Light bulb phaseout can’t dim Edison’s incandescence

Consumers may not all be aglow with the idea, but the government-mandated phaseout of incandescent light bulbs has reached all the way to the winter home of Thomas Edison.
Under a 2007 federal energy law, manufacturers must phase out incandescent bulbs in favor of more efficient bulbs such as compact fluorescent lamps, or CFLs, LED bulbs or new styles of halogen lights.

The law phases out 100-watt incandescent bulbs in January 2012, followed by the 75-watt version in 2013 and the 60- and 45-watt bulbs in 2014.

At the Edison & Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers, the incandescent garden lights have been replaced, even though Edison is credited with making the first practical incandescent light.

“Edison would have been all for this, because he was always looking for a better way to do something,” said Chris Pendleton, CEO of the estates.

While CFLs use at least 75 percent less energy, some consumers complain the lighting is dimmer, doesn’t look as warm and takes a while to reach full brightness. Some also worry about disposal requirements, because the bulbs contain a few milligrams of mercury.

“Every time I go to the store, I pick up a few (incandescent) light bulbs,” said Kay Horn, 62, of Fort Myers. “I probably have enough light bulbs for the next 15 years.”
Jack Lurie, owner of Tropical Hardware in Fort Myers, said he hears customers complain about the phasing out of incandescent bulbs and he said their sales have increased.

“There is plenty of stock now,” he said, “but that will change.”

The American Lighting Association’s Larry Lauck hasn’t seen statistical signs of stockpiling but has heard anecdotal reports.

Such reports are common whenever a new standard is introduced, says the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Noah Horowitz. He says consumers will be able to buy incandescent, but new ones will have more efficient halogen capsules.

“Unless you prefer paying higher electricity bills, there’s no reason to hoard old incandescent bulbs,” Horowitz says.

Richard Downing, 81, of Fort Myers has been using CFL bulbs in his home for almost 10 years. He has been a fan of fluorescent bulbs for 30 years, since he installed them on a 40-foot ketch.

“They drew the battery down a heck of lot less,” he said.

He said he is concerned about the bulbs’ mercury content, mainly because he worries consumers will just toss them in their garbage.

“You aren’t supposed to do that, but you know people will,” Downing said.

Lee County’s recycling program won’t collect the CFL bulbs, but homeowners can drop them off at the Household Chemical Waste Collection facility, 6441 Topaz Court in Fort Myers.

While that sounds inconvenient, Downing said he can’t say whether it is.
“In 10 years of using those lights, I’ve never had to replace one,” he said. “They might cost just a little more, but you make up what you spend very quickly in the energy savings and longevity.”

Let there be light, and make sure it is energy efficient

Since the late 1800s, consumers have relied on standard incandescent light bulbs to illuminate homes and businesses at the flick of a switch, but this is about to change.

Due to provisions of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, also known as the Clean Energy Act of 2007, incandescent light bulbs will be phased out and replaced by more energy-efficient lighting, including halogen, compact fluorescent, or CFL, and light-emitting diode, or LED, bulbs.

General Electric Co., the last U.S. based manufacturer of incandescent light bulbs, closed its plant at the end of 2010.

According to GE, the Clean Energy Act requires that between 2012 and 2014, standard A-line 40- and 100-watt incandescent light bulbs must use 30 percent less energy, but produce the same light output as today’s incandescent bulb.

While consumers won’t be required to throw out existing bulbs, according to GE, “you may be surprised when trying to find the same replacements at the store. After 2012, you’ll find that these bulbs will have to be replaced with energy-efficient options, such as halogen, CFL and LED light bulbs.”

Richard Wilkins, operations manager for Ulster Electric in Poughkeepsie and Kingston, said that lighting technology is changing every day in an effort to meet demands for energy efficiency.

“There’s always something new coming out,” he said. “Lighting technology is going to change within the next 10 to 15 years,” he said.

LED lighting, for example, is currently somewhat expensive to purchase but is expected to come down in price, Wilkins said.

“LED lighting offers better light output with less wattage,” he said.

CFL bulbs, Wilkins said, draw a lot less energy but are more expensive to purchase than incandescent bulbs.

New construction projects benefit from tax incentives when installing energy-efficient lighting, Wilkins said.

“Architects are seeing rebates for using energy-efficient products in new construction, including commercial projects,” he said.

