Tag Archives: LEDs

The LED Light Bulb Has Arrived

Posted on by
1

Compact Fluorescent Bulb

After a recent visit to a big box hardware store I had to explain to my 9-year-old daughter why we had to deposit our old compact fluorescent light bulbs in the big blue container with the skull and crossbones on it. I explained that this was a hazardous material and disposing it in here was good for the environment. So without missing a beat she asked, “If that was the reason, why was it safe to use this light bulb in my bedroom?” Great question!

As with most families we stretch our budget to its limit and try to save money where we can. We have only read about the day when a quality LED lamp (bulb) would be available to the masses. So for many of us waiting, we can finally exhale since that day has arrived.

Our family is now on a mission to replace our energy wasting incandescent and toxic compact fluorescent light bulbs to safe, long-lasting LED lights.

Businesses have seen the many benefits that LED lighting provides from saving energy and operating costs for the past few years, especially as the technology has improved and a variety of retrofit options hit the market.

LED Lighting Kitchen

In my own home, if I change my exterior light bulbs, which are on for 10 hours per night, and the interior light bulbs, (extremely high family room and kitchen ceilings) I should have my payback in less than 12 months!

Philips EnduraLED

Due to the long life span of LEDs, I won’t have to chase my family around the house shutting off lights in rooms where no one is sitting, or ask my neighbor to borrow his extremely high ladder to change those hard to reach light bulbs.

Cree LED BulbRecent industry predictions that LED lamp prices would be coming down were realized when a major LED manufacturer matched it’s cost to marketplace need with a reasonably priced, quality LED light bulb aimed squarely at the residential marketplace. Offering a line of LED light bulbs to replace the 40W and 60W incandescent, they have achieved the sweet spot for many household budgets – between $10 and $13.

We can now safely install a truly green product, which is safe to handle, offers a quality light source, all for the price of a combo meal at a fast food restaurant!

For LED lighting solutions, visit the experts at LED Source – 866.900.4533

Related articles

Do Your Part On Earth Day With LED Lighting

Posted on by
Reply

LED Source Faces of Climate Change

So what do Earth Day and LED Lighting have in common? To answer this question, we first must understand how Earth Day began.

Earth Day began as a grass roots campaign in the U.S. during the 1960’s and has grown to be a worldwide social and environmental awareness movement.

Earth Day participation has inspired many local and national political policies, including the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of Endangered Species Act.

Today, Earth Day is when we can reflect on our planet, the environment and find ways to become more energy-efficient and reduce our carbon footprint.

Often overlooked, LED lighting can reduce greenhouse gas carbon emissions dramatically. In fact the United States Department of Energy has stated the wide spread use of LED lighting can defer 246 million metric tons of carbon over the next several years. That is because the power plants would burn less fossil fuel to power LEDs over incandescent or fluorescent lighting used today.

For each Earth Day participant who purchases LED lighting for their home or business, the benefits are realized immediately through improved lighting conditions and energy bill savings each month.

The timing for switching to LED could not be better. Recent enactments of the Energy Policy Act have already banned the100W and 75W incandescent from production and the 60W and 40W will soon follow. LEDs also have zero levels of mercury, which is typical for compact fluorescent lamps (CFL). Just imagine all the mercury that ends up in our landfills from improper disposal of these CFL bulbs. By making the switch to LED lighting, not only would less lamps end up in landfill, LEDs are recyclable and contain no mercury.

Recently LED manufacturers have helped Earth Day celebrants become energy efficient by lowering the cost of LED lighting, which can do wonders for Mother Nature. Rebates and incentives, if available, will drive the cost down even further.

So make everyday Earth Day and switch the lighting in your home or business to LED. You will not only save money, you be doing your part in helping the planet.

For more information on LED Lighting, contact the Experts at LED Source.

Paying Tribute to the City of Boston

Posted on by
2

Miami Tower LED Lighting LED SourceTo pay tribute to the City of Boston and all those who have been affected by the senseless tragedy of yesterday’s bombings, tonight both the Miami Tower and the Bank of America building in Fort Lauderdale will shine brightly in blue and yellow thanks to LED lighting.

Boston Marathon FlagWe are runners, parents, sons and daughters and can’t even begin to imagine the impact this has had on the families that have been affected by this incident. Our hearts, thoughts and prayers are with those most hurt by this unthinkable act of violence. Today we mourn but tomorrow we RUN.

Earth Hour 2013

Posted on by
4

Earth HourEver want to do something nice for Mother Nature? Turn off those lights! Earth Hour 2013 will be talking place Saturday March 23, from 8:30 – 9:30 pm local time. For this symbolic hour, all non-essential lighting is to be turned off.

