Reduce Office Worker Eyestrain with LED Bias Lighting

Eyestrain is a common problem faced by many office people who work in front of a computer monitor for hours at a time. It causes tired eyes, headaches, blurred and sometimes double vision. Although some of the symptoms seem serious such as double vision, the effect is temporary and only requires rest to eliminate the problem. However, long hours in front of a computer are unavoidable for many workers and therefore, constantly taking long rests is not an option.

Fortunately, computer monitor eyestrain is greatly reduced by adjusting the surrounding workspace lighting. There should be no bright lighting in front of the monitor screen because this will cause glare-like reflections off the screen that cause eye fatigue and strain. In addition there shouldn’t be bright sources of light behind the monitor that shine directly into the worker’s eyes. These also produce glare.

Once these glare sources are taken out, there remains another source of glare: the monitor screen itself. The reason for this is that the screen is a bright source of light set against a darker backdrop. The problem is the contrast between the brightness of the screen and the background.

This is easily solved by using bias lighting against a wall behind the monitor. That is, you want to backlight this wall enough so that its brightness matches that of the monitor. A simple strip of LED lights placed on the backside of the monitor that illuminates the wall does the trick. These lights don’t shine directly into the worker’s eyes because they’re behind the monitor and are aimed in the opposite direction toward the wall.

LED brightness is easily adjustable so that the backlit wall brightness is readily made to exactly match the monitor screen’s brightness. Why does this work? Because the eye’s pupil adjusts to the average brightness of whatever is in front of it. When the background behind the monitor is dark, the pupil is enlarged and allows more light into the eyes. This makes the monitor a harsh source of light.

When the background is as bright as the monitor, the pupil contracts and allows less light into the eyes. This effect is similar to stepping outside in the sunlight and allowing the pupils to adjust. Everything has the same illumination level, so there is no glare source. Glare is essentially big contrasts in brightness.

Enhancing Safety By Upgrading Parking Garage Lighting

As a property owner, two of your primary concerns are reducing costs while enhancing consumer satisfaction. But did you know that you can achieve both of these goals (and more) with one simple appliance switch? If you own a parking garage, whether it is a standalone garage, part of a residential building you own, or a commercial one, one of the best business decisions you can make is upgrading the parking garage lighting to LED options. Doing so will quickly help you realize the two aforementioned goals.

  1. Financial Savings.  Electricity does not come cheap. Especially when you need to power six stories of parking garage floors for 24 hours a day. LED lighting allows you to keep even the darkest corners bright at an incredible reduction in price. Our LED parking garage lighting boasts a 75% reduction in energy consumption which lends to an average of 60% financial savings over traditional lighting.
  2. Improved Safety.  A word about keeping those dark corners lit: It’s a business sense must. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, over 10% of property crimes occur in parking garages. Not to mention that a significant portion of slips and falls occur due to poor lighting conditions. By improving your garages (and other properties) with brighter, more efficient LED options, you can help reduce the legal or liability issues that may arise out of poor lighting situations.

Poor Warehouse & Distribution Center Lighting: An Overlooked Cause of Forklift Accidents

Forklifts can weight up to 10,000 pounds and may carry loads of up to one half their weight. This means a 10,000 pound forklift may carry 5,000 pounds, which totals 15,000 pounds. In busy warehouse & distribution centers, rushed forklift operators travel up and down warehouse aisles at speeds of 8 mph. At such a speed, a 15,000 pound forklift-load combination cannot stop on a dime. It shouldn’t come as a surprise then, that forklift accidents are all too common and cause many fatalities.

Some of the contributing factors to forklift accidents are:

  • Forklift operator distraction.
  • Floor worker distraction.
  • Insufficient operator training.
  • Loads obstructing the operator’s visibility.
  • Limited driver visibility when operating a forklift in reverse.
  • Poor warehouse lighting.

When accidents occur, the fault is often placed with the forklift driver. The typical remedy is to either replace the driver, or require that he receive more training. Other contributing factors are given less attention, especially inadequate warehouse lighting.

