Holiday Lights: Deck the Halls With LEDs

As much as things have changed in the lightbulb aisle, you can still buy strings of Christmas lights made with incandescent bulbs. But they’re being phased out to make room for more LED holiday lights, according to the American Lighting Association. LEDs do have their bright spots. Here’s a look at both the pros and cons of LED holiday lights. …

LEDs – Common Terms

When talking about LED lighting there are a number of terms that are essential to understanding which solutions are perfect for you:   Lumens – Measure of the total amount of light being put out. The higher the lumens are, the brighter the lamp appears. To get the same amount of light output as a conventional 60W bulb, an LED …

3rd Party Certifications – what exactly do they mean?

Sometimes it seems like there’s a million of these, and figuring out the differences can be difficult. Below is an explanation of some of the most common ones: UL (Underwriters Laboratories) mark – This is one of the most common certifications. UL provides safety-related certification, validation, testing, inspection, auditing, advising and training services to a wide range of clients, including …

Chicago plans major transition to outdoor LED lighting

The city of Chicago, IL has announced a Smart Lighting Project with the goal of converting the bulk of the city’s outdoor lighting to energy-efficient LED sources. The city will also contemplate networked lighting with a central management system and possibly the use of a street light deployment to extend its fiberoptic network, enabling the city to offer new services. …

LEDs – The Basics

LED stands for Light Emitting Diodes. According to Energy Star, LEDs are “semiconductor devices that produce visible light when an electrical current passes through them.” If you’re not a scientist, that seems to sum it up pretty well, so let’s move on to the bottom line. LEDs are more efficient than incandescent and compact fluorescent lighting, which makes them more …

Commercial LED Lighting Solutions Case Study Series – Parking Garage Marriott

Many businesses are now adopting LED lighting to save energy, and the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge is one of them. They switched to LED lighting in their parking garage, with fantastic results. By reducing the fixture wattage from 175 to 44, the savings is an outstanding annual $230 per fixture. With 375 fixtures, the annual savings is $86,250. …