Trends in LED Lighting

LED lighting is considered the most profound change in the lighting industry since the invention of electric light! LEDs are transforming the nature of lighting, opening up new possibilities for how and where artificial light is used to enhance the human experience. As society focuses on climate protection, energy efficient lighting solutions are in real demand.

Lighting is one of the easiest ways to save energy. Switching to green alternatives has an immediate impact on energy use, CO2 emissions and the environment and it also improves light quality.

The only constant is change
We are increasingly an urban and global culture. Buildings and streets account for around 75% of all energy used for lighting. Our lifestyles are changing. People are spending more time relaxing, entertaining and socializing at home.

LED for outdoor spaces
Today lighting is about more than just security. It is being used to create a nocturnal environment in which the city takes on a new identity, creating a more livable community that residents are proud of.

LEDs are highly adaptable and can even change with the weather or the season, and provide festive color options on public holidays. And all this with energy consumption that is only a fraction of conventional lighting techniques.

Sustainable Design
The first aspect that springs to mind is low energy use. But there are plenty of others, including waste reduction, recyclability, the use of materials & resources and the effect on building and design practices.

Can one light bulb make a difference?

<- Winner of U.S. Department of Energy competition to replace the common light bulb – The LED L Prize lamp from Philips.

The Environmental Benefits of LED Lighting

 The Environmental Benefits of LED Lighting

If you change just one of your regular incandescent light bulbs to a LED light, you can facilitate the preservation of the environment and save money. How?

LED-FLASHLIGHT

First, LED lights last 10 times longer than a regular incandescent bulb and are four times more effective. LED lighting uses almost 80% less energy than incandescent bulbs. This equates to money savings in your bank account and a cleaner environment.

Unfortunately, LED lighting fixtures are more expensive to purchase, but will save you money in the end. LED home lighting uses only one third of the energy that an incandescent bulb uses. An 18-watt LED light can replace a 75-watt incandescent bulb; in the lifetime of that 18-watt LED light (which is ten times longer than the incandescent) you will save 570 kilowatts of energy. This would be a good savings of almost $50 on your energy bill.

Keeping regular light bulbs is a downfall to the environment. They put out carbon dioxide, sulfur oxide, and nuclear waste into the atmosphere. On the other hand, one single bulb of LED home lighting, keeps one half ton of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere through its life cycle. In addition, it keeps the sulfur oxide and nuclear waste to a bare minimum in the landfills and the environment.

Making small simple changes to protect the earth by switching to LED lighting would make a great impact to the environment. Interestingly, if every house in the United States switched to LED lights, 90 current power plants could go away, especially considering that more power plants are being constructed and are in use.

LED lighting can benefit other areas of your life. Consider using LED lights during the Christmas season, which is a smart energy saver. LED lights are cool in appearance and energy efficient during the holiday season because energy use goes up, considerably. LED lanterns and LED flashlights are great when you want to go camping. They are also imperative to any home emergency kit. You need not to worry if your batteries run dead in the middle of use; LED flashlights and lanterns use less energy meaning your batteries will last a lot longer.

LED lighting is considered the best long-term solution for your home and outdoor lighting needs. Therefore, its environmental benefits and energy efficiency make it outstanding  for your household and the world.

Landscape Lighting Design Tips & Techniques

Why should you install landscape lights? These are great reasons.

• Safety-Avoid tripping of off steps, pathways
• Security-Make unwanted guests leave your premises by looking as if you are still home
• Utility-Use your outdoor living space after sunset for parties or relaxing
• Beauty-Make your home look like a palace at night!

Here are some common landscape lighting techniques to enhance the beauty of your home:

1. Path Lighting
This includes tulip lights, lanterns, tier lights and specialty lights. These are low impact or shielded lights and adds safety, security and visibility for walking .This is great for walkways and ponds.

2. Deck Lighting
This includes spot/accent lights, specialty lights. Bring your cool deck to life at night and help your guests navigate your stairs safely with deck lighting. Light fixtures can be installed and in the risers of steps. Surface lights can be assembled on vertical posts and below railings.

