TylerCo, Inc. has been manufacturing glass tiles for over 25 years.  Our continuing passion for enhancing the beauty of this striking medium has culminated in the creation of Lumenaire Tiles, a fusion of glass tile and LED lighting.  This patented breakthrough allows the uniform, cool backlighting of glass tile and transparent stone.  The Lumenaire Tile story is almost as interesting as the stunning product itself.

Three years ago, TylerCo, Inc. felt that it was time to introduce lighted glass tiles.  The decision started a long journey culminating with the beautiful product before you.  We wanted the glass to look as natural as possible without any hot spots of light detracting from the beauty of the glass.  We also knew there was an installation and maintenance problem.  We envisioned the tiles being used in permanent installations where constantly changing the light source would be inconvenient, if not impossible.  Additionally, we had to consider the light source and responsible energy use.  Fluorescent lights were energy efficient, but delivered not only hot spots, but had a very short life span.  Conventional fiber optics still had hot spots at the points where the lights come from the end of the fibers.

We searched for and found a company that could make light come from the body of the fiber rather than the end, solving the hot spot problem. The light source was still a problem.  Halogen lamps solved the problem of the amount of illumination we wanted, but gave us additional problems of huge energy use and heat generation.  We also found that after a year of use, halogen lamps actually melted the ends of the fibers and caused the light to dull.  The final solution came with LEDs, light emitting diodes.  We call them the new light bulbs.  Using LEDs, we found that we solved our energy as well as our heat problems.  We also found that the LEDs last for a very long time. 

In 2007, we released our fiber optic backlit glass tiles.  We soon discovered that we were using a lot of fiber to illuminate our tiles, which wasn't what we were aspiring to.  We wanted a more efficient way to illuminate the tiles.  So, we started all over again.  Back to the drawing board! 

We tested everything we could find and discovered that if we use a light guide and LEDs, we could light our glass tiles with even light, using extremely low energy, and a light that will last 20 years.  We are delighted to be able to offer these tiles that are absolutely gorgeous, environmentally friendly, with limitless possibilities.