According to the United States Department of Energy, artificial lighting consumes “almost 15 percent of a household’s electricity use.”

Use of more efficient lighting technologies, according to the DOE, can reduce lighting energy use in homes by up to 75 percent.

The DOE’s EnergyStar website notes that one CFL bulb can save homeowners more than $40 in electricity costs over its lifetime.

CFLs use about 75 percent less energy than standard incandescent bulbs and last up to 10 times longer.

Consumers have been slow to warm up to CFL lighting due to factors such as a yellowish lighting tint, a slow warm-up time and traces of mercury in the bulb, according to a recent article in USA Today.

Manufacturers are addressing concerns by producing bulbs that use less mercury and produce brighter light.

With LED lights, according to the DOE, small light sources become illuminated by the movement of electrons through a semiconductor material.

LED lighting is more efficient, durable, versatile and longer lasting than incandescent and fluorescents lighting.

LEDs emit light in a specific direction, whereas an incandescent or fluorescent bulb emits light — and heat — in all directions.

LED lighting uses both light and energy more efficiently, according to the DOE.

A benefit of LED lights is that they turn on immediately, as opposed to CFL lights that take a moment to illuminate.

The American Lighting Association recommends CFL bulbs as lighting for laundry rooms, storage rooms, kitchen and baths.

LEDs, according to the association, are very efficient light sources for a growing number of applications, such as under-cabinet lighting, task lighting and outdoor step lights.

For tasks such as reading, however, the association recommends that incandescent bulbs are often still the best choice because of their brightness.

To be as energy-efficient as possible, the association recommends using halogen incandescent bulbs instead of standard bulbs.

Halogen lights are more expensive to purchase than incandescent bulbs, according to the DOE, but are less expensive to operate because of their higher effectiveness.

They are commonly used in reflectors such as indoor and outdoor flood lighting, indoor recessed and track fixtures, and floor and desk lamps.

Unlike many CFL bulbs, some halogen lamps are dimmable, and are compatible with timers and other lighting controls.

According to GE, “Halogen lamps provide a small, white light source with excellent color rendering. Unlike standard incandescent lamps, halogen lamps use a halogen gas that allows the bulbs to burn longer without sacrificing light output.”

As living green becomes more ingrained in our lives, LEDS will continue to light the way, said Jeff Dross, senior product manager of Kichler Lighting, who will introduce several new under-cabinet systems and landscape products with an ultra-efficient technology next year.

LED lighting, in addition to halogen and CFLs, offers energy conscious options to replace the incandescent bulb.

Philips Offers its $10 million LED bulb

Recently, Philips stands as the lonely first in the would-be line of contenders vying for the $10 million prize slated by the US government for offering an energy efficient alternative to the 60 Watt light bulb.

The idea of an XL prize money on developing a light bulb may seem absurd but the amount of energy it would help save, which comes to 34 Terawatt-hours of power nationwide per year, does validate the huge offering. The entries were supposed to deliver at least 900 Lumens output, with a consumption of less than 10 watts, and a lifespan of at least 25,000 hours.

Energy saving is good, we hope they also keep the cost economics of the 21st century lighting substitute in mind.

Affordable LED Lamps Come to Korean Homes

As we all know that LED lamps have long been known for their efficiency, but due to high prices they have been mostly restricted to expensive industrial and consumer goods like billboards, TVs and automobile lights.

But yesterday Philips, the Dutch electronics company, announced it would begin selling LED bulbs at the local discount chain E-mart.

Branded “Ambient LED,” the lights work in sockets for incandescent or halogen lights. Ambient LEDs last 45 times longer than incandescent bulbs. Replace one incandescent light with an LED, and it can cut 30 kilograms of carbon dixiode emissions per year, the same as planting a tree.

“With hopes of introducing high-quality lighting to consumers, we are offering LED lights at a very competitive price,” said Kim Yun-yeong, vice president of the company’s light division.

Ambient LEDs are priced around 20,000 won ($18), about half the cost of previous varieties.

LG Electronics also began selling LEDs for homes in February. The Seoul-based company announced yesterday that it received a certification from the Korea Energy Management Corporation for the product’s exceptionally high energy efficiency.

Compatible with halogen sockets, LG LEDs can be used for 12 hours daily for 10 years and cost 34,000 won.