Initially organized in 2006 and originally called “ The Big Flick” by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to protest deforestation in Africa, but now Earth Hour has gone global and is celebrated from Sydney Australia, to New York City and is supported by 400 Cities and locations on all 7 Continents.

Golden Gate Bridge Earth HourBusinesses and organizations around the globe such as CB Richard Ellis Realty, the National Hockey League, Golden Gate Bridge, Manchester United, Hilton Hotels, Girl Scouts, the UN Environment Program, the International Trade Union, Empire State Building, Philips and Ikea, also do their part for Earth Hour.

Eiffel Tower Earth HourMost cities participate by “Turning off the Lights” and consequently the energy savings documented by participation in Earth Hour has been dramatic. The offset of carbon dioxide by reducing lighting energy has been in the thousands of metric tons. For conscientious citizens participating, Earth Hour has been a grass-roots movement promoting energy efficiency.

Earth Hour teaches us that reduction in energy costs associated with lighting are robust. It has a positive impact on the environment and saving energy is a concern shared by all people of all nations.

Empire State Building Earth HourAlso compelling is the inclusion of Philips Lighting on the list of supporters and endorsers. Philips has initiated a strong push to replace existing lighting around the globe with LED lighting. LED lighting can reduce lighting consumption by up to 90% and translates to a financial reward.

So go ahead turn off those lights during your local Earth Hour time and purchase a few LED lamps for your home or business. Mother Nature thanks you and so will your wallet. Maybe next year we can call this event LED hour!

For more information on LED lighting, contact the LED lighting experts at LED Source.

Would LEDs Have Kept Us In The Light At The Super Bowl?

Posted on by
1

Super Bowl Lights OutFor Baltimore Raven’s fans, today is the best day ever winning the Super Bowl against the San Francisco 49ers 34 to 31. However, it could have easily gone the other way with help from what is now called the ‘Superdome Blackout.’

During the third quarter for more than a half-hour, the lights went out in New Orleans for what is yet another Super Bowl malfunction. For 34 minutes, officials were trying to figure out what exactly went wrong.  Why did the power go out and yet some of the lights were on for half of the stadium? Even the CBS audio for Jim Nantz and Phil Simms went down. Rumors are endless on the Internet from the 49ers causing the outage to disrupt the Raven’s lead to a possible cyber terrorist attack on the power grid.  Even going as far as saying the power was handled by a Venezuelan company called Corpoelec and they deliberately caused the outage. Others just state that Beyonce’s halftime performance was too ‘electrifying.’

Super Bowl LightsOther reports say that the stress on the New Orleans power-grid was just to demanding and simply went out, causing yet another strike against the city still struggling to regain its infamous name since hurricane Katrina. Auxiliary power kept the playing field from going total dark but escalators, credit-card machines and all the concourses were only lit by emergency lighting. Even halftime host James Brown said a ‘power surge caused the outage.’

FBI officials have since ruled out terrorism and New Orleans fire department dismissed any reports that a fire caused the outage so the question remains. Some reports go on to say that a piece of equipment from Entergy New Orleans, the city’s power company, sensed an abnormality in the system and shut itself down as a safeguard. So for now the speculation remains.

So if the power supply required was to great at the Superdome then it lends to ask why did they not use a more energy-efficient light source like LED lighting? Most stadiums currently use 1000-watt metal halide Sportslighters to light their field. LED lighting manufacturers are currently testing fixtures that will lower the wattage to around 250-watts, savings 750-watts per fixture. In addition, the LED Sportslighters are instant-on, thus no longer requiring the warm-up time of 15 minutes that is associated with the Sportslighters of today.

Let’s hope that next year the Super Bowl will make a statement and move towards LED lighting and keep us in the light instead of the dark.

For more information on LED lighting, visit the LED lighting Experts™ at LED Source.

Related articles

Bye Bye 75W Incandescent Light Bulb – Phase-out Continues

Posted on by
10

75W Incandescent BulbThe start of 2013 marked another year closer to the ultimate demise of the Incandescent light bulb in the U.S. and around the world. So what has changed since the U.S. Congress passed legislation in 2007 to ban the bulb that Thomas Edison created? The reason for the Act was to eliminate inefficient energy sources like the incandescent bulb and slowly phase-out the various high-wattage bulb types.

The Energy Independence and Security Act set the stage in 2012 for the banning of the 100-watt incandescent bulb. While this was not enforced since funding was pulled for the Department of Energy (DOE) to police, manufacturers quickly implemented their own program to ultimately stop production. So bye-bye 100-watt bulb.

Fast-forward to 2013 and what is the next plan in the common light bulb phase-out? Say goodbye to the 75-watt bulb as of January 1st and then followed by the 60-watt and 40-watt bulb in 2014.

