“City of Light”

December 17, 2017November 30, 2017 Chris Johnson

“City of Light”

What’s the “City of Light”?

What do you think of when you hear “City of Light”? Did you know the world calls Paris the “City of Light”? Did you know Paris is called that because it was a place of enlightenment in the 18^th Century and it was one of the very first cities to use street lights in 1889? (Source: Reference.com) When you think of the word “light”, do you think of the following Oxford Dictionaries definition: “the natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible”? I know that is my first thought.

So when I think of that definition of light, it doesn’t make sense to me that Paris is called the “City of Light”. It would make more sense to me that Las Vegas, Nevada is the “City of Light”. Why, you ask? Have you seen it all lit up from a plane coming in for the landin g? The lighting “stimulates sight and makes things visible”. It’s something to see! Let’s make a comparison on actual light usage between Paris and Las Vegas. The Eiffel Tower in Paris lights use 22 megawatts per day. That’s around a $3,500 light bill per day! Wow, right?? Okay…. Now Las Vegas has a light bill of around $1.27 million per day and uses up to 8,000 megawatts per day. The MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas alone has a light bill of over $3,000 per day according to Luxreview.com!

Las Vegas Lights up the Night!

Las Vegas has been lighting up the desert since the 1930’s. Originally, all the lights were neon, but most have been changed to the more energy efficient LED bulb. In 2010 to 2014, according to Reference.com, Las Vegas slashed the energy demand by 20% by developing energy efficient structures and replacing street lights and traffic lights with the LED bulbs.

There are tours in Vegas dedicated to just viewing the lights! You can book several different tours to take while you are in Vegas to get the best experience! Book a tour by helicopter and take a 15-minute, 20-mile loop to view thru Vegas.com. Or you can get tickets to see the Las Vegas Lights Night Tour and view 12 million LED lights within just 5 blocks on the popular Las Vegas strip according to Viator.com. Want a more private viewing? You can book a limo to take in the lights and have your own personal photographer capturing you with the lights in the background!

Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas!

The “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Nevada” sign located on Las Vegas Boulevard was built in 1959 with neon lights and now it is even more energy efficient with solar power. Who knew that this famous sign was powered by the sun? (Source: Wikipedia.com)

Freemont Street Experience

In December of 1995, the Freemont Street Experience was built to light up the sky in downtown Las Vegas (and to attract more tourist attention to the downtown hotels and casinos). This canopy of lighting plays a show every hour and is located 90 feet above ground between hotels. The Freemont Street Experience is 1,500 feet in length (5 football fields long) and has 12.5 million synchronized LED lamps! (Source: Wikipedia.com)

Las Vegas could be the “City of Lights”?

With all the famous lights, including Times Square in New York that uses 161 megawatts per day, Blackpool Illumination in the UK that uses 15 megawatts per day, and the Eiffel tower using 22 megawatts per day, Las Vegas blows them all out of the water with their up to 8,000 megawatts per day used. (Source: Luxreview.com). The lights are just one reason that people visit Las Vegas. Where else can you see so many lights on so many buildings, signs, and attractions? And why I think that Las Vegas should over take Paris to be called “The City of Lights”, if we’re talking the most popular definition of “light”.

Pegasus Lighting Now Recognized as Google Trusted Store

Pegasus Lighting Awarded Google Trusted Stores Badge

September 6, 2016September 12, 2016 Renee Carlson

Pegasus Lighting Now Recognized as Google Trusted Store We are pleased to announce that Pegasus Lighting was recently selected to join the Google Trusted stores program.

To help shoppers identify online merchants that offer a great shopping experience, the Google Trusted Store badge is awarded to e-commerce sites that demonstrate a track record of on-time shipping and excellent customer service. When visiting the PegasusLighting.com website, shoppers will see a Google Trusted Store badge and can click on it for more information.

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Cherry blossoms bloom in ESI Designs light display

Historic D.C. Building Comes Alive With Light

August 11, 2016August 11, 2016 Renee Carlson 1 Comment

A renovated Washington D.C. office building renowned for its historical significance as a civil rights landmark now captures attention with magnificent displays of reactive light.

