination as our supplier as the unit they make is well designed, compact and is ETL registered. The spot they make is hard wired which means it can only be used on doors which have been constructed with a hollow channel for the wires to pass or by adding an external power transfer unit.

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The installation drawing below shows how the wires are fed through the door to connect with our handle to light the LED spot. This method of installation is attractive as it is completely concealed with your guest’s focus being on the handle and not on the apparatus, but it is not well suited to the hobbyist or home owner looking for a simple way to add light and color to their entry door.

Too date, I have not found a small enough battery that can power these very low energy LED spots for long periods of time and none that can keep the handle lit for a year or more so thought I would ask for suggestions from any of my readers. So, if you do know of a small battery that is 1” diameter and 2”H l would love to hear about it.

Contemporary Door Handle Meets Art Nouveau source

We have added a new video to our video gallery and now have 2 videos that show the full range of door handles that use tree motifs. The latest video is short but still manages to show the three dimensional nature of this iconic handle which is shown in brushed stainless steel and as a handle set, with one left and one right tree.

The video shows the fluid nature of this sculpture and the close up shots focus on the depth of the details in the leaf, root and canopy areas of the tree design. By panning across the tree trunks and up the profile of the canopy our video director, Jeff Jenkins, has been able to capture the shadows cast by the leaf canopy. The video was shot very simply using mainly natural light and this in conjunction with the dark ash doors gives the video an old moody black and white quality.  The mood of the video is in contrast to the medium of stainless steel which it often pegged for more contemporary settings.  By shooting the video this way, Jeff Jenkins shows us how thin the line is between the older rich and colorful style of Art Nouveau and the current trend towards monochromatic linear designs. 

See Collection

While the Hedgerow tree is shot in stainless steel, for those preferring the warmer tones of bronze, fear not, as this piece will always be available in the timeless medium of bronze.

All of our work is designed and made in Los Angeles and can be seen by prior appointment at our studio.