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: , ,

Play A Game of Soccer, Power an LED Lamp

Thoughts on Light No Responses »
Jan 162012

Julia Silverman and Jessica Matthews first began thinking about the power of a soccer ball for a college project. Challenged to come up with a solution to a problem facing the world, they focused on the lack of access to electricity in developing countries. Their imaginary solution was a soccer ball that harnessed kinetic energy from play and transformed it to electrical energy to power an LED lamp.

Little did Silverman and Matthews know that 3,000 of those electricity-generating soccer balls would eventually be delivered to Mexico, Haiti, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and South Africa. This is a pretty incredible story:

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Posted by Emily Widle on January 16, 2012 at 10:42 am 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: , , , , ,

5 Killer Tips from “ASSIST Recommends” on Under Cabinet Lighting

Lighting Tips No Responses »
Dec 162011

couple choosing under cabinet lighting 5 Killer Tips from ASSIST Recommends on Under Cabinet LightingI recently came across a great resource from the Lighting Research Center (a university-based center for studying lighting technologies). It’s designed for homeowners, contractors, and builders exploring best practices for residential under cabinet lighting.

In other words, it’s a completely objective source to determine what kind of under cabinet light fixtures are right for you or your clients. Perfect!

The research is published in two PDF’s – A Homeowner’s Guide to Residential Under Cabinet Lighting and How To Select Residential LED Under-Cabinet Lighting – so read the complete guides if you can. However, if you’re pressed for time, start with these 5 killer tips I gleaned from the research.

Match the Color Temperature With Your Kitchen:

Do you envision a yellowish, neutral white, or cool white (with hints of blue) light for your under cabinet lighting? It’s a matter of personal preference. If you’re a fan of yellowish light, we usually recommend you aim for a color temperature below 3200K. The 2700-2800K range will be closest to the warm glow of an incandescent lamp. Neutral white light is around 3200-3500K and it becomes cool white at about 4100K. Continue reading »

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Posted by Emily Widle on December 16, 2011 at 8:34 am Tagged with: , , , , ,

5 Warning Signs Your (Lack Of) Outdoor Lighting Is An Accident Waiting To Happen

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Dec 132011

Wanted Outdoor Lighting1 5 Warning Signs Your (Lack Of) Outdoor Lighting Is An Accident Waiting To Happen1. When negotiating the steps to your door at night, you’re forced to use your cell phone as a makeshift flashlight.

There’s no question about it – inadequate step lighting is just dangerous. It’s so easy to incorporate lighting into your stairway! Don’t wait until you take a bad fall to make a change. Use this guide to determine what kind of lights are right for your steps.

2. When you’re out of town, so are the house lights. 

Sure, outdoor lighting helps you negotiate dark stairways and makes your house look beautiful, but let’s be honest: It’s not just for you. It sends an important message to outsiders. When you leave home for an extended period of time, you don’t want every passerby to know it. The key here is to look for lights with photocells. Whether it’s a series of small utility lights or a light control socket you can screw your front porch lights into, photocells will enable automated lighting for your home. At dusk, the lights will turn on; at dawn, they’ll turn off again. Continue reading »

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Posted by Emily Widle on December 13, 2011 at 11:12 am Tagged with: , , , , ,

Challenge: See the World in A Greener Light

Thoughts on Light No Responses »
Nov 222011

ccfl main 300x198 Challenge: See the World in A Greener LightHave you ever purchased a CFL? Recycled an aluminum can? Turned off the water while you brush your teeth?

We’re all familiar with basic sustainability guidelines, but when it comes to just how much of a difference one person can make, things get murky.

We’d like to start a dialogue about seeing the world in a greener light. We want to hear your ideas – even if they’re not related to lighting at all. Do you set your thermostat a few degrees lower in the winter? Are you a designer that recommends eco-friendly products to clients? Tweet your answers and ideas to #agreenerlight. Here’s one of ours:

We launched a new section of our website dedicated to the A Greener Light cause. If you’re not on Twitter, you can leave a comment there!