Warehouses with lighting levels below 2 lumens per square foot are accidents waiting to happen. This minimum lighting requirement also applies to the dimmest areas. Here are four suggestions for solving this problem:

  • Use effective lighting technology. Of the different lighting technologies in use, LED lights put out the most illumination for the power consumed. They are also the most compact and rugged, and have the longest operating life.
  • Your warehouse should have highly reflective walls, ceiling and floor. Light colored walls, ceiling, and a clean polished floor serve to scatter and further distribute your overhead LED lighting.
  • Add additional lighting to the darkest areas of your warehouse if required. This step ensures that you meet the 2 lumens per square foot minimum.
  • Change your forklift lights to LEDs. The bright white light combined with the forklift’s movement serve to catch the attention of floor workers.

These warehouse & distribution center lighting changes will reduce accident rates, which should reduce your workers compensation premiums and keep your workers and forklift operators safe.

Design Considerations for Manufacturing Lighting

Many elements go into creating a successful manufacturing facility, and good lighting is one component that should not be overlooked. Good lighting in an industrial facility can keep workers safe and more productive, and a cheerful, well-lit workplace can be good for morale. However careful consideration must be given to the lighting system, since not just any lamp will do.

Cost

In today’s global manufacturing environment there is a level of competition unknown to our predecessors, and companies must keep costs low in order to come out on top. Outdated lighting can eat up large amounts of energy and require frequent, costly bulb replacements. Less money spent on operating costs means higher profits overall, so products that offer great performance while keeping plant energy and maintenance costs low are an excellent investment.

Adequate Lighting

Poor light levels can make it more difficult, or even dangerous, for workers to do their jobs. Many tasks performed on the production floor require great attention to detail. In addition, safety is of the utmost importance in a manufacturing facility and workers must have adequate lighting to avoid any potential hazards. Manufacturing plants often have high ceilings, so lights must be powerful enough to reach the work floor. Consideration should also be given to color and placement of lights to optimize lighting levels in the facility.

Resilience

Finally, the conditions found in an industrial environment are harsher than those of, say, a shopping mall or high school gymnasium. Manufacturing lighting must be resilient enough to withstand harsh conditions like high humidity, heat, vibrations, chemicals and large equipment that could damage it.

At Relumination, our seasoned professionals are well-versed in manufacturing lighting design and will work with you to design a lighting layout that is ideal for your facility.

The Facts About Three LED Lighting Myths

LED lighting technology has steadily advanced and improved over the years. What may have been true in years past isn’t so today. This may cause people to hold onto obsolete beliefs. In addition, the Internet is a good medium for spreading opinions regardless of their validity. In short, it can get very confusing when assessing whether this technology is right for you. Here are the facts about three LED lighting myths:

MYTH: LED Lights Aren’t as Bright as Other Types of Lighting

When comparing different incandescent lights, a higher wattage means a brighter bulb. However, when comparing different types of lights, a wattage comparison isn’t appropriate. Wattage just means power consumption. Instead, compare their lumen output. A lumen is a unit of brightness just like a pound is a unit of weight. More lumens mean a brighter bulb. An LED light with the same brightness (in lumens) as an incandescent light consumes less power and will have a lower wattage rating. You will get the same brightness, but the lower power consumption reduces your electrical bill.

MYTH: LED Lights Are Cost Prohibitive

The “sticker” price of LEDs are higher but they will quickly pay for themselves in several ways. First, they’re significantly more energy-efficient than other types of lighting. The more lighting you use in your facility, the greater the energy payback in reduced energy bills.

Second, they last much longer than other types of lighting. This reduces maintenance costs. LEDs can run for years before they need replacement.

Third, LEDs are more rugged than incandescent bulbs and fluorescent lights. They withstand vibration, motion, and mechanical shock better than other lighting technologies.

MYTH: LED Lights Don’t Put out Any Heat

LEDs are highly efficient in that they convert most of the electrical power into light. However, they still produce a small amount of heat. While they aren’t hot to the touch, you shouldn’t place them in enclosures that prevent their cooling. After running them for a long time, you will feel some warmth.