What is the big problem with conventional incandescent bulbs? While they provide more than adequate lighting for each of us to light our homes, they are highly inefficient. An average of 90% of the energy used to light the bulb is converted into heat, hence the reason it is on the list. Their life span is also a problem when compared to other lighting sources.

The Act mandates that all light bulbs are requiring 25% greater efficiency by 2014. The second part of the law states that by 2020 all light bulbs must be 60-70% more efficient than bulbs used in 2007 and produce a minimum of 45 lumens per watt. Some compact fluorescent (CFLs) and most light-emitting diodes (LEDs) meet these requirements today, shaving energy usage by as much as 75-85%.

There are some exceptions regarding light bulbs being banned in the Act – appliance bulbs, colored lights, plant lights and 3-way bulbs are exempt, as well as light bulbs currently less than 40-watts.

Was the incandescent bulb the only one being phased out? The answer is No. Some fluorescent lights like the T8 and T12 are also on the list. Read more here.

So why did the United States pass this legislation? The goal is to move the Country towards greater energy independence and security, increase the production of clean renewable fuels and improve energy performance while increasing the efficiency of products.

A19 LED Lamp BulbBy now you have heard the entire buzz around LED lighting and consumers are starting to take notice of the benefits, efficiency and the longevity related to this state-of-the-art technology. On average LEDs use 75% less energy, last 15 times longer than incandescent bulbs, instantly turn on, are dimmable, produce little to no heat, perform well outdoors and in cold temperatures and are extremely durable. Many LED Lamps (the word ‘Bulb’ is not commonly referred to for LED Lamps) are Energy-Star Rated and contain no toxic chemicals or gases, unlike CFLs. It is as easy as taking out the existing 100-watt or 75-watt light bulb and screwing in an LED replacement.

The stage is now set for LED lighting to dominate the marketplace. It is estimated that by 2020 over 60% of general lighting will be LED. Isn’t it time you made the switch to LED lighting?

Related articles

Lighting the Empire State Building and Miami Tower with LEDs

Posted on by
Reply

Empire State Building LED LightingWhat does it take to light an iconic skyscraper today? Look no further than the recent LED lighting upgrades for the exterior of the Miami Tower and Empire State Building. Conventional lighting consisting of metal halide fixtures no longer can compete to the energy-efficiency and versatility of LED lighting. In the past for a building’s exterior to have color, expensive colored gels had to manually be installed to fixtures. This was not only costly to have maintenance crews perform the task; it also was very limited in the colors available, and forget about the possibility of changing colors on demand.

Miami Tower LED Lighting LED SourceNow with state-of-the-art LED lighting, color changing can now be done at the push of a button from an iPhone, and the color palette has increased from a handful to now over 16 million color combinations.

A trend is underway with city skylines being reinvented with LED lighting. Iconic buildings such as the Miami Tower, a 47-story building in the heart of downtown Miami, and one of the most famous buildings in the world, the Empire State Building, have been resurrected thanks to LED lighting.

Miami Tower LED Lighting LED SourceThe Miami Tower underwent a transformation with their exterior lighting in September as part of a broader initiative by building owner, Jones Lang LaSalle. The Tower was previously lit with 382 metal halide fixtures consuming 878,519 kWh annually. The new LED lighting system reduced the number of lights to 216 using Philips Color Kinetics ColorReach Powercore and ColorGraze Powercore fixtures. Energy consumption was reduced by 807,668 kWh annually, which represents a total energy savings of almost 92%.

Miami Tower ColorReach LED SourceWith the new LED lighting system, almost $260,000 annually in related energy and operating costs has been saved.  Even with these incredible benefits, what really sets it apart is the ability to use the building’s exterior almost as a canvas to create beautiful color changing transitions and images such as the American Flag. The possibilities are almost limitless with LED lighting.

Alicia Keys LED Lighting Empire State BuildingNot to be out done, the Empire State Building, the world’s most famous office building, recently changed its traditional fixtures to Philips Color Kinetics LED lights. It officially unveiled the innovative LED lighting system in a coordinated live 5 station on-air radio and internet broadcast, synchronized to the music of Grammy® Award winner Alicia Keys. The custom light show on top of the Empire State Building created a stunning event for all of New York, and the world, to see. From color changing transitions and cross-fades, to strobes and bursts of light, the new LED system delivered superior light and vibrancy levels in real-time, unlike the previous floodlights.

The dawn of a new era for architectural lighting is upon us. LED lighting is not only cost-effective; it allows buildings to stand out from the crowd with a range of colors only limited by imagination.

Watch the Empire State Building LED Lighting Event with Alicia Keys.

Watch the Miami Tower LED Lighting Case Study Video.