“We plan to accelerate our LED light business in the coming days by introducing eco-friendly bulbs different from other lights,” said Kim Yong-hwan, director of the company’s solution business team.

LG plans to use those lights at its Yeouido headquarters when they are renovated this year.

Samsung Electronics, meanwhile, is adopting a wait-and-see approach, still uncertain whether LEDs will succeed in the consumer market. Samsung has been making LEDs for industrial purposes since 2007.

GE Developed a New Energy-saving LED Bulb

It is reported that GE Appliances & Lighting, a dealer in major appliances, lighting, systems and services for commercial, industrial and residential use, has developed a new LED bulb that consumes only 9W of power and provide 77 percent energy savings while at the same time offering the same lighting output of a 40-watt incandescent bulb.

The new LED bulbs can last for 17 years and are expected to outperform currently available products that may be underwhelming consumers right now.

GE has claimed that their new LED bulb is better at directing the light downwards onto the intended area and produces 450 lumens whereas LED bulbs offered by other vendors can only produce 350 lumens. GE has also filed multiple patent applications for the bulb and expects it will be an ENERGYSTAR (News – Alert)-qualified LED omni-directional light bulb.

John Strainic, global product general manager at GE Lighting has commented that this is a bulb that can virtually light users’ kid’s bedroom desk lamp from birth through high school graduation. It’s an incredible advancement that’s emblematic of the imagination and innovation that GE’s applying to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges.

Strainic added that consumers are reluctant to move away from the less efficient incandescent because they prefer the light quality they produce. The new GE Energy Smart LED bulb will address that lighting preference head-on and give consumers yet another option to light their homes and businesses.

GE will put prototypes of the bulb – outfitted with Cree (News – Alert) XLamp XP-G LEDs – on display at two upcoming trade shows: Light + Building 2010 in Frankfurt, Germany, and LightFair 2010 in Las Vegas. The high-efficiency, high-lumen-output LEDs used in the GE bulbs are Cree’s smallest and brightest lighting-class LEDs, designed specifically for general lighting.

Analysts have suggested that the introduction of high-quality retrofit light bulbs, like the GE Energy Smart LED bulb can be the next step in LED lighting revolution.

Philips Unveils a 12-watt LED Light Bulb

It is reported that Royal Philips Electronics unveiled a 12-watt LED light bulb that it will begin selling as a substitute for standard 60-watt bulbs by the end of the year.

The bulb will be dimmable and will provide 806 lumens, with the potential to save up to 80% in energy consumption, compared to incandescent bulbs.

Philips said the bulb has a 25,000-hour lifetime.

With federal legislation phasing out inefficient lighting in the years to come, it’s likely that additional LED replacement bulbs will hit the shelves in 2011. Last week GE (NYSE: GE) unveiled its first–a replacement for 40-watt bulbs.

Philips also detailed broader marketing plans for its LED offerings in years to come. The company is introducing a home lighting system called LivingAmbiance, which wirelessly integrates luminaires and lamps to create different light settings–including a range of thousands of different color–with touch-button control.

In 2010, the company will introdue a product platform of outdoor luminaires that it hopes municipalities will adopt for streetlighting.

The company is currently exhibiting its new products and concepts at the Light + Building architecture fair Frankfurt Germany.

Motion Sensor Light

Make your home safer with a light that comes on when you walk by.

Enjoy instant-on light your home—closet, pantry, shop, garage, basement, garden shed, virtually anywhere! No fumbling for a switch—this battery-powered light detects motion and switches on automatically.

The light is simple to set up and easy to install. And the light comes on instantly and is very bright. Comes on as soon as I round the corner of my house to the front door and it actually brighten the area well.

Having husband with some mental deficiencies from head trauma, he sometimes couldn’t remember how to turn off/on light switches; now no need to worry about him not being able to see when he gets up in the dark; I have not attached them permanently to the wall, just set it on the floor next to baseboard and adjusted with swivel so light shines exactly where we want it.

Make Your Kitchen Glaring at You

Light has been on my mind a lot lately.

Probably, though, it’s because whenever I’m in my kitchen, I am pinned beneath the clinical glare of a monstrous 45-by-16-inch fluorescent light fixture situated over my island. Just a few feet away, a second one (22 by 22 inches) stares down from above the sink. The effect is far from soothing, and in fact rather unsettling, as though my kitchen were a morgue and my island an autopsy table.

