Tag Archives: Construction and Maintenance

Nothing Out Of Pocket For LED Lighting

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LouMan MoneyI know it sounds a little “pitchy” but in fact, this is 100% a true story. Our company has recently started a finance program appropriately titled “LouMan Money®” in order to fund Lighting Solutions for our commercial clients. LouMan Money® provides not only the financing for lighting products, but will also include all design, install and even disposal or recycling costs for the products being removed.

So what does this all mean to you? I am glad you asked!

Lets say we use our fancy analysis tool, the Lampinator®, to figure out what you’ve got  for existing lighting and what LED products we’ll put in to replace it. For the sake of this example, lets say that we determine we are saving you $10,000 / year with an initial cost of $20,000 in product, installation, etc. So, that’s pretty easy math, right? $20,000 will take exactly two years to reach “payback”. Then, we can dig a little deeper and calculate ROI (Return On Investment) based on the expected life of the state-of-the-art LED products. Lets use 10 years for the sake of this example. So how does the math look so far?

  • Investment: $20,000
  • Annual Savings: $10,000
  • Payback Period:  2 years
  • Life of new LEDs 10 years

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LED Lighting LED SourceSo based on the above, your eventual ROI (not including rate increases, inflation, etc) will be (savings) 10,000 X (life in years) 10 – (Investment) 20,000 = $80,000. Yes, it’s true. In 10 years, you will have earned a profit of 80,000 on your initial investment of 20,000. Sure, some will say “but what if those products don’t last the full 10 years”… well, even though the rating on the lamps may be as long as 20+ years, lets say they ONLY last the 5 year warranty… you’re still looking at a $30,000 profit on the 20,000 investment.

The argument then can only be “well, we’ve been through a rough 5 or 6 years with this crazy economy. For our business to put $20,000 into lighting products, when our lights are working perfectly makes little sense to us”. I understand. Trust me, in my own businesses, it’s hard to justify investments in anything other than staff and inventory.

The answer is this. “Invest someone else’s money!” This is where we come in. LouMan Money® allows our clients to pay for the entire project, from start to finish, with other people’s money. We match the payment closely to the savings, then give you all sorts of options on what you want to do. Lets say for example:

  • Project Total: $20,000
  • Monthly Savings:  $833
  • Down Payment:  $0
  • LouMan Money 24 mos: $891
  • LouMan Money 36 mos: $612
  • LouMan Money 12 mos: $1,726

So, using this example, if you pay for the lights over 36 months, you’re seeing Positive Cashflow from month 1 of $221 from the very first month. You’ve paid nothing out of pocket, there are no personal guarantees (in most cases) and only the LED lighting serves as collateral. Yet, you are realizing savings month one!

You also have options to pay for the lights in a shorter, or sometimes even a longer period. The flexibility is there.

LouMan Money® offers so many more benefits including easy application process, the availability of master lines (allowing you to approve multiple locations at once, but ship only as needed), and much more. Heck, we can even easily finance governments and municipalities! The goal is only to provide as many businesses as possible with better lighting solutions, improving the world and your bottom line while we do it.

For more information on LouMan Money® or LED lighting products, visit www.LEDsource.com or call (866) 900-4LED (4533).

7 Reasons to Use LED Lighting for Landscaping

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LED Lighting by LED SourceThe other day, I happened to catch a rebroadcasted episode of The Vanilla Ice Project on DIY Network.  If you have not seen this program before, it is a great home improvement show where Robert Van Winkle aka Vanilla Ice, shows you the best products to use when renovating a home.

In this particular episode, “Nice, Nice Landscaping,” Rob discusses the importance of having the right light for exterior lighting, specifically landscape lighting. His goal is to highlight the newly planted palm tress and illuminate the distinctive stonework covering the front of the home. To accomplish this task, Rob decided to use LED lighting and called upon the experts at LED Source® to help determine the right products for the job. You can watch more of the episode here http://bit.ly/meJkqA

LED lighting from LED SourceA great LED light to use for landscape lighting or accent lighting is the EcoSense EcoSpec Landscape LED fixture. This EcoSpec model comes in both a mini-flood at 12 Watts and an accent fixture at 6.4 Watts. When compared to that of a traditional 100 Watt flood light, homeowners will see an immediate savings of over 90% in energy costs.

A survey done in 2000, estimated that homeowners spent $50.9 billion to install and maintain their landscapes and gardens. When given the reason as to why they would spend so much money on landscaping, the answer was simple: to create beauty and relaxation for family and friends (54%). The second highest reason was to provide a comfortable place to entertain (47.4%), followed by improving real estate value (44.1%).

LED Landscape Lighting by LED SourceWhat does all this data really mean?

We love our homes and like to show them off. However, why spend all that time and money on landscaping and improving the exterior of your home when no one can see it at night? This is where landscape lighting comes in and more importantly LED lighting. Here are seven reasons LED lighting is best for your landscaping needs:

  1. You don’t have to change the bulb/lamp every few months like you would with traditional lights. LED lamps can last in most cases over 50,000 hours. Running 8 hours per night, 7 days a week, would take 17 years before you would consider changing them.
  2. You’ll save money on your energy costs. Most exterior lighting uses 75-100 Watt floodlights, which can cost a fortune over the year. When using an LED lamp, the savings can be an average of 75% or more.
  3. They’re perfect for the harsh conditions. LED lighting can withstand some of the harshest weather conditions from hot or cold, to wet or dry.
  4. Multi-color options are available with LED lighting without even having to change the lamp.
  5. You’re helping the environment. LED lighting not only saves money on energy, thus reducing your carbon footprint, it is also a green technology since its bulbs do not contain harmful mercury, like fluorescent bulbs do.  Plus, the fixtures are 100% recyclable.
  6.  You’ll achieve better overall lighting. With LEDs you get a better color temperature of light and better lumens when compared to that traditional lighting.
  7. The replacement of fixtures in hard to reach places will decrease. Gone are the days that homeowners need to hire a professional to replace lamps that are situated in hard to reach/access areas. The average life span of an LED lamp is 25 years!