In 1951 Mary Church Terrell led a civil rights protest at the lunch counter of what was then Hecht’s department store. Over 60 years later the aptly named Terrell Place, now a renovated office building, is making history again.

An Interactive Experience

Imagine that every workday was like walking into a virtual reality. Outside, you might trudge through snow and sleet, but inside, cherry trees blossom and fade, fireworks blaze and butterflies flutter with the ebb and flow of activity in the building’s lobby. Read More

Are Businesses ‘Waking Up’ to the Role of Blue Light in Sleep?

April 25, 2016April 28, 2016 Renee Carlson

ipad and iphone at night An estimated 83.6 million sleep deprived people are shuffling around the U.S. at any given moment – so it makes sense that businesses are investing in products and technologies that focus on ways to get a good night’s rest.

When smart lighting entered the market, it made changing the color temperature of lights easy. With the touch of a button, users could program their lights to wake them up slowly, like a sunrise.

Apple’s recent update to iOS 9.3 introduced Night Shift, a feature that takes its cues from the sun (or more specifically, your device’s clock and geolocation) to gently shift the color temperature of your display to the warmer end of the light spectrum at night which may help you get a better night’s sleep.

The Basics of Blue Light

Blue light, a naturally occurring wavelength emitted in sunshine, was manufactured into light emitting diodes (LED’s) by three Japanese scientists in the early 1990’s, an invention so innovative that it led to a Nobel Prize in Physics in 2014. Smartphones, HD televisions, computers … all of these devices are enhanced by the brilliant light of this technological marvel.

Does Blue Light Mess Up Sleep Patterns?

The theory is that the blue light does such a marvelous job of mimicking the sun, that it “tricks” our brains into thinking that it is still daytime. (See Using Your Tablet or Smart Phone in Bed May Be a Lousy Idea for more information.)

The theory is that the blue light does such a marvelous job of mimicking the sun, that it “tricks” our brains into thinking that it is still daytime.

What Next?

Currently, there’s not enough data to definitively say that the blue light from devices is what is keeping people awake at night. Rather, maybe your wakefulness is a result of too much mental stimulation from playing a game, or just plain worrying about some email that you checked right before you went to bed?

Although the jury is still out on whether or not screens emitting light on the blue spectrum actually disrupt natural sleep cycles, Apple’s latest release may be a catalyst for more discussion on the side effects of late night screening.

What do you think? Have you tried Night Shift, or products that do something similar? Has it helped you get a better night’s rest?

The Bay Lights Project Will Dazzle at Super Bowl 50

January 28, 2016February 5, 2016 Renee Carlson

The Bay Lights photo credit James Ewing 25,000 LED lights, intricately programmed on a network of complex algorithms, will soon dazzle the San Francisco Bay area on the largest LED light sculpture ever created. But it won’t be the first time.

In March of 2015, after a two-year-long display, it was “lights out” for the beloved Bay Lights Project, an iconic architectural light sculpture dreamed up by non-profit organization Illuminate.org and made reality by renowned artist Leo Villareal.

The original project, which ran from March 2013 to March 2015, was deconstructed when the permit expired, allowing the city to do maintenance work on the cables. Illuminate immediately went to work raising the $4 million needed to ensure that the bridge would be re-lit.

Thanks to their efforts, an upgraded and reinstalled sculpture will dazzle once again on January 30, 2016 where it will afterwards be gifted to the State of California. Read More

Sistine Chapel LED Lighting Renovation

January 15, 2016January 20, 2016 Renee Carlson

Artwork of the Sistine Chapel In November 2014, the spotlight was on the heavens, maybe even in the way that Michelangelo envisioned it himself. One year later, Osram sat in the spotlight for their role in the innovative lighting solution that made it possible.

500 years after its completion, The Sistine Chapel underwent a lighting renovation that has changed the way we see this historical masterpiece. Finding the right product and installation that offered a glare-free experience with no degradation of the original artwork was no small feat.

With strict oversight from the Vatican conservators, global lighting manufacturer Osram, along with a variety of project partners, designed and installed a custom LED lighting solution for the chapel. Some of the features of the award-winning installation: Read More