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Bike Lights For Night Riding

Apr 112013

Bike Lights Oval 300x300 Bike Lights For Night Riding
My town is about as bike friendly as you can get. Most roads have designated bike lanes, or friendly “Share The Road” signs. All in all, bikers and motorists get along well here, but we’re not immune to accidents. Last week, I was driving in the evening and I saw a car accidentally force a cyclist off the road near a stoplight. He wasn’t hurt, but I could tell he was shaken. As an enthusiastic cyclist myself, that worried me. Did the car just not see him?

Whether you’re hopping on your bike to enjoy the spring weather, or to be a little more environmentally friendly, safety should be a priority.

The most important thing to consider when riding at night is how to see and be seen.

Here are a few of our favorite LED bike lights for night riding:

1. Clip On Bike Lights

Clip On Light 300x300 Bike Lights For Night Riding

These LED lights attach easily to the front and rear of your bike. The white light clips to the front break cables to help you see where you’re going, and signal to others that you’re heading their way. The red light clips to your seat rails, brightly marking your bike’s rear. They both operate in steady beam and continuous flash modes, visible from up to a mile away. They’re weather resistant and have a long battery life. Continue reading »

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How To Make Your Museum Lighting More Energy-Efficient

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Apr 092013

PinExt How To Make Your Museum Lighting More Energy Efficient

We’re teaching how to go green and save energy with the lights in every space we can think of! Click here to browse the entire energy-efficient lighting series.

The right lighting is essential for any museum. Each exhibit needs a lighting scheme that will preserve the artistic, historical, or scientific integrity of the articles on display. And it just has to look good too.

If you’ve already landed on a lighting scheme that works for your museum, you’re probably apprehensive to change it, even if you could save money.

Good news: Upgrading your museum lighting is easier than you might think. There are a ton of small, barely noticeable changes you can make to your museum lighting that will save you energy. Also, newer energy-efficient lighting options may actually provide more versatile, higher quality light for your displays.

Let’s get started, shall we?

Small Changes:

1. Guide Lights

If you have dark areas in your museum – night simulations or moody displays – you’ll always need small guide lights to keep your visitors safe and comfortable. These are things like step lights along staircases and rope lights along pathways or handrails. These lights will never add to or take away from the integrity of your display. They’re just there. So why not save a little energy with them?

The most energy-efficient step lights and guide lights you can find on the market are probably LEDs. They’ll last much longer than older incandescent lights and most fluorescent lights, and they’ll produce the same brightness while only using a fraction of the energy.

2. Exit Signs

Exit signs are necessary features in any museum, but it’s not necessary that you use a lot of energy to operate them. A good LED exit sign only costs $2 to operate every year. Compare that to the $39 it costs to run a single incandescent exit sign. The LED will pay for itself within a year!

If you’re even more ambitious about saving energy, you can opt for photoluminescent exit signs. They’re made with a special material that absorbs ambient light and emits it when the lights go dark. No maintenance or electricity required. Continue reading »

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The Difference Between LEDs and CFLs: Instant On

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Apr 082013

PinExt The Difference Between LEDs and CFLs: Instant On

LEDs and CFLs are both popular energy-saving light bulbs. But, we consider CFLs the light source of the present and LEDs the light source of the future. In fact, we’ve devoted an entire blog series to explaining that concept, comparing everything from rated-lives, to how each light holds up in cold weather…

They say the good things in life are worth waiting for. But, that’s not the case when it comes to your light bulbs’ start time. When you flip a light switch, you want immediate results. If you’ve been using incandescent lights all these years, you’re probably used to that luxury.

So, you might not expect a CFL (a light bulb more technologically advanced than an incandescent) to take longer to reach its complete light output. CFLs, even the best CFLs, can take anywhere from 1 to 60 seconds to reach their full brightness.

Why do CFLs have this delayed start?

Well, an incandescent light bulb produces light when an electrical current flows through its filament. The filament heats up and glows. CFLs, on the other hand, use a more complex system to produce light. Cathodes within the lamp heat up to about 900 degrees Fahrenheit and pass electrodes from one end of the lamp to another. This excites the mercury vapor inside the lamp, creating UV light. The UV light must then pass through the white coating on the inside of the glass envelope to produce visible light.