Reinvent a city skyline with help from the LED lighting experts at LED Source®.

Related articles

Occupancy Sensors: A Good Idea?

Posted on by
5

Is installing occupancy sensors a good idea? Conditionally, yes. So you’re thinking, what are the conditions? Keep reading and I promise to let you know.

Maestro Wireless DimmerLet’s take a look at how occupancy sensors can save you money and have a positive impact on the environment. I’m sure we’ve all heard our parents tell us while growing up, TURN OFF THE LIGHTS! Sorry about the shouting, but that’s how I heard it when I grew up. As we got older and started paying our electric bills (for our homes and businesses) we started to understand that turning off unused lights would save us money. That’s exactly what occupancy sensors do; they turn off the lights when not needed and turn the lights on when they are needed. No more wasted light means no more wasted energy, no excess burned coal! Woohoo, you’re saving money on your lighting and producing fewer carbon dioxide emissions.

This sounds like a great idea and by this point you may be wondering why I’ve chosen to put all of these words to digital paper. I’m about to let you know.

Lutron Radio Powr Savr Wireless Occupancy SensorIn keeping with saving money, let’s say you’ve decided to put your money saving occupancy sensors on compact fluorescent and fluorescent lamps. Wow, now you’re really saving money with those efficient lights. Right? Well, maybe not so much. As you may know, frequent power cycling shortens the life of compact fluorescent and fluorescent lamps. Uhh, what? Turning the lights on and off repeatedly will drastically reduce the life of your CFL and Fluorescent lamps. This means the energy savings you thought you were getting are now being eaten up by lamp replacement. Now you have to recycle your burned out, mercury filled, CFL’s and buy new ones on a much shorter time line than the “10,000” hour life span.

True story: A coffee shop owner installed an occupancy sensor in the bathroom with compact fluorescent lamps. The CFL’s were being replaced once a month due to the high on/off cycling. They were paying $4 per lamp and there were 3 lamps, so $12 per month wasted on mercury filled light. I’m sure you’ve already guessed the solution; that’s right, LED lamps. The life of an LED is not affected by frequent on/off cycling. This means, the energy savings you are looking for will not be wasted on lamp replacement! Add the even longer life and lower energy usage and what do you have? A truly cost efficient solution!

So yes, occupancy sensors are a good idea when attached to the right lighting technology and yes you guessed it…LED lighting.

For more information contact the LED lighting experts at LED Source or call 866-900-4533.

Nothing Out Of Pocket For LED Lighting

Posted on by
2

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

________________________

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).

Switch Your T12 Fluorescents To LEDs Before It’s Too Late

Posted on by
1

We get tons of inquiries here about people looking to replace their old, worn out or dead lights with the new, latest and greatest LEDs.  Sometimes it’s for cosmetic reasons, sometimes it’s to save money, and sometimes it’s to go green.  If you currently have T12 fluorescent fixtures in your space, you can accomplish all 3 goals in one fell swoop.

LED Source® carries multiple lines of 1×4, 2×2 and 2×4 LED fluorescent fixture replacements.  We have several excellent options from Cree.  They are the CR14, CR22 and CR24 respectively.  They come in a very attractive package and at a very attractive price.  Check out the picture, look how sharp that fixture looks.  Go one, check it out, I’ll wait.  Not only is it a looker but lasts longer and that saves you money.  The LED lamp will last over 13 years if you use it 12 hours a day.  T12 lamps claim to last almost 3 years at that amount of usage, but we all know that they’re very dim if they make it that long and usually burn out well before that from the on/off cycling they undergo.  That doesn’t even take into account replacing the ballasts in your system every few years.  Add up the costs of the parts and labor to do that and you’re looking at a significant maintenance cost.  Plus, T12 lamps are going to be phased out as early as late 2012 and won’t even be available!

Not only do you save on lamp and ballast replacement costs, but you will also save on your electrical bill every month.  The typical T12, 4 lamp fixture uses 172 Watts of power between the lamps and ballast.  The Cree CR24 equivalent uses only 50 Watts.  So, not only are you saving money and time not having to replace components, but you are also using 71% less energy per fixture.  That’s significant savings on just a few fixtures; imagine if you have hundreds or thousands of these in your facility what the savings would be.

And finally, if you’re looking to go green, LED is the lighting solution for you.  They are mercury free (all fluorescent lamps have mercury in them and must be specially disposed of), recyclable and don’t contain the dangerous chemicals that are in other types of lighting. With the combination of easy maintenance, cost savings and excellent good looks, there is no better solution on the planet than to replace your fluorescent lighting with LED fixtures from LED Source®.

Give LED Source® a call today at 866.900.4533 and speak with one of our LED lighting experts.