Dec 042012
 
PinExt Holiday Gifts For Your Favorite Techie

Gift Guide Holiday Gifts For Your Favorite Techie
Today, we’re continuing our series on helping you find those perfect holiday gifts. So far, we’ve offered unique ideas for those who love to read, cook, fix things, and adventure through the great outdoors. Now, let’s move on to those technology-loving techies…

Techies. We all know the type. They’re the ones always up on the latest gadgets. They love spending time just tinkering with machinery, making things work.

And, they’re the ones who we call on to help fix what’s broken – slow computers, malfunctioning toys, anything mechanized or electronic. So naturally, we want to return their kindness for the holiday.

Here are a few of our most innovative, fun, and helpful high-tech gift ideas:

LED Light Bulb Holiday Gifts For Your Favorite TechieThe Techie’s Essential Light

It’s a glorious era in the lighting world for die-hard techies. LEDs, the most up-and-coming lights, are an electronic power source capable of so much more than older filament and fluorescent lights.

If your favorite gadget lover hasn’t jumped on the LED train yet, gifting them a few LED light bulbs to use around the house will satisfy their thirst for electronics, and even save them some dough on future energy bills. Shop, and learn more about LEDs right here!

Continue reading »

PinExt Holiday Gifts For Your Favorite Techie
Nov 262012
 
PinExt Pegasus Lighting Roundup: Innovations, Upgrades, and Explorations

Lighting technology never ceases to amaze. This month’s Lighting Roundup is all about new lighting technology, ways to improve your lighting and energy use at home, and some of the most exciting lighting designs and installations I’ve seen in a while!

dezeenSafetyNet Sustainable fishing net by Dan Watson wins James Dyson Award 1 Pegasus Lighting Roundup: Innovations, Upgrades, and Explorations

Image via SNTech.co.uk

In Lighting News…

LightRecycle, a non-profit program to recycle lighting products in British Columbia, recently expanded to recycle all lighting products at no charge – the first program of its kind in Canada. The program began in 2010, and it caters to both commercial and residential clients.

Dan Watson, a graduate of the Royal College of Art, won this year’s James Dyson Award for his sustainable fishing net called SafetyNet. This special trawler fishing net uses strategically placed holes and LED lights to separate fish of different ages and species. These illuminated “exit signs” allow smaller non-marketable fish to escape.

Continue reading »

PinExt Pegasus Lighting Roundup: Innovations, Upgrades, and Explorations
Oct 312012
 
PinExt Lights For A Holiday Ready Home

holidaylighting2 300x217 Lights For A Holiday Ready Home
Holiday lights can have a bad reputation, but it’s my goal to help put some sparkle back in your season; to “lighten” your load a bit. Below you’ll find all the lights you need to prep your home for a headache-free holiday, from practical essentials to the best decorative fixtures and everything in between.

1. LED String Lights

Warm Holiday Lights 300x214 Lights For A Holiday Ready HomeHoliday string lights have always been one of the season’s classic hallmarks, and also one of its biggest jokes. With their festive beauty often comes hours upon hours of trial and error, trying to find that single burnt-out light bulb ruining the bunch.

White Holiday Lights 300x183 Lights For A Holiday Ready HomeBut, you shouldn’t have to worry about burnt-out lights if you use LED Holiday Lights for your home this year. They have a 60,000 hour rated-life, so they’ll stay lit for a long, long time.

Pure White Holiday Lights 300x185 Lights For A Holiday Ready HomeOn top of the impressive lifetime, LED lights generate much less heat, so you won’t have to worry about holiday fire hazards. Plus, they use about 90% less energy than incandescent string lights, saving you money to use on more important things this season.

They come in a few cozy color temperatures, alluding to winter wonders like ice and candlelight. Continue reading »

PinExt Lights For A Holiday Ready Home
Oct 292012
 
PinExt Pegasus Lighting Roundup: Getting Smarter

LIFX 300x225 Pegasus Lighting Roundup: Getting Smarter

Image via Kickstarter.com


In lighting news…

Over the past month, I’ve seen so many smart-controlled energy efficient light bulbs popping up on the market, growing what Forbes.com calls “The Internet of Things,” in which objects (and not just people) communicate over the web. Each light bulb has an Internet IP address that you monitor wirelessly with a smartphone, tablet, or computer. Some popular models include LIFX (featured on Light Reading earlier this month), and Philips’ Hue coming to Apple Stores tomorrow, October 30!

According to ThinkProgress.org, New York City was the first U.S. jurisdiction to publicly post energy efficiency information for its building stock last month. A series of mind-numbing spreadsheets might not seem so exciting at first, but this is a key step in establishing energy transparency in the real estate market.

