10 Years of Lighting in the U.S. – What’s Changed, and Why Fluorescent Lighting is Making a Difference

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Jan 252012

Ten years ago, the Department of Energy released a report on the state of the U.S. lighting market. This week, they published the follow-up report. The numbers reveal how far the lighting industry has come in ten years, and they indicate a few interesting trends:

We’re becoming more efficient. This one’s no surprise. Technological advancements improve energy-efficient lighting in terms of performance and efficacy month by month, so ten years certainly showed strides toward sustainability. Most notably, fluorescent light fixtures made a big impact. In the residential sector, the shift was from incandescent to compact fluorescent lamps; in the commercial sector, it was from T12 to T8 and T5 fluorescent lamps. As you can see in the chart below, linear fluorescent light fixtures now make up the largest portion of the commercial sector as well as the largest portion of the total.

Overall, the efficacy of lighting improved by 29 percent – an increase from 45 lumens per watt in 2001 to 58 lumens per watt in 2010.

doe chart3 10 Years of Lighting in the U.S. Whats Changed, and Why Fluorescent Lighting is Making a Difference

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Posted by Emily Widle on January 25, 2012 at 10:26 am Tagged with: , ,

The Future of Lighting Is Closer Than You Think

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Jan 182012

Future The Future of Lighting Is Closer Than You ThinkImagine your lighting wall switch becoming obsolete.

Imagine controlling every single feature of your lighting from your Smartphone: dimming an individual light or a set of lights, turning them on/off, setting up a timer, and even tracking energy usage in real-time.

In Japan, that’s becoming a reality. Tokyo-based lighting tech startup Net LED Technology Corp has developed the first cloud-based LED lighting system.

It will go on sale in Japan February 20. The lights are 40W LED tubes with a 40,000 hour lifespan, and they come with built-in Wi-Fi. It’s possible to control the lights from a smartphone, tablet, or computer.

For more information, see the feature in TechCrunch or view Net LED Technology Corp’s English site.

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Posted by Emily Widle on January 18, 2012 at 1:40 pm Tagged with: , ,

Top Light Reading News of 2011

Lighting News 2 Responses »
Dec 292011

A Look Back on 2011 Top Light Reading News of 2011Ah, the end of the year. Time for reflection, resolutions, and recaps. 2011 was a busy year for lighting  news…

EISA 2007 took center stage this year, as the phaseout of traditional incandescent light bulbs approached and the political scene got heated. We published a week-long series explaining the legislation and how it will affect you:

However, that series was not the last you heard about the legislation. The BULB Act attempted (and failed) to repeal the portion of EISA 2007 that referred to incandescent lighting. Texas challenged the federal mandate with a bill declaring incandescent light bulbs produced and sold in Texas were exempt. The Department of Energy created an ad campaign to jump start support for efficient light bulbs.  And most recently, Congress passed a bill that denied funding to implement the efficiency standards, which will start January 1, 2012. Continue reading »
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Posted by Emily Widle on December 29, 2011 at 11:53 am Tagged with: , , , , ,

Has Congress Put the Stop Sign on Incandescent Legislation?

Lighting News 2 Responses »
Dec 212011

stop sign Has Congress Put the Stop Sign on Incandescent Legislation?

Julie Muhlstein, a reporter for Washington’s The Herald, described the recent developments with the incandescent lighting legislation well: Political football.

Whether you think incandescent lighting should be phased out for inefficiency or you believe light bulbs are none of the U.S. government’s concern, you’ll agree that the aftermath of EISA 2007 has been heated.

First, a repeal bill called the Better Use of Bulbs Act attempted to eliminate the efficiency standards set to begin in 2012 altogether. The BULB Act did not pass, but it gathered support from a large group of people vehemently opposed to lighting legislation. In response, the Department of Energy launched a nationwide advertising campaign touting the benefits of efficient light bulbs. One of the ads depicted a couple throwing valuable items (a TV, a bike, an electric guitar, etc.) off the side of a cliff. The DOE drew a parallel to throwing away money on wasted electricity.

The final play in this game was last week’s bill that denied funding to implement the efficiency standards. Technically, come January 1, the  traditional 100-watt incandescent light bulb may no longer be manufactured or imported in the U.S. because it does not meet the efficiency standards put in place by EISA 2007.

However, the Department of Energy cannot enforce that law, as enforcement funding has been denied for the next nine months.

See what I mean? Political football. What do you think about the recent developments with EISA 2007?

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Posted by Emily Widle on December 21, 2011 at 4:25 pm Tagged with:

Dropping $98,000 A Year …

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Dec 152011

University of Oregon Dropping $98,000 A Year ...… From energy bills, that is. That’s how much the University of Oregon expects to save per year after their lighting retrofit, which is scheduled for early 2012.

Crews will replace 33,000 T12 fluorescent tubes on campus with more efficient T8 fluorescent tubes. The $681,000 project will be subsidized by the Eugene Water & Electric Board, and engineers expect the lights to pay for themselves in energy savings in three years time.