3. Spot Lighting
This includes floodlights, spot/accent lights. If you want to light large areas on decks, lawns, arbors, pools, hot tubs, etc. you can use these fixtures that are placed on to trellises, eaves, and  gazebos.

4. Spread Lighting
Spread lights produce low-level, evenly dispersed, circular patterns of light for enlightening flowerbeds and low shrubs. They are wonderful for Koi ponds.

5. Wall Lighting/Wall Washing
This uses well lights, spot/accent light, wall wash lights. Enhance the structural elements of your home by illuminating a wall chimney or fence with light. By positioning  a fixture within six to eight inches of a facade and aiming it almost 90 degrees vertically you can dramatically light large tree trunks, brick walls, building facades, chimneys or anything that has textured surface.

6.Security Lighting
This includes floodlights, spot/accent lights, wall wash lights. Security lighting can act as a great restraint against criminal activity and unwanted animals. Illuminate certain areas where intruders can hide by positioning a mixture of low-level lighting or spotlighting lighting.

History of LED

The use of Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology in the lighting industry is a
relatively new phenomenon. This is primarily because it is only in recent years
that high intensity devices have become available

In the early days of glaring bulbs, bulky features, and the high risk of electric shock voltage which proceeded the many years of lighting, nowadays, the future is very bright. There are smaller fixtures and wires encompassing environmentally firm bulbs.

The grandfather of landscape lighting, inventor Bill Locklin pioneered lighting for landscapes in 1959.  At the beginning, Locklin improvised with everything from mayonnaise jars, and coffee cans to headlights. He also created the term “See the effect and not the source”.

Fifty years ago, before low-voltage lighting became a widely used medium, hard-wired landscape lighting was the median. Hard-wired landscape lighting was costly, and was buried deep in the ground. Therefore, it presented a great risk of electrical shock. On the other hand, Low-voltage lighting is closer to the earth, only buried at 6 inches. There is not a risk of electrical shock with 12-volt.

In the birth of landscape lighting, the industry used only a couple of types of lights-a basic cone-shaped and a partial dome shaped. Back then, there were diminutive color options, reducing glare was not a priority, and fixtures were large and monochromatic.

In the mid-1990s people began to conceive ways of lighting as an artistic way to enhance their homes. People saw landscape lighting as a method of consigning to making sure you didn’t trip on the steps, when visiting relatives. This important transversal, gave consumers a cherished connection to their backyards and swimming pools.

Depending on the artistic design of landscape lighting, it can either add tremendous value to a home, or make it look too gaudy. Bad lighting can make an appealing home look like a tacky carnival, while good lighting can make a cheap place look spectacular. Around the vicinities of residential communities, homeowners seek theatrical production in their exterior lighting, partaking in the bleak contrast of darks and lights.

The most dramatic impact in lighting in 100 years
LED landscape lighting is changing people’s views of lighting. It’s environmentally encapsulated for the environmentally conscious consumer.

LED lighting can be more expensive than other types … but it’s worth it. LED lights last between 10 and 15 times longer than halogen lamps – about 40,000 hours. They are easy to install, cost less to maintain, and use 75% less energy. You save a lot of money in a variety of ways!

Tips on How to Go Green: LED Home Lighting

LED technology is clearly the future. With the following tips on how to Go Green with a LED home lighting plan, you  can guarantee that you are putting the future of our planet in the finest luminosity.

LED, “light-emitting diode,” is an award winning technology that was introduced in 1962. It is enormously energy efficient and encompasses long lasting bulbs.  LED light bulbs can reduce the amount of energy by 80-90% per person, and can last up to 100,000 hours. Astonishingly,  they even light up faster than incandescent bulbs, which makes them more dependable. LEDs also have better resilience, so if you drop it accidently on the floor, it will not break.

There are many lamp manufactures which create LED fixtures that meet the same structures as their incandescent fixtures.  These can make an attractive accompaniment to your household lighting plan. Included with the LED fixtures, there are replaceable bulbs that have an Energy Star rating. As a matter of fact, LED lighting is currently  being used as you drive your car. They are used for brake and daytime running lights.