In lighting tips…

EnergyStar Pegasus Lighting Roundup: Getting SmarterSpeaking of energy efficiency, have you seen the new Home Advisor from EnergyStar.gov? It’s an online resource that gives you detailed information on just about every way you can save energy at home. All you have to do is answer a few simple questions (Where you live, how you heat/cool your home, etc.) and they’ll give you a list of everything you can do to save a little more power. Continue reading »

PinExt Pegasus Lighting Roundup: Getting Smarter
Oct 112012
 
PinExt Featured Lighting Project From Austin, TX

LED Under Cabinet Light 300x300 Featured Lighting Project From Austin, TX
A big warm thank you goes out to Mady Kaye of Austin, TX for sending us photos of her recent lighting upgrade! It’s truly amazing what a few 8-inch, 9-Watt LED under cabinet lights have done for her bold kitchen. She used 3 dimmable, low-profile fixtures, one in the corner and two over the counter top to the right of the sink.

Here’s a shot of the finished under cabinet lighting installation:

LED Undercabs Final Mady Kaye Featured Lighting Project From Austin, TX

Lovely! I especially love how the warm glow adds a little ambiance to the place. The LEDs Mady chose have an excellent color rendering index of 87, which is especially important to flatter those bright red counter tops!

Now let’s take a closer look… Continue reading »

PinExt Featured Lighting Project From Austin, TX
Oct 102012
 
PinExt Reliable LEDs: Fact or Fiction?

LED Dimmable Reliable LEDs: Fact or Fiction?
50 years ago yesterday, Nick Holonyak Jr. demonstrated the first LED to General Electric suits. Back then, while the only existing LED emitted crimson infrared light, Holonyak predicted his invention would replace standard household incandescent light bulbs. Today LED manufacturers haven’t stopped being idealistic.

Since LEDs have only been around for half a century, the 20, 25, 30 year expiration dates on the brand new technology might be difficult to believe. Honestly, LEDs have barely been around long enough to find a niche in the market, let alone undergo 20, 25, 30 years of definitive testing. The claims and the benefits of LEDs are impressive, but how can we make sure they’re not a farce?

Enter the U.S. Department of Energy and their new Lighting Facts program, created to help you navigate the teeming sea of new lighting technology. The program addressed this issue of LED luminaire depreciation in depth, to help people like you and me know what we’re getting into.

How do manufacturers come up with these numbers?

Instead of traditional testing, where a large sample of lamps are operated until 50% burn out, developers must determine an LED’s rated life a different way. Since the LED doesn’t burn out, but dims gradually, the rated life comes from the estimated lumen depreciation, not accounting for other causes of decline.

What causes LED failure?

Other factors besides age that might increase the rate of gradual dimming include:

  • Exposure to extreme temperatures
  • Contact with moisture and humidity
  • Voltage and current fluctuations
  • Driver or other electrical component failure
  • Damage to material encapsulating the LEDs
  • Damage to any wire bonds connecting the LED to the fixture
  • Degradation of phosphors

Since very few of us live in sterile, mellow, laboratory-like houses, the entire light bulb’s rated life will not live up to the life span of its LED. Continue reading »

PinExt Reliable LEDs: Fact or Fiction?
Oct 092012
 
PinExt A New Kind of LED: Reinvented With Smartphones in Mind

LIFX Control 281x300 A New Kind of LED: Reinvented With Smartphones in Mind

Photo via Kickstarter.com


Remember when clap-on, clap-off lights came out? It was the coolest thing to control the lights without leaving your seat. Well, what if you could control your lights to turn on and off, dim, change colors, and even respond to the beat of your iTunes library, all from the comfort of your favorite easy chair? That would take a lot of clapping.

Phil Bosua, creator of the LIFX smartbulb has decided to spare you the obligation (but not the desire) to thunderously applaud, allowing you to control his revolutionary lamp with your smartphone.

“It’s not like we get up to change the TV channel anymore,” said Bosua, “So why do that with our lights?”

The LIFX smartbulb is a self-contained LED light bulb, so all you need to do to utilize its numerous abilities is screw it into your light socket, and download the free app from iTunes or Google Play.

Installing the LIFX A New Kind of LED: Reinvented With Smartphones in Mind

Photo via Kickstarter.com

Bosua didn’t design this light with merely lethargy in mind – its technological advancements also have the potential to improve your wellbeing. Here are a few things you can do with the LIFX: Continue reading »

PinExt A New Kind of LED: Reinvented With Smartphones in Mind
Oct 082012
 
PinExt Energy Efficient Windows: Worth It In The Long Run?

 Energy Efficient Windows: Worth It In The Long Run?

Energy-efficient lighting is always a big topic on our Light Reading blog. Today, thanks to Jim Klossner, a home and garden writer, we are able to put a focus on another big energy-efficient topic – windows and doors. There is some great information in this post about figuring out if it is time to upgrade your windows and doors and the options available. Enjoy!