LED Lighting: It’s Time to Let Go of Glass Tube Technology

LED is short for “light emitting diode.” The light emitting part of the name is easy enough to understand. However, the diode part is less so for many non-technical people. A diode is a solid state device that allows electric current to flow in one direction only. Diodes are used in electronics, and exceedingly small diode elements are present within the integrated electronics used in computers. In any case, an LED is a diode that lights up when electricity flows through it.

Before solid state devices such as diodes and transistors were invented, radios and even computers were made from glowing glass tubes called vacuum tubes. These put out lots of waste heat and didn’t last long. Thanks to solid state devices, commercial electronics and especially computers advanced rapidly. They got smaller, became more powerful, and consumed less energy. Today, the only vacuum tube based computers are found in museums.

Oddly enough, the lighting industry took much longer to make commercial use of solid state LEDs. It’s also odd that we still use vacuum tube based lighting, otherwise known as incandescent lights. An incandescent light is just a glowing filament placed inside a vacuum tube. Like the vacuum tubes used in the old 1950s computers, incandescent lights put out tremendous waste heat.

In fact, about 90% of the electricity that powers an incandescent bulb turns into heat. The old vacuum tube computers required constant maintenance to replace vacuum tubes that were always burning out. Likewise, incandescent light bulbs require a fair amount of maintenance compared to LED lighting.

In some ways, fluorescent lighting is an improvement over the incandescent bulb. But it too, is just glass tube technology that uses a gas as its “filament.” It’s just as bulky and fragile as incandescent lighting and puts out more waste heat than LEDs. Why didn’t glass tube based lighting die off like the vacuum tube based computers and electronics? Because glass tube lighting does its job well enough, provided you have plenty of energy to waste.

Today, many business owners are learning first hand about the cost savings in reduced energy use and reduced maintenance requirements of LED lighting. They have chosen to leave the old glass tube, 20th century dinosaur technology behind.

Five Reasons to Use LEDs for Decorative Lighting

Decorative lighting adds visual appeal, style, and professionalism to your business establishment. It differentiates you from your plainer looking competitors. It makes your business look more successful. To make it worth your while, decorative lighting shouldn’t require excessive maintenance, become a fire hazard, or cause big increases to your energy costs. Here are five reasons LED lighting is the best choice:

Energy Efficient

Compared to other technologies such as incandescent and fluorescent lighting, an LED light converts more of its electrical input into light. Incandescent bulbs for example, produce more heat than light. To put out the same amount of illumination as an LED light, the incandescent bulb requires higher wattage. This extra power is wasted as heat. Although your money isn’t going up in smoke, it is going up in heat.

Efficient Color Production

There’s another type of efficiency that LEDs enjoy over incandescent lights. To produce a color, an incandescent light uses a filter, that is, the bulb uses glass with a translucent color such as red, that only allows red light through. The light is dim because most of the bulb’s light doesn’t pass through. This is energy inefficient. On the other hand, a red LED light only produces red light. The power going into the LED directly produces the desired color, such as red.

Safe

Because LEDs produce little heat, they don’t get hot and aren’t fire hazards. You can safely leave them on for hours. They won’t burn the fingers of anyone who handles them.

Versatile

LEDs don’t require a warm-up period. If you want them to blink, they’re perfectly suitable. They’re easily dimmed and amenable to all kinds of control schemes. You can program a controller device to turn them on and off and vary their brightness in very complicated patterns.

Rugged

An LED light is a solid state device. There’s no glass bulbs, tubes, filaments, or glowing gas. It isn’t a collection of separate parts. It’s a solid piece of material. This means it tolerates vibration and shock impacts better than other types of lighting. When using them outdoors, you needn’t worry about wind storms. This saves on maintenance costs. In addition, LED lights outlast other common forms of lighting, which further reduces the cost of maintenance.

Light Without The Heat – Our Cold Storage Lighting Solutions

Cold storage facilities offer a unique energy challenge. The budget costs associated to operate these warehouses using outdated equipment has risen dramatically. The very essence and source of light produces heat and traditional methods for illumination are not energy-efficient or easy to maintain in those conditions. It has been a challenge and cost-prohibitive to the average business owner. Until now.