So if you want to help protect our planet and breathe cleaner air, replace your normal bulbs with LED lighting. Sorry to say, but incandescent bulbs produce harmful pollutants when they decay. On the upside, LED lighting helps reducing  greenhouse gas emissions which is equal to emanations from 800,000 cars.

Recycle, Reusable: This is LED lighting for a cleaner, less tainted world.

How To Create an Outdoor Resort in Your Back Yard

Believe it or not, it’s easier – and less expensive – than you might imagine to transform your existing patio, deck, or pool area into a retreat that you will love . The best strategy is to clearly define your objectives. It is not necessary to illuminate everything in your yard, so decide which areas are the highest priorities.

Beauty on a Budget
A few well-placed, low-voltage path or accent lights can have a huge impact on a well-manicured landscape.  No lawn is too small.

All that is needed are some basic tools, a transformer (which reduces standard 120-volt household current to the safe 12-volt level), outdoor low-voltage copper cable, and low-voltage lighting fixtures.

Let’s say you want to illuminate the deck area and provide task lighting for cooking at the grill. After selecting the fixtures, you add up the wattage and figure it will use 200 watts of light. Next year, you might like to add lighting to the patio, highlight some potted plants, and install a water feature in the backyard. Instead of purchasing a transformer that is just large enough for the deck, buy one that will operate two to three times that amount of wattage. You only pay for the energy consumed by the fixtures.

Design  Suggestions
Select two or three items that are important to you during the daylight hours, such as an ornamental tree, a water feature, a sculpture. A fixture or two trained on each of these features will make your backyard come to life after dark.

Best Quality Fixtures
Another important tip: Buy the best quality and well-constructed fixtures you can afford. They will last for decades. There are many homeowners who purchase the least expensive fixtures they can find, only to discover that they need to replace them within a year or two. That ends up costing more over a 10-year period!

Consult With a Lighting Professional
When laying out your project, remember a little light goes a long way outdoors. Consulting with a lighting professional can help you avoid making the common mistake of too many fixtures in one area.

Home owners often place fixtures six to eight feet apart when lighting a sidewalk, and they end up using ten fixtures for a 50- to 60-foot path. That path can easily be illuminated with only three to four top quality fixtures.

Securing your home with Outdoor Landscape Lighting

Why worry when you are away on your luxurious vacation? Outdoor lighting can add safety and security while you are away skiing the slopes or resting on the beach. Outdoor lighting increases protection for your family and friends. It dissuades trespassers and deadly intruders. With the holidays coming up, outdoor lighting should be positioned near every entrance to your home, and all of your house’s sides.

Most home and business break-ins increase around the holiday season. Proper outdoor lighting could reduce your chances of being robbed up to 50%. Flood lights are the best to increase safety around your home and intruders.

Simply installing security lighting will undoubtedly have a big impact on the chances of your home being invaded.  A would-be intruder will have a hard time choosing your home if it is well lit because the chances of them getting caught are much greater.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Installing outdoor security lights for houses is much less expensive than mounting an outdoor security camera and running all of the necessary wires and cables for its operation. For an outdoor light, you may need to have an electrician run some electrical wire to it, but there are other options.

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LED lights are a great choice because they can be extremely bright.  But, the best thing about them is that the lights last for a very long time, typically 25,000 hours and up before their light begins to dim.  So, if the light is on for an average of eight hours per night, it would be 3125 days before any difference in brightness would be noticed.  That’s over 9 years!

Designer Tips for Landscape Lighting

Designing a landscape is more than just choosing pretty flowers and shrubbery. It involves creating a lighting scheme that highlights the features of the landscape. It also requires a number of different light fixtures, a frustrating task for many homeowners. This is especially true if you have no prior experience with landscape lighting schemes. Here are a few tips and tricks on landscape lighting.