So, what about LEDs? Do they have a delayed start? Continue reading »

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How To Install Recessed Puck Lights In 8 Easy Steps

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Apr 052013

PinExt How To Install Recessed Puck Lights In 8 Easy Steps

Puck Lights PALPX 300x191 How To Install Recessed Puck Lights In 8 Easy Steps
Recessed puck lights are a simple, attractive light source for task lighting and accent lighting. If you’re ready to use puck lights to illuminate your cabinets or shelves, just follow these tips to create the perfect lighting scheme!

1. Pick Your Pucks.

Do you prefer plug-in, hard-wire, or battery operated lights? LED, xenon, or fluorescent? Low voltage or line voltage? What color temperature works best with your decor? You can browse our full selection of puck lights here.

2. Decide How Many Puck Lights You’ll Need.

This will depend on how you want to use them. For even under cabinet lighting or bookshelf lighting, use one light for every 6-10 inches of space. For display lighting, position one light above every item you wish to showcase.

3. Determine How To Place Your Lights.

For even lighting, follow the 6-10 inch rule. We recommend you install the lights closer to the front of the cabinets or shelves. This will provide the brightest illumination, especially important for task lighting. For accent lighting, the placement is more arbitrary. What makes your display look best?

4. Test Them Out.

Before you whip out the power tools, test out your placement by taping the puck lights in place. You can even turn them on to see how the final lighting scheme will appear. Make adjustments as you see fit. When you’re happy with what you see, take a pencil and trace each light. Continue reading »

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How To Make A Sign Stand Out: Wall Washing Lights

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Apr 042013

PinExt How To Make A Sign Stand Out: Wall Washing Lights

Freestanding Wall Washer Feature 220x300 How To Make A Sign Stand Out: Wall Washing Lights
Choosing new lights for your business?

When lighting signs, facades, displays, or landscape features, you should keep in mind that quality lighting can say a lot about you.

No matter how much time, energy, and funding you put into designing the perfect look for your company – the exact color red for your logo, or that perfect slogan to display out front – the wrong lighting will make it look cheap.

You want lights that won’t distort your colors. You want lights that are trustworthy; that won’t flicker or burn out quickly. You want to stand out!

After much searching, we’ve found just the thing: LED Wall Washing Lights.

Each of our new wall washing lights will bathe your displays in up to 2,600 lumens of flattering, neutral white light that can project up to 65 feet. They use minimal wattage (ranging from 21.6 – 64.8 watts, depending on the fixture), and every one of our LEDs has an impressive 60,000-hour rated life. All our fixtures are simple to install, with their own cords and grounded plugs. When it comes to beautiful, reliable lights, you can’t do better. Continue reading »

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How To Make Your Hotel Lighting More Energy-Efficient

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Apr 022013

PinExt How To Make Your Hotel Lighting More Energy Efficient

stock photo foyer How To Make Your Hotel Lighting More Energy Efficient
This post is part of a series on energy-efficient lighting. Click here to learn how you can save energy with your lights in all kinds of different places.

So you’re looking for ways to cut down on energy use in your hotel, inn, or resort. A few efficient changes to your lighting can make a big difference in the number that turns up on your monthly bill. Here are 4 simple ideas to get the ball rolling…

1. Go LED when you can.

A well lit hotel puts guests at ease. Bright inviting lights make a space seem clean, cared for, and trustworthy. You don’t have anything to hide. So, when trying to save energy with your lights, you don’t want to sacrifice any ambiance. That’s why LEDs are perfect for you.

LED light bulbs produce more light for the amount of energy they use – about twice as much as a CFL, one of the most popular light sources on today’s market. So, you’ll never have to lose light for the sake of saving energy.

White Accent Ceiling Lighting in a Lobby 680x1024 How To Make Your Hotel Lighting More Energy Efficient

When it comes to light quality, you can also count on LEDs. LED light bulbs and light fixtures come in an array of color temperatures – cool to warm, with excellent color rendering capabilities. If you haven’t tried an LED in recent years, you might be surprised at how pleasant the light appears.