Technology has made great strides to provide energy-efficient and money-saving improvements to lighting solutions for cold storage. In addition to LED fixtures that now run much cooler than traditional fixtures, they also use over 75% less energy. The load on your overall system is substantially and consistently reduced.

Options are available that allow you to operate the system on a timer to minimize the heat production and lessen the impact on your refrigeration system. This provides savings on both sides of the system. Top notch controls allow you to maintain your facility to run at peak performance.

These improved options also reduce maintenance time and cost. They are designed to last longer with fewer disruptions or down times to change bulbs in often hard to reach places. The bright bulbs offer better working conditions for your employees and improve performance and mood.

We here at Relumination strive to provide our customers with the most innovative and efficient resources for their business. Our years of experience and advanced knowledge have prepared us to offer proven results.

The Power of LED Interior Lighting on Mood

LED interior lighting affects mood in two ways. The first is the psychological effects of its color on people. For example, red stimulates physical arousal. It increases the heart rate, stimulates physical action, and triggers impulse eating. For a fast food restaurant that wants customers to eat quickly to make room for more customers, red is a good color for the interior. However, too much bright red will turn off people. The best solution is using subdued shades of red as accent colors. LED lights work well for adding accent lighting to a restaurant interior. Other color choices have different effects, and choosing the right one depends on your particular type of business establishment.

The second way LED lighting affects mood is that it increases alertness and energy levels in much the same way as sunlight. The reason for this is the color components of LED lighting are nearly identical to sunshine. That’s why its overall white color resembles sunlight. However, it lacks the ultraviolet and infrared (heat) components of sunlight. This is why LED lights are used for treating seasonal affective disorder (SAD). SAD is a seasonal depression that afflicts people living in the northernmost latitudes during the winter, when there is little sunlight. LED light treatment is effective because it makes up for this sunlight deficiency.

Other uses of this effect include:

  • Classroom lighting to enhance student performance. Alertness and energy has a positive effect on mental performance.
  • Office lighting for increasing the productivity of professionals and white-collar workers. LED brightness levels are easily adjusted to accommodate the preferences of individual workers.
  • Lighting for manufacturing floors and warehouses. In addition to enhancing performance, the bright white light reduces accidents and injuries.
  • Rest stop interior lighting. Drowsy driving causes accidents. LED lighting combined with caffeine is highly effective in combating driver fatigue.
  • Store lighting. Happy people are more inclined to make purchases. This is why many stores use background music. LED lighting is yet another mood enhancer. In addition, the pure white light shows off the true colors of food products such as fruits and vegetables.

LED Lighting: Perfect for Business Signage

Many of the properties that make LEDs unique also make them ideal for business signage lighting. This includes signs on the business premises and those placed elsewhere for advertising purposes. Five of these beneficial properties are discussed next.

  • Energy-efficient. While most people are familiar with this benefit, it doesn’t make it any less true. With LED lighting on your advertising signs, you can go ahead and leave them on longer because their energy consumption is so low. LEDs use 60% less power than fluorescent lighting for the same lighting levels.
  • Longer lasting. While fluorescent signage lighting requires replacement several times per year, LEDs will run for years before requiring replacement. The maintenance savings are substantial, especially on large, difficult to access elevated signs such as highway billboards.
  • Rugged. LEDs don’t use fragile glass tubes or filaments inside glass bulbs. They are solid state devices, which means your outdoor signage is less vulnerable to bad weather such as wind storms. This significantly reduces long-term maintenance costs in many parts of the country with highly variable weather.
  • Unidirectional light. Light from LEDs don’t radiate in all directions as does light from fluorescent tubes. LEDs put out unidirectional light that travels in a single direction. This property is useful when lighting a sign with an external light. Often this consists of a light source positioned on the ground and aimed at a sign above. Most of the light emission from the LED light source reaches the sign and therefore isn’t wasted. The fuller white light also shows the sign’s true colors.
  • Low heat output. For indoor signage, this saves on air conditioning in the summer and is less of a fire risk than hot incandescent lighting.