The New York Times “Green” blog recently posted an entry about Lights of America, a light bulb manufacturer based in California, that is being sued by the Federal Trade Commission for printing misleading information on their LED lamp packages. The FTC found that while the lamps claimed to have a similar light output as a 40-watt incandescent bulb, which is about 400 lumens, the LED lamps produced only 74 lumens. The package also claimed the LEDs were expected to last 30,000 hours, but lost 80% of its light output after a mere 1,000 hours. Brian Halliwell, vice president or marking and sales of Lights of America, said they removed the comparison of performance to the incandescent bulb and fixed the lifetime claim. This is the first lawsuit brought against an LED manufacturer for false specifications by the FTC. It makes you wonder how many more companies are printing fictitious labels.

Lucky for consumers, there are a number of tests manufacturers can submit their LED products to for testing. The results and seals of approval from these tests are usually printed right on the package.

• Lighting Facts – This is a program sponsored by the United States Department of Energy that manufacturers submit their products to for unbiased testing. A “Lighting Facts label” is printed on the packages with the results from the tests.
• LM -79 – This is used to evaluate the number of lumens and number of lumens per watt the lamp is producing, intensity of light, color correlated temperature (CCT), and color rendering index (CRI).
• LM-80 – This test measures lumen maintenance. LED lamps don’t usually “burn out” like other light bulbs do at the end of their life. Its light slowly depreciates until it is unusable. The LM-80 doesn’t measures the depreciation rather than the lifetime of the lamp.
• Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL) – The UL tests the safety of LED products under UL8750, which is the “Safety Standard for Light Emitting Diode (LED) Equipment for Use in Lighting Products.” UL examines the lamps to see if there is a risk of shock by using the lamp, if it will catch fire, and if any there are any biological hazards from using the product.

Relumination stresses the importance of buying LED products that have been tested and approved by one or more of these programs. We continue to offer our customers products with one or more of these ratings.

Out of all the different types of light bulbs available, not many bulbs come close in performance or efficiency to LEDs except compact fluorescent lamps (CFL). There are thousands of articles on the internet comparing the two lamps and advising consumers to buy one and or the other. You may be thinking, “Why is it even a question as to what lamp I’m going to pick up from the store? I know CFLs cost less than LEDs.” This is true, they do cost less initially, but we have a few reasons to steer consumers away from CFLs. Although the initial cost is less, the CFLs have to be replaced after a few years while LED lamps will need to be replaced every 10 years or so. We also do not support the fact that CFLs contain mercury, a harmful substance necessary for CFLs to produce light. LEDs produce a brighter, whiter light than CFLs without the use of this dangerous substance.

There are approximately five milligrams of mercury contained in each CFL. According to ENERGY STAR, some companies have lowered their mercury content to 1.4 – 2.5 milligrams per lamp. However, it doesn’t make the lamps any less dangerous. Here’s a scary thought: The incandescent lamp is going to be phased out over the next few years in the United States. When people go to shop for new light bulbs, more will choose CFLs. When the CFLs reach the end of their lifespan, most people will toss them in their trashcan instead of recycling them at a certified mercury disposal location. The CFL lamps are glass, and will break either during transport to a landfill or in the garbage truck. Garbage truck drivers and maintenance personnel will be exposed to the mercury, along with the soil and water at the landfill. If one billion CFLs have been disposed of in this year alone, think about how many will be disposed of in upcoming years and what that means for the future of the environment.

Even if we can’t make people stop buying compact fluorescent lamps, we hope they will dispose of them at facilities that specialize in mercury disposal. Paying a little more upfront for LED lamps will not only save you money in the long run, but it will also save the environment.

For those that are using CFL’s, here is an article about recycling them: 5 ways to dispose of old CFLs.

Resorts, hotels, and motels across the world are guilty culprits of wasting most of their electricity on lighting. Think about it. These places keep most, if not all of their lights burning 24 hours per day. That’s a lot of electricity being wasted on lighting hallways, elevators, lobbies, patio areas, and other gathering places in hotels that usually aren’t filled with people every hour of the day. With energy efficient lighting, resorts, hotels, and motels could save companies thousands on electricity while improving the quality of light for its customers.

The Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Resort in Orlando, Florida replaced its halogen lamps with LEDs in February. They decided to remodel as part of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Green Lodging program. The program encourages hotels and motels statewide to become “greener” in their business practices by conserving energy, reducing water use and waste, and protecting air quality. The Hyatt replaced 800 halogen lamps in the hallways with 636 Cree LR6 LED lights. The new lamps save 90% percent of energy compared to the old lamps, consume 10.5 watts, and have a 50,000 hour lifetime. They also replaced 35 halogen lamps in the 10,000 square-foot lobby with Cree LRP-38 LED lamps. Hyatt is expecting to save $131,659 during the first year of use, and a return on investment in approximately nine months.