LED lighting has come a long way in the last few years and the technology, as well as the prices, keeps getting better. It is important to note that not all LED lights are the same. As with any product, there are cheaper options available.  But buying an inferior product, especially when it comes to LED lighting, is not always the wisest investment. Speak with an expert to help you understand the best LED lamp for your needs.

As Vanilla Ice said, “The key to good exterior lighting is to not see the light, you only want to see the effect. You have to really think about lighting, not only is it important, but it makes a huge difference.”

Be sure to check out Season Two of The Vanilla Ice Project coming on DIY Network.

LED Source® is the nation’s leading supplier of high quality and name brand LED lighting. Speak with one of our LED lighting experts for your next project. Call 866.900.4LED or visit www.LEDsource.com.

5 Ways You Can Become A Facility Engineering Superhero – Part 1

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Let’s face it; sitting in a facility engineering position is more than demanding.

Whenever the phrase ‘budget cuts’ starts to creep up, it usually results in leaner maintenance crews or losing valuable long-time employees. Maintenance replacement is part of inventory budgets, which are critical to a smooth operation, are usually reduced drastically or diminished completely and purchasing anything becomes a knee-shaking event. It’s no secret that times have changed and it’s hard to be loved as a facility engineer. After all, we are asking for money all the time to keep our facilities running at peak performance. Very rarely are we recognized in such a way that we get the VIP parking spot for Employee of the Month, even though we are responsible for the VIP parking sign and the painted parking stripes.

Well what if you could impress your executive leaders so much that they give you the parking spot for a year? And who knows maybe even a little extra change in your pocket for a special lunch. Sales people and marketing teams spend their careers figuring every possible method to bringing in operating cash and boy do they get recognized when they do. What about accountants? They get the corner office with real windows when they save the company some money in taxes every year. Now, it’s your turn to shine.

The solution is an LED lighting retrofit. I know what you’re thinking: “Here we go again – another creative idea that I end up paying the bill on.”  Well contraire my friend, this is your secret to success! Interested? Before you run out to your local home center store and get sticker shock from the LED lamps on the shelves, consider the following:

  1. First and foremost if you think a home center is going to give you what you need to get into that corner office then you belong in the basement! Remember this: experts, experts, experts – got it? LED lighting experts, such as those at LED Source, not only know how to save you money but they know how to make your lighting look incredible, which of course makes you look good.
  2. Pay attention to the wattage savings – yes, they are real. Often times, you’re replacing 60-Watt bulbs with 7-Watt LED lamps. That’s a huge reduction in wattage, which results in big savings on your lighting bills.
  3. Let the experts audit your facility and tell you where you can save and where it does not make sense to change. One very important note here: Never pick a vendor who is locked into one manufacturer because you will quickly find out that one manufacturer does not have the best product for every application. Pick a an LED lighting solutions company that has access to all the best manufacturers and products on the market.

Part 2 of this article will be available in our next post. Stay tuned.

For more information on LED lighting and how you can save, visit the LED Lighting Experts at www.LEDsource.com

Adding LED Lighting To Your Nightclub Or Bar

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I get calls all the time from nightclub and bar owners seeking to improve the appearance of their establishments. Often times they have heard of and seen LED lighting but are not sure how or where to use it. The best place to start is the area that pays the bills and keeps their pockets fat – the Bar!  Here are a few additional tips on how to effectively incorporate LED lighting into your facility:

Bar ShelfBottle Shelf: One great area to illuminate is a bottle-shelf, which can be custom fabricated to fit into the décor of the establishment and become a focal point of any bar or nightclub. Accentuating the liquor bottles with color-changing light will create quite an impressive effect, yet should be an easy project for the local lighting and audio installation company. This type of bottle-shelf works especially well to illuminate some of the premium vodkas, as their bottles are made of a frosted glass that diffuses the light while the alcohol inside is clear.

Under the Bar: Another great home for LED lighting is underneath the bar. Fixtures can be mounted directly to the underside of the bar and adjusted to direct light onto the face of the bar, creating an attractive, ambient glow without glaring into customer’s eyes. This creates a comfortable environment for patrons to migrate to.

Dance Floor: Installing an LED dance floor could really light up the room. Use LED light panels and put the controls in the hands of your DJ, who can match certain colors, flashes and intensities of light with different beats from the music.

The ideal LED fixture to use at the bar is the iColor Cove QLX manufactured by Philips Color Kinetics. This product is an extremely versatile light due to its combination of high output and compact form factor. It is available in 6” and 12” lengths that can be incrementally addressable to create a gradient color fade or a chasing effect across multiple fixtures. A single power supply will support up to twenty 12” iColor Cove QLXs, which can be linked end-to-end with attached power connectors that are designed to make 180° turns. 1’ and 5’ jumper cables are available to connect multiple fixture runs and to bypass obstacles. The fixture itself sits on a mounting foot that can either be screwed directly onto a surface or easily snapped into 4’ mounting tracks, which will ensure a straight run of fixtures. Another nice feature is the adjustable rotating  locking hinge that allows the beam of light to be focused 180°.

For more information on LED lighting for your nightclub or bar, check out our website at www.LEDSource.com or give us a call at 866.900.4LED [4533].