When it comes to energy costs in the home, heating and cooling are a major factor. Many of the weakest points in your home’s fight for thermal efficiency are the windows and doors. This is especially true of older homes or those with large entryways and windows. Most retailers make it sound like the only fix for this is to buy the latest, greatest doors and windows. While newer energy efficient doors and windows can offer benefits in the right situations, are they truly worth the time and cost investment?

When to Consider Upgrading Existing Doors and Windows

The benefits offered by these upgrades are largely dependent on your existing windows and doors. One of the biggest factors to consider is the current configuration and the seal of the windows or doors in question. Single pane windows and metal doors offer little in terms of insulation and thermal resistance. They are especially prone to temperature changes due to wind. Combine this with aging seals, weak frames or shoddy installation and you have the perfect recipe for a drafty home and expensive energy bills.

Advantages of Energy Efficient Doors and Windows

Energy efficient doors are often made of materials such as fiberglass, vinyl or wood. These materials reduce the thermal conductivity of the door and help to maintain separate temperature zones on both sides of the door. High-quality seals and frames help to improve these characteristics by ensuring that your heater or air conditioner is not leaking its efforts into the surrounding area. This means easier regulation of temperatures during high or low periods and lower monthly energy bills. Continue reading »

PinExt Energy Efficient Windows: Worth It In The Long Run?
Sep 282012
 
PinExt The Quest for Quality Light

Since the advent of the incandescent (and even before), quality of light has been on the tip of everyone’s tongue. Regrettably, that quality has mostly been unfortunate. When incandescent lights were the only choice, the early 20th century population complained about the glare and the possible dangers of electricity.

Case in point: on an episode of Downton Abbey (Masterpiece’s smash hit about an elite family living on an estate in the early 1900’s), the prim and hilarious Dowager Countess laments the new electric lamps:

“Such a glare! I couldn’t have electricity in the house – I wouldn’t sleep a wink. All those vapors seeping about. Feels as if  I were on stage at the Gaiety.”     

Downton Abbey 1024x576 The Quest for Quality Light

The Countess shielding herself from the electric lights. Courtesy of Downton Abbey.

Not only were people of the time dissatisfied with the brightness of the lights, they also were afraid electricity was going to leap out of the walls and plug points and infect them!

Even when fluorescent and mercury vapor lights came along in the 1930s, their blue-green hues and poor color rendering indexes made them sorry alternatives. The people were left to compare the poor quality of gas-discharge lamps vs. the poor quality of phosphor-generated lights vs. the incandescent lights they had learned to live with.

Finally, according to the LIGHTimes Online, quality of light may be gaining a positive spin thanks to LEDs. Yes, like many of the lights before them, LEDs have provided their share of poor quality with cheaply manufactured lamps that claimed way more than they actually could deliver. But now, all the major LED manufacturers have incorporated quality of light into their daily vocabulary. Continue reading »

PinExt The Quest for Quality Light
Sep 262012
 
PinExt Pegasus Lighting Roundup: Updates and Renovations

This month, more of us are trading out old light fixtures for (surprise) LEDs. Others are re-purposing old lights in illuminating ways…

In Lighting News…

Cree’s New 10-year Warranty on LEDs. Just this week Cree (a notable LED manufacturer) introduced a 10 year warranty on nearly all new commercial light fixtures. For many of us still skeptical about the quality of LEDs on the market today, Cree’s commitment to long-term performance and reliability is a relief.

 Pegasus Lighting Roundup: Updates and Renovations

Courtesy of MiamiHerald.com

Notable LED Makeovers at Home and Abroad.  Everywhere more and more iconic structures and events are adopting LED lights. A few recent additions include:

  • The Miami Tower: This beautiful upgrade allows for custom light shows and will reduce the 47-story building’s related lighting energy usage by over 92%.
  •  LSU’s Tiger Stadium: The 90-year-old, 92,000-seat stadium stepped up its game with a multicolor, LED lighting system. It enhances the structure’s architecture, and fans love it!  
  • Oktoberfest: One of Frankfurt’s most popular tents, the Hippodrome, just replaced its 25-watt incandescent light bulbs with 550 5-watt LEDs. The warmly lit atmosphere won’t change, but they’ll save about 1.2 tons in CO2 emissions.    

LEDs Increase Plant Growth. Researchers at Penn State conducted a recent experiment, testing the benefits of using LED grow lights against more traditional fluorescent and incandescent light bulbs. The results were astounding. Not only did LEDs cost less to operate and maintain, but they also caused a noticeable increase in plant growth.

LEDs Increase Plant Growth Pegasus Lighting Roundup: Updates and Renovations

Plants grown with LEDs are on the left. Photo courtesy of the Penn State Department of Public Information.

Continue reading »

PinExt Pegasus Lighting Roundup: Updates and Renovations