First-half goals from Steve Howard and Warren Feeney and a delightful third from the impressive Steve Robinson gave Town a first win in five and sent the Seagulls back to the south coast with their feathers well and truly ruffled.
Both sides took their time to warm up in the sub-zero temperatures, but it was Luton who almost caught the Seagulls cold in the fifth minute when Ahmet Brkovic just failed to connect with a dangerous Carlos Edwards cross.
A crunching Kevin Nicholls tackle on visiting forward Mark McCammon then allowed Paul Underwood to feed Robinson four minutes later and the Irishman advanced into the area before testing Michels Kuipers with a left-foot shot from 15 yards.
Robinson was involved again in the 11th minute as he collected a Kevin Foley clearance and found the overlapping Edwards, who delivered another telling cross only for Howard to unluckily send his header down into the ground and then up and over the crossbar.
Howard wasn't to be denied five minutes later though as Town took the lead amid some protests from the visiting players.
The ball was close to crossing the by-line as Nicholls ran on to Brkovic's pass, but the skipper kept play alive allowing Feeney to square for Howard to prod home.
Brighton defender Kerry Mayo did appear to get the final touch but there was no denying Luton's big target man claiming his eighth of the season.
Luton continued to look the more inventive and Feeney briefly threatened when he ran at Guy Butters in the 36th minute only to see his angled shot end up closer to the corner flag than the goal.
A second goal did eventually come two minutes before the break after more good Luton play.
Underwood had time to flight a cross into the box which Butters could only head into the path of Edwards, who saw two efforts cleared off the line before Feeney touched home his seventh of the season from Brkovic's cross-shot.
Any nerves were put to rest in the 62nd minute when Dean Hammond's half clearance from Foley's right-wing cross ran into the path of Robinson who expertly chipped into the top corner for a goal his fine display deserved.