“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 18th 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”.
I’m going to lose weight.
May 2016 marks Pegasus Lighting’s 17th year online. Like any developing 17-year-old, we have spent our “teenage years” testing the waters, figuring out who we are as a company and determining where we will make our future.