The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians recently opened the Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa in Rancho Mirage, California, featuring LED lighting on 14 floors of the building. According to Nancy Conrad, press secretary, the tribe focuses on using “green technologies and building materials wherever possible,” and turned to LED lighting. Richard Milanovich, tribe chairman, frequently walks through the resort to ensure the hotel meets his expectations and the lighting is showing “the level of beauty and elegance he is after.” He was looking for an amber-like color for elevator and hallway areas and decided on Albeo Technologies’ Atmosphere LED cove lighting. They are very pleased with the LEDs because they last 10 times longer than other fixtures they considered installing, and the resort doesn’t have to hire a maintenance crew to replace the bulbs each year.

If a resort, hotel, motel, or any other business for that matter, has to keep its lights burning 24 hours per day, seven days per week, why not choose the most efficient and long-lasting lamps possible? We hope that more 24-hour businesses choose LED lighting and share the same environmental and monetary benefits as the Hyatt and Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa.

The importance of LEDs are starting to “show their light” in the community. Last month, Cree and Habitat for Humanity began building a home that will have only LED lighting fixtures. Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit, Christian housing ministry that builds homes for families in need. The family helps the volunteers build their new home, and their mortgage payments go toward the building of new homes through Habitat. According to their website, they have built over 350,000 homes around the world.

Cree is sponsoring the building of this “first all-LED Habitat home.” The construction is part of a $1.5 million donation Cree has made to Habitat to provide LED lighting fixtures for homes over the next three years. The home will feature Cree’s CR6 Downlights, which are also available for purchase on Home Depot’s website, and other Cree LED products. The new lamps consume 55% less energy than CFL lamps and last 50,000 hours. The family will be saving $250 each year on electric costs.

Each home Habitat for Humanity builds are certified green, which is why Cree got involved. Greg Merritt, vice president of corporate marketing, said the home also “demonstrates that it’s possible that you can light an entire house with LED lights.” We are very excited to see Cree getting involved with the community through its donation of LED products to Habitat for Humanity and hope this has a positive impact on the organization.

We’ve all been in a warm, brightly-lit furniture showroom. Most people don’t stop to think about how much energy the business is wasting on lighting. They need fixtures lighting the general areas in between displays and spotlights on actual furniture displays. A few furniture showcase stores have replaced their bulbs with LED lamps. LED lighting is absolutely ideal for furniture stores because they save on electricity, cool down the store, and provide directional light on displays.

RC Willey, a furniture store only 20 minutes from “The Strip” in Summerlin, Nevada, replaced 4,500 90-watt halogen lamps in their 50,000 square-foot showroom with 10-watt MSi iPAR LED lighting fixtures. The furniture store is saving $182,000 annually on electricity costs with the new lamps. Within hours of installation, the employees noticed cooler temperatures in the showroom. RC Willey was able to raise the thermostat a few degrees and in return, they are saving $90,000 annually on air conditioning costs. According to LEDs Magazine, the 90-watt bulbs the furniture store used to have burned 12 hours per day and needed to be replaced every four months. The LEDs are expected to last 12 years and will be saving the company $21,000 annually in maintenance and replacement costs. Over the 12 year lifespan of the new LED fixtures, RC Willey will be saving approximately $3.4 million!

A furniture superstore in Boca Raton, Florida, is also planning to install LEDs into its new showroom. City Furniture will be one of the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-registered furniture stores in the nation, and is also looking to become LEED certified. The 93,680 square-foot complex will feature an Ashley Furniture showroom. When it comes to lighting, the building will be featuring natural sunlight and LED lighting to illuminate the showroom. Each of the LED fixtures City Furniture has picked will cost $300, but the company is pleased the fixtures will last 10 years and consume less energy than other lighting fixtures available.

Furniture stores are just another type of business that could benefit greatly from LED lighting. It’s almost unbelievable that RC Willey is going to save over $3 million just because they installed LED lamps! We hope to work with more furniture stores so they can take part in the benefits of LED lighting.

Office buildings require quite a bit of electricity. Between lighting and air conditioning, bills can really add up, especially during the summer when temperatures are close to unbearable in many parts of the country. Companies can save a considerable amount on energy costs by replacing their lamps with LEDs. Office buildings can install lighting that exceeds the quality of the current lighting that consumes 50-80% less power. On top of energy savings, building owners will be happy to save money on maintenance and recycling costs.

The following two case studies will show different applications of LED lighting in office buildings and how each organization was affected by the change. In Belgium, the third largest insurance company in the country, GENERALI Group, recently installed 350 Philips MASTER LED 7-watt GU10 lamps in corridors, lift areas, and hallways in the offices. They were impressed that the LED lamps burned 45,000 hours, while their previous halogen lamps only lasted 3,000 – 5,000 hours. Dider Gason, real estate manager, even said the lighting “makes employees and visitors feel like they are at home.” According to the case study, if the lamps burn 18 hours per day, GENERALI Group will see a return on investment in one year.