Cable in Gardens
Professional outdoor lighting installers are required to bury wire a certain depth to prevent problems. If you’re a weekend, do-it-yourself warrior and placing landscape lighting in a garden, it may be better to leave the black cable over the top rather than digging a two or three inch tread and burying it. Reason? When you are weeding or gardening, you may accidentally stab the cable with your spade or damage the cable in some other way. This may require you to then replace the entire cable before your outdoor lights will begin working again

But, if you are installing outdoor lights along a pathway, it’s better to bury the cable below the sod to ensure the cable doesn’t get damaged whenever the lawn is mowed!

Garden Placement
Speaking of the garden, you’ll need to take great care when actually placing the light fixtures. Remember that plants grow in size, so you’ll need to provide adequate spacing to allow for plant growth.

When you’re purchasing your plants, take note of how large the plant will grow and how much spacing is needed between plants. Then, using these measurements, add an additional few inches between the largest diameter of the plant and your chosen light fixtures. This will help ensure that your plants won’t overtake the light fixture.

Glare Guards
In some cases, your landscape light fixtures may give off a glare in your line of sight. When this happens, it can be extremely difficult viewing your home in the evening hours without light shining in your eyes. That being said, consider investing in some glare guards. Glare guards will reduce the glare and remove it from your line of sight.

Silhouette Lighting
Don’t forget that you don’t have to only position light fixtures facing forward to highlight the plants or architectural details of your home. You can also position lights behind these items to create beautiful silhouettes in the evening hours. This can make just as much of a statement as forward lighting.

We are in the middle of a revolution … called Solid State Lighting!

LED lighting for the home is here now. What products are available and how much energy can a homeowner save? The American Lighting Association’s Director of Engineering Terry McGowan discusses LED lighting for the home and shows what lighting products are available to the homeowner.

7 Reasons Why LEDs Are Lighting Up Your Life!

Just as solid-state circuitry replaced vacuum tubes in TV sets, solid-state LED lighting is replacing the Edison light bulbs. Here’s why:

1. LED lights can last for decades.
   LED lights have a life expectancy of 5 to 10 times longer than traditional bulbs. Reason? Solid state technology means no moving, fragile parts.
2. LED lights will never burn out.
   Unlike fluorescent lights, LED lights will not burn out. Instead, the LED diode suffers roughly only a 30 percent light depreciation over its life span. LED lights may, however, fail prematurely due to adverse environmental conditions such as moisture or heat, or from having voltages outside of their specified parameters.
3. LED lights are more efficient.
   Ninety percent of the energy consumed by LED lights goes toward producing light! Less efficient light bulbs, lose about 90% of their energy due to heat, so only about 10 percent is actual usable light. A 5-watt LED fixture produces the same lumen output as the industry standard 20-watt halogen fixture.
4. LEDs save money, energy and repairs.
   LED lighting systems have a higher initial cost versus standard technologies but offer a return on investment after only two years.  The savings generated over the life of the system in energy, electrical components, and repair and maintenance will more than pay for the upgrade.
   LEDs enable a 50 to 75 percent reduction in energy expenses in lighting over the life of the LED light fixture.
   The standard warranty of LED products averages around 10 years. That’s ten years of never having to change and dispose of a single lamp.
5. LED lighting systems offer flexibility.
   Options include various wattages and color temperatures. Colors from warm white LED, matching current halogen systems, to cooler color temperatures, creating  blue hues often used to color correct certain plants and make foliage “pop.”
6. LED lighting is easy to install.
   LED lighting can accommodate a wider range of voltage parameters—no color shifts or premature burnouts to worry about. This virtually eliminates the need for center-feeding cable runs, and allows for a much more consistent design from job to job.
7. LED lighting is safe and provides no potential hazards.
   LED lights do not contain mercury, lead or gases under pressure, and do not emit UV or IR radiation. Though they offer extremely long life, they will not last forever. But when an LED does fail, there is no hazardous waste created in their disposal. LED products do not use glass, filaments, vacuum seals or chemicals. Because they are a solid state light, there are no moving parts that can break or leak.