Take some time to audit the lights you use throughout your hotel. Here’s a list of some lights you can easily switch to LED: Continue reading »

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The Difference Between LEDs and CFLs: On/Off Cycling

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Apr 012013

PinExt The Difference Between LEDs and CFLs: On/Off Cycling

Here’s another post in our series about the differences between LEDs and CFLs. So far we’ve covered everything from efficiency to safety. Click here to see the whole series.

Turns out, if you use CFLs and LEDs in the exact same way, they’ll react differently. Sometimes, the results can be damaging.

It’s a common myth that turning your fluorescent lights on and off frequently will increase your energy bill. While CFLs do use more energy to start up, it’s only equivalent to lighting the same lamp for a few extra seconds.

What you’ll need to watch out for is the price of replacing that CFL.

The rated life of a CFL, like all fluorescent lamps, can be dramatically reduced if the lamp is cycled on and off frequently.

The rated lives of LEDs, on the other hand, aren’t affected if you turn the lights on and off on a regular basis. Continue reading »

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The Difference Between CFLs and LEDs: Low Temperature Tolerance

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Mar 292013

PinExt The Difference Between CFLs and LEDs: Low Temperature Tolerance

This post is part of a series written to help you understand the differences between the popular CFL (compact fluorescent lamp) and the newest kind of light bulb: the LED (light emitting diode). You can browse the entire series here.

Depending on where you plan to use your light bulb, you may need to consider how it will react to the space’s temperature.

For a chilly area, like outdoors in a cool climate or inside a refrigerator/freezer, an LED will work best for you.

LEDs love cold environments. In fact, using them in places with cooler temperatures may even make them last longer – beyond their standard rated lives.

CFLs, on the other hand, require a lot of heat to initially turn on. When you operate them in below-freezing temperatures, you’ll have a hard time even getting them to start up.

So why do LEDs thrive in cooler temperatures? Continue reading »

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Product Spotlight: LED Tape Lights

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Mar 282013

PinExt Product Spotlight: LED Tape Lights

Waterproof Reel 300x300 Product Spotlight: LED Tape Lights
LED tape lights are one of the handiest fixtures around. By themselves, the lights look old-fashioned and futuristic at the same time – stored in rolls reminiscent of vintage film reels, featuring space-age looking LED lights. But, once you install LED tape lights, they’ll bring your space to life unlike any other light fixture.

What Makes The LED Tape Light So Wonderful?

LED tape lights (also sometimes called LED ribbons) have a ton of special features that other fixtures just can’t measure up to:

The strong adhesive backing on every reel will stick to almost any surface with ease.
You can’t find a thinner, lower profile light strip on the market.
The trimmable fields allow you to tailor the length of your tape lights, fitting the specific requirements of your project.
Their dimming capabilities (when powered by dimmable drivers) let you customize your space’s light levels, no hassle.
Many are wet location listed, so you can have great lighting indoors and out.
You can choose between warm white, cool white, colored, and color-changing varieties.

On top of all that, LED tape lights have a 50,000 hour rated-life, and because they’re LEDs, you know they’re going to save you energy.

Colored LED Tape Lights 1024x581 Product Spotlight: LED Tape Lights Continue reading »

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The Difference Between LEDs and CFLs: Rated Life

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Mar 262013

PinExt The Difference Between LEDs and CFLs: Rated Life

This post is the third in a series focused on identifying important differences between light emitting diodes (LEDs), the light source of the future, and compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), the light source of the present. To check out the rest of the series, click here.

When deciding which light source to choose, one of the most important factors you should consider is how long the light will last.

A longer-lasting light bulb means you won’t have to spend as much money on replacement light bulbs, and you won’t have to waste time and energy on maintenance and upkeep.

In general, LEDs last about 10 times as long as CFLs. An LED’s rated life can vary between 25,000 and 60,000 hours. The rated life of most CFLs varies between 6,000 and 15,000 hours. Continue reading »

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