The good news, as I contemplate a kitchen overhaul in the (hopefully) near future, is that lighting in kitchens has changed a lot since the previous owner of my home remodeled the space some 15 years ago.

Kitchen designer Mary Galloway of Onesta Design in Alexandria agrees, saying she views the kitchen as a place of many scenes set, in large part, by how it is lit. “You think about someone cooking, someone eating, someone snacking at midnight,” Galloway says. ” . . . Your lighting needs change depending on the scene.”

Recessed lighting, which provides the general lighting in many kitchens these days, has come a long way, says designer Jennifer Gilmer of Jennifer Gilmer Kitchen & Bath in Chevy Chase. Most types now use smaller cans than the once-standard six-inch size, and incandescent bulbs have been replaced by more efficient lights.

Indeed, just as we’ve seen the proliferation of tiny, bright LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs on trees and roofs during the holidays, so are these energy-efficient lights making their way into the kitchen, not only in recessed lighting but also in task and accent lights.

More and more kitchens are also adding accent lights — those that draw attention to a particular appliance or decorative piece, the inside of a cabinet, or the so-called toe-kick space just above the floor — though the latter seems to have its detractors. “I would say that 50 percent of our customers love the toe-space lighting, while the other 50 percent see no point in it,” says Anderson. Its primary function (and appeal) is that it can softly light the kitchen at night, he says.

Pendant lights continue to be popular. They are “a good way to add color and some bling,” Anderson says. Gilmer says the sheer variety in styles makes pendant lighting a good option for almost any kitchen. In fact, it was a pendant light that helped solve a puzzle for one of Gilmer’s clients. “This particular person has contemporary tastes, but we needed something that would fit in with the traditional look of their Georgetown brownstone.” In the end she chose a pair of spare, vessel-shaped frosted glass and chrome pendants to hang above the sink and adjacent cream, black and gray mottled granite countertop.

Revolutionary LED Showroom Opened in Texas

It was reported that LED Illumination Direct opens its one-of-a-kind, green showroom in the Waco area. This 2,500-square-foot showroom hosts LED Illumination Direct’s 200 different varieties of LED products. LED Illumination Direct’s showroom demonstrates LED lighting capabilities by comparing its LED lights to incandescent, CFLs, and Fluorescent lighting and showing various light spectrums and colors available in the LED light.

“Our doors are open to commercial, industrial and residential consumers who are looking for the best selection of quality LED products to provide energy efficiency and solid state lighting,” says Greg Klepper, CEO of LED Illumination Direct.

LED Illumination Direct’s lights are recyclable, energy efficient and cost effective and emit 90% less heat than a conventional bulb. The LED low emission bulbs can be touched by the human hand, unlike that of incandescent, CFLs, and Fluorescent lights. The showroom is set up where the lights can be touched, held and controlled by anyone present.

“Greg Klepper and LED Illumination Direct produce the highest quality LED products on the market today and are the leaders of the LED lighting industry,” said Anthony Newberg, Senior Vice President Sales & Marketing, Dealers Electrical Supply Company. “Without LED Illumination Direct the lighting industry would not be where it is today.” Dealers Electrical Supply is the authorized distributor in Texas for LED Illumination Direct.

The technologically advanced showroom at LED Illumination Direct displays LED lighting products ranging from LED tube lights, LED high power bulbs and spotlights, LED household lights, LED PAR/Flood lights, LED flexible strips and LED Modules.

LED Lighting Types include:

• High Bay
• High Power Bulb
• Household Bulb
• Low Bay Light
• PAR Light
• Street Lights
• Tube Light
• Bi-Pin Down Light
• Growlights
• Grid Lights
• Wall Washers

Fantastic Motion Sensing LED Light

There are times when it’d make life a lot easier if lights would just come on.  Be it because you usually have your hands full in that area or any other reason, it’d just be nice.  Now this little motion sensor won’t turn on all the lights in the room, but it will turn on a small light to help you find your way.  Plus it could be used as a security device, so you’ll know if someone is moving around where they shouldn’t.

This simple little light could even be used in other areas besides in your home.  It could also be grabbed for when you go camping if you need some small lights to keep you from tripping over anything.  On the light itself you can adjust the sensitivity of the motion sensor.  You can also just shut off the light entirely.  It runs on 4 AAA batteries which aren’t actually included.