With budget cuts in state universities across the U.S., it’s an exciting opportunity for the University of Oregon to drastically reduce spending on energy and allocate those funds elsewhere.

The campus is also installing new lighting controls and occupancy sensors.

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Posted by Emily Widle on December 15, 2011 at 3:12 pm Tagged with: , ,

Losing Sleep? (Some) Indoor Lighting May Be To Blame

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Dec 052011

insomnia Losing Sleep? (Some) Indoor Lighting May Be To BlameArtificial indoor lighting has been around for quite some time, but it seems that our biological clocks haven’t quite caught up yet. A new study at the Surrey Sleep Research Centre revealed tactics for minimizing the sleep deprivation caused by exposure to artificial indoor light in evening hours.

You didn’t read that incorrectly: Multiple studies have shown keeping the lights on after the sun goes down has a significant effect on sleep patterns. The hormone that regulates the sleep-wake cycle is called melatonin, and it is suppressed when we are exposed to artificial indoor light before bedtime.

The study at the University of Surrey attempted to determine if a particular type of lighting might allow melatonin to work naturally. It seems that a blue-sensitive photoreceptor targets the biological clock, so lighting on the yellow end of the color spectrum (with minimal blue content) minimizes the effect on biological rhythms. In addition, dimming the lights helps to increase melatonin production.

If you want to take this research to heart, invest in a dimmer or two to lower the light levels a couple of hours before you head for bed. As far as the blue-sensitive photoreceptor, look for lighting with a color temperature around 2800-3200K  for a “warm” look that won’t interfere with your zzz’s.

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Posted by Emily Widle on December 5, 2011 at 11:07 am Tagged with: ,

Update on the Rare Earth Element Situation

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Dec 022011

embrace lumens Update on the Rare Earth Element SituationAccording to The New York Times, supply is finally beginning to catch up with demand in the rare earth element market.

A few months ago, I posted about the Chinese government’s export restrictions on rare earth elements. The bad news for the lighting industry was that China’s nationwide production cap was causing the price of fluorescent light bulbs to rapidly increase. (Rare earth elements are a crucial component to the process of creating a fluorescent light bulb).

However, it seems that international prices for rare earth elements have fallen since August and are continuing to decline! The timeline for the impact on the lighting industry is unclear at this point. For more information, read this article.

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Posted by Emily Widle on December 2, 2011 at 9:50 am Tagged with: , , ,

Enhancing Lives with Light: Philips’ Partnership with Perkins School for the Blind

Lighting News No Responses »
Nov 222011

light guide panel Enhancing Lives with Light: Philips Partnership with Perkins School for the BlindAn inspiring story from Philips Lighting reveals the difference light can make in a child’s life.

Partnering with Perkins School for the Blind in MA, Philips has developed a device that will enable blind and low-vision students to track and engage with light. The “Light Guide Panel” can be programmed in a number of ways, and developers hope it will help children learn how to read, walk, and interact with their environment.

The video explaining the background of the product and its potential impact is worth watching.

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Posted by Emily Widle on November 22, 2011 at 11:38 am

In-The-Know About January 1, 2012

Lighting News No Responses »
Nov 172011

question In The Know About January 1, 2012There has been a lot of coverage on this blog about the upcoming incandescent light bulb phaseout. Back in January, I wrote a post titled Are You One of the 36%?, pointing out that only 36% of Americans were aware of the upcoming phaseout. A whopping 64% had heard nothing about the legislation, and 80% did not know that traditional 100-watt light bulbs would no longer be available after January 1, 2012.

The Department of Energy has been hard at work spreading the word, and so have lighting manufacturers and retailers like us.

Well, a new poll from Osram Sylvania found that those efforts have paid off! A majority of Americans (55%) are now aware of the federal legislation.

However, according to the poll, most Americans are still hazy on the details.

Do you feel comfortable about the upcoming changes? Do you have questions? Ask away!

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Posted by Emily Widle on November 17, 2011 at 2:39 pm Tagged with: , , ,

Are Laser Light Bulbs in Our Future?

Lighting News 1 Response »
Nov 042011

laser process 300x199 Are Laser Light Bulbs in Our Future?What do you get when you combine red, blue, green, and yellow diode lasers?

Apparently, pretty fantastic-looking warm white light. Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories recently produced a white light made from lasers and tested it out on a bowl of fruit. The results were incredibly surprising.

Lighting experts have assumed in the past that diode lasers would be a poor source for creating white light. Lasers emit single, narrow wavelengths (very different from the sun’s broad spectral bands). Researcher Jeff Tsao explained,

Before these tests, our research in this direction was stopped before it could get started. The typical response was, ‘Are you kidding? The color rendering quality of white light produced by diode lasers would be terrible.’ So finally it seemed like, in order to go further, one really had to answer this very basic question first. Continue reading »

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Posted by Emily Widle on November 4, 2011 at 10:00 am Tagged with:
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