Another case study was conducted in Oakland, California on the 9^th floor at the University of California Office of the President. They were looking to replace task-ambient halogen lamps with LEDs. According to the case study, if office buildings replaced their task-ambient lighting statewide, there is a potential energy savings of 2,000 – 3,000 gWh per year. What’s even more exciting is that there is also a potential energy savings of 15 – 25 cents per square foot of building space, which translates to $300 – $400 million of annual savings for California. Now that’s a lot of money that can be spent elsewhere! The university replaced their 32-watt linear fluorescent lamps with LED task lighting equipped with occupancy sensors. They also replaced overhead troffers with an LED task lights. They are expecting to save 44% annually on energy bills with a 3.8-year simple payback.

With savings seen in the University of California President’s Office and GENERALI, companies can’t afford to continue to use old lamps. We offer our customers the most efficient and best valued products to lower energy costs and nearly eliminate maintenance expenses all while reducing their carbon footprint.

Warehouses never sleep. Workers are present in many warehouses 24 hours per day causing the company’s electricity bills to sky-rocket. These high electricity costs can be significantly reduced by replacing old inefficient lighting with LED luminaries.

Multiple case studies have reported electricity savings of over 60% from making the switch to LED! Not only have these companies saved on energy costs, but the new lighting has improved employee morale. One case study conducted at Frontline International, Inc., in Ohio, reported the employees felt the old plant looked like a “dungeon” compared to the new, brighter plant.

Another case study conducted at Rockline Industries in Rockline, Arkansas, stated that they will realize a return on investment on their LED retrofit in less than a year. Rockline Industries is a leading supplier of household paper products, including toilet paper, coffee filters, and a variety of wipes. They launched a corporate sustainability program called Changing Our Environment Footprint. This program required a 2% reduction in both energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.  To achieve this goal, the warehouse replaced 140 400-watt metal halide fixtures with 150-watt LED bulbs. Employees reported an immediate temperature drop in the warehouse. According to the case study, there was a 10-15% reduction in air conditioning demand because the new lamps do not give off heat. The company is also saving thousands annually on maintenance costs. With the old fixtures, the company had to rent trucks to clean and replace lamps, an activity which also disturbed workers. Rockline Industries received a $48,000 energy-savings rebate through the American Electric Powers Southwestern Electric Power Company. They are expecting a 10-year lifetime from each fixture, and are looking for other places around their warehouse to install LED lighting.

Warehouses are excellent candidates for LED Lighting retrofits because they have long hours of operation, are brightly lit and maintenance is expensive due to high fixture mounting heights. In addition they also provide a safer environment because of more uniform lighting and better color quality. Many warehouse related accidents are attributed to poor light distribution. Accidents are caused by workers who indicate that they did not see someone or something in their path.

Less Electricity + Less Maintenance + Safer Working Environment + Reducing Carbon Footprint = a smarter warehouse.

Driving by car dealerships at night can sometimes make you feel like it’s still daytime. Even after they close, lights shine down on their cars through the wee hours of the night. Although we recognize that most nighttime lighting at dealerships and auto malls is for security reasons, we hope more car dealerships will turn to LED lighting. The benefits of LED lighting outweigh the costs of operating traditional metal-halide lamps. In these economic times every dollar the car dealerships can save is another dollar that goes directly to the bottom-line! Not only does LED Lighting put profit back into the business, it is a sustainable alternative to energy-hogging and landfill-clogging metal-halide lighting.

A few dealerships have already made the switch. Two Lexus dealerships in Albuquerque, New Mexico, replaced their old lamps with solar LED lamps. Before the full installation, they installed an LED lamp on one pole to measure energy savings. They found the LED lamp was 82% more efficient than existing lamps and continued with the full installation. The LED lamps reduced energy bills by 65%, and the solar panels reduced them by an additional 20%. The dealerships are also expecting to save an extra $3,800 annually on maintenance costs and anticipate a 2-3 year return on investment. The dealerships liked the better quality of light and people coming to the dealerships after dark were able to see the same colors and tints on vehicles as if they were shopping during the day. Euro Motorsports in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, replaced hundreds of 50-watt halogen bulbs in their showrooms with 6-watt LED lamps. This dealership is saving 60% on their lighting bills, along with additional savings on air conditioning (LED lamps don’t give off heat). Since Euro Motorsports specializes in luxury cars, the LED lamps help highlight the features and colors of the exquisite vehicles.

Ford has introduced a Go Green Initiative at three of its dealerships and is planning to make changes at all their dealerships in the future. They have found possible savings of 20% on energy bills using “off the shelf technologies.”  We are anxious to see what Ford does to reduce their energy bills, and hope that more car dealerships and auto malls will choose LED lighting.