Here’s our #agreenerlight thought for the day:

In the lighting industry, adoption of fluorescent and LED technologies is rapidly growing in the United States. That’s good news, considering that the U.S. is responsible for 20% of electricity used for lighting in the world – even though we only make up about 4.5% of the global population. Fluorescent and LED light sources are both great solutions for lowering energy consumption and CO2 emissions.

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Posted by Emily Widle on November 22, 2011 at 8:00 am Tagged with: , , ,

Your Guide to Efficient Holiday Lighting

Thoughts on Light No Responses »
Nov 072011

The holidays are right around the corner, and we are excited to be offering a line of energy efficient holiday lights this year.

Before you stock up with the same old incandescent holiday string lights, consider that LED holiday lights…

  • … Use 90% less energy.  Put a little money back in your wallet when the power bill comes around.
  • … Last 10 times longer.  Avoid the annual trip to the store to replace yet another light string.
  • … Are cool to the touch.  Cross “Christmas tree fire hazard” off your list of worries for the holiday.
37284 0 8 1329 traditional entry Your Guide to Efficient Holiday Lighting
Photo from Houzz Ideabooks. 

Have you ever used LED holiday lights?  Do you plan to this year?

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Posted by Emily Widle on November 7, 2011 at 2:16 am Tagged with: ,

Shopping for Under Cabinet Lighting? Shop by Video.

Lighting Tips No Responses »
Oct 202011

We are hard at work adding more Product Spotlight videos to our YouTube channel. If you are in the market for new under cabinet lights, check out these videos to help you get an idea of the different features available in LED, xenon, and fluorescent under cabinet lights.

LED Very Thin Light Bars have a cool operating temperature, an energy efficient design, a warm white color temperature, and a long rated life. Watch the video to see them in action:

Continue reading »

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Posted by Emily Widle on October 20, 2011 at 12:15 pm Tagged with: , , ,

If It Weren’t For LED Lighting

Thoughts on Light No Responses »
Oct 172011
leaf turn If It Werent For LED Lighting

The U.S. will be turning over a new leaf in overall electricity consumption thanks to LED lighting.

I attended a webinar about LED lighting last week and learned some interesting facts about what the future holds for this incredibly efficient light source.

Already, LED lighting has far surpassed incandescent, halogen, linear fluorescent, and high pressure sodium lighting as far as efficacy (a measure of efficiency for a light source, expressed as light output, or lumens, per watt of electricity used).

The expectation is that LEDs will continue to dramatically increase in efficiency and to simultaneously dramatically decrease in cost. Lighting designer Joseph A. Rey-Barreau led the webinar, and he noted that most other lighting technologies are on the edge of their potential as far as efficacy. However, there seems to be no limit to LEDs on this front.

Another interesting gem from the webinar came from a few charts analyzing electricity consumption in the United States. Rey-Barreau noted that if the U.S. had maintained the status quo with previous light sources, electricity consumption would double in the next ten years.

However, thanks to LED lighting, we are expected to actually drastically reduce electricity consumption in the next ten years. LED lighting will likely reduce lighting energy use in the United States by one-fourth by 2030!

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Posted by Emily Widle on October 17, 2011 at 12:53 pm Tagged with: ,

Powering Lighting with Footsteps? It’s Possible.

Lighting News No Responses »
Oct 142011
pavegen Powering Lighting with Footsteps? Its Possible.

One footstep produces enough electricity to keep an LED-powered street lamp lit for 30 seconds.

A new technology developed by an engineering student harvests the energy of a single footstep – and delivers a source of incredibly sustainable electricity.

They’re called “PaveGen” pavement slabs, and they are being installed right now at the 2012 London Olympic site.

Adding just twenty titles between the central crossing of the Olympic stadium and the Westfield Stratford City Mall “should be enough … to power about half (the mall’s) outdoor lighting needs,” said the 25-year-old who developed the prototype, Laurence Kemball-Cook.

Kemball-Cook came up with the concept in 2009 while he was in his final year of school. This will be the first commercial application for “PaveGen” slabs. Continue reading »

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Posted by Emily Widle on October 14, 2011 at 9:46 am Tagged with: , ,
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