The flexibility of track lighting allows you to direct light where you want it. With interchangeable system components, track lighting offers a wide variety of lampholder styles, colors and configurations that give you the freedom of expression with your lighting design. Once in place, the lampholders can be positioned along the power track for various lighting effects such as accent or task lighting. In addition, track lighting can usually be installed without any remodeling, making it an economical solution to brightening up your home. Whether using it as your only source of light, or combining it with other lighting techniques, track lighting can serve as an integral part of your home décor. 

Track lighting can change the feel of any room in your home. Use it as an accent light on your favorite objects d’art, pictures, plants, etc. Wash the walls with light in your family room or living room for overall, general illumination. Mount track lights above your kitchen island, or a desk for bright, task lighting. Add drama to your fireplace, or brighten up dark bookshelves.

Most track systems offer a “floating” canopy that allows you to “feed” the power to any point on the track from your existing ceiling junction box. Cord and plug power feeds enable you to install a track system near an existing wall outlet. Connectors allow you to join straight lengths, or to form “L”, “T”, or “X” configurations from the same power source.

According to the American Lighting Association, fixtures should be aimed at a 30-degree angle from the vertical in order to prevent light from shining in eyes, and to avoid disturbing reflections on the surface of the object you are illuminating.

The distance that you mount your track depends on the location of the object or vertical surface that you are lighting. The American Lighting Association recommends the following guidelines when mounting your track system:

Usually, one fixture is required for each object that you want to accent. However, if you are wall washing non-textured surfaces, the track should be mounted 2 to 3 feet from the wall on ceilings up to 9 feet high with the fixtures spaced the same distance apart as the track is from the wall. For textured surfaces, such as brick or draperies, the track should be mounted 6 to 12 inches from the wall, with the fixtures spaced the same distance apart and aimed downward.

Avoid mounting your track lighting down the center of a room. Glare from the fixtures would bombard your eyes if mounted in this manner. Fixtures that are aimed at the wall can provide general lighting, or from the spill light that comes from accent lighting or wall washing. Try to keep your track lighting along the perimeter of a room. Exceptions to the rule would be applications that use track lighting for task or accent effects on objects such as kitchen islands and bars.

No. Always make sure that ALL of the components used on your track lighting system are made by the same manufacturer (with the exception of the light bulbs). Interchanging different manufacturer products may cause your system to function improperly, and will immediately negate any warranties or guarantees that are issued at time of purchase.

The answer to this question really depends on what you are planning to illuminate. Low-voltage fixtures normally use halogen light bulbs that provide a very intense, white light. This type of light is great for adding drama to objects, pictures and textured surfaces. The drawback to halogen light is its tendency to draw attention to flaws in flat surfaces such as ceilings and walls. Line voltage fixtures have the flexibility of giving you the option of a warmer glow with the incandescent bulbs, or the white light provided by a halogen-type bulb. The initial cost for installing a low-voltage system is higher than that of a line-voltage system because of the need for step-down transformers. However, in the long run, it is more energy efficient than a line-voltage system.