Museum work has one constraint retail does not: the object cannot be moved, and the light must not damage it. That pushes the specification towards high CRI, low radiant heat at the object, and optics that can be re-aimed when the exhibition changes — without anyone touching the case structure.
Radiant heat at the object. In a closed vitrine, heat has nowhere to go. Our heads are low-voltage DC12V/DC24V LED sources rated at 20,000 hours, and they put far less radiant heat onto an object than the halogen fittings they replace. Where a case is particularly sensitive, the practical answers are lower wattage heads placed closer, and switching the case off between visitors.
Colour accuracy. Ra90 across most of the range and Ra ≥ 92 on the OSRAM chip track heads. Under Ra80 an oil painting loses its glazes and a textile loses the difference between two reds.
Re-aiming without re-building. A temporary exhibition gets re-lit for every show. That is what zoomable optics and magnetic mounting are for: the beam angle and the position change on the day, and the case structure stays untouched.
We have written separately about reducing UV and heat damage to exhibits and about how LED lighting protects collections from heat.
| Model | Power | Flux | Beam | CRI | Voltage | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wall-mounted vitrine, shallow | CHIF 10220-P-1W / CHIF 10223C-P-3W | Ra ≥ 92, 12°/25°/45° | Small objects, coins, small ceramics | |||
| Freestanding case, object can be approached from all sides | CHIB7527-D-6W | 2×3W, 300 lm per head, 15°/30°/60°, stem 200/300/400 mm | Dual head lets one case light two objects differently | |||
| Case with changing exhibitions | CHIB7523-P-3W | 3W, 210 lm, zoomable 10°–60°, DC12/24V | Beam adjusted on the fixture, no re-ordering | |||
| Glass vitrine, full-height | CHIA8428-4 | 10W/m, 1000 lm/m, 110°, Ra ≥ 80, up to 2000 mm | Suspended frame bar around the glass, no visible hardware on the shelf | |||
| New joinery, no hardware visible | T04F embedded track + CHIF1052-P-3W | Track opening 15×11.5 mm, 8A, DC12/24V; head 3W, 150 lm, 15°/25°/45°, Ra90 | Track routed flush, only the head shows | |||
| Compact case, structure must disappear | TR-1 PET transparent rail | 12–24V, 1A, 1200×6 mm | Nearly invisible rail for micro displays |
A fixed-beam head ties you to one object size. A 10°–60° zoom head covers a coin and a sculpture with the same fixture, which matters when a case is re-dressed two or three times a year and the budget does not stretch to a new fixture order each time. Both the ” + pl(3598,”CHIB7523-3W pole spotlight”) + ” and the ” + pl(3621,”CHIB7523-3-3W surface-mount spotlight”) + ” zoom on the fixture itself. We covered this in more depth in why shapeable and zoomable track lights matter for museums.
Our magnetic and flush track systems run DC12V or DC24V, so each run needs a driver. Size the driver with headroom rather than running it at 100 %. For long runs, plan the feed point in advance — a run fed at one end only can show a visible drop in output at the far end. Track length is cut to order up to 2000 mm; ordering the full run rather than exactly today’s head count leaves room to re-aim later.
Certification, honestly: our standard builds carry CE and RoHS. UL/ETL for North America and ENEC for European tender work are quoted case by case — tell us the destination in the first email and we will price the correct bill of materials instead of shipping a sample that fails inspection later.
Next step: send us the internal dimensions of the case, the mounting height available, what is being displayed and the destination country — request a quote here and we will size the beam angle, colour temperature and driver before we send a sample.
