The Many Types of LED Lights – LED Downlights

When talking about downlights, their necessity is typically required when talking about billboards or outdoor installations which require ample lighting in creating certain moods or simply giving focus on particular fixtures.

From outdoor billboards to outdoor sculptures, downlights are typically found in halogen lamp or in compact fluorescent lamp conventions, lamps which are typically favored for their intense lighting capacities.

But as capable as downlights are as modes for illumination, a new downlight standard is causing progressive shifts in downlights as a whole.

Defined in LED downlights, the featured upsides of LED lighting technologies comes to the aid of those who require the use of downlights.

LED Downlights – Brighter, Longer Lasting and Lesser in its Power Requirements and Needs

From lampposts to gallery lights, LED Downlights are LED innovations that are worth smiling about.

Bearing the same lighting lumens found in their traditional counterparts, LED Downlights don’t come with the downsides of halogen or compact fluorescent lamps, not liable to consume vast quantities of power just so they could properly illuminate what they are aimed to do so.

Also longer lasting as lighting options, LED Downlights are not a burden with where their maintenance is concerned, an upside which greatly benefits lamp posts or large scale billboard lights. Proving to be just as efficient in brightening subjects, LED Downlights offer the same lighting qualities and factors featured in halogen or compact fluorescent lamps, further giving more reason why their implementation is highly beneficial.

With different types of LED Downlights developed for different purposes, users don’t have to worry about their waterproof qualities, nor do they have to worry about how complex their wiring or compatibility with standard electric wiring systems are.

Designed to work with on-hand wiring systems, the implementation of LED Downlights as easy as how one would replace burned out halogen lamps or compact fluorescent lamp.

With their overall construction based on LED illumination standards, LED Downlights only have upsides to offer to their users, yielding to lesser woes delving into overheating or having to resolve problems borne from power surges or lighting strikes.

With a number of LED Downlights developed with built-in surge protection features, lighting outdoor environments is made better, practical and safe with the use of LED Downlights, with their implementation as effective and as efficient as using standard downlights are.

With LED Downlights available in most electronic markets, there is no reason why downlight users have to contend with astronomic electric bills, frequent lamp replacements and more.

Deciding Points: Why LED Bulbs are better than Traditional Blubs

While it is true that new doesn’t always translate as better, the axiom can NOT be readily applied when LED bulbs are being talked about – with just cause.

As a standard for electronic lighting devices, LED bulbs are indeed more robust and practical than traditional light bulbs, developed to be more enhanced in terms of lighting lumens standards, as well as long term use. Also, LED bulbs are more efficient with power consumption considerations, with LED bulbs known to require lesser power wattages when compared against their traditional counterparts.

Apart from the more evidently advantageous upsides of LED bulbs over traditional bulbs, LED technology itself proves to be more versatile when compared to the more traditional electronic lighting technologies and standards.

Short for light-emitting diode, the technology essentially allows for the creation of different sized LED bulbs, ranging from lighting-specific bulbs used in contemporary art galleries to the miniature, portable sized lights found in key chains and other similar items.

Far from being a new technological standard, LED bulbs were, in the past, considered to be too expensive to produce, thus the pervading popularity of the standard light bulb as the de facto norm for lighting technologies.

Thankfully, due to the advances in the production of electronics, LED bulbs are now not as expensive as they were to develop in the past, boasting all the benefits of LED bulbs without the stings of having to spend a fortune in having them installed in homes, places of work, schools and in other venues where lighting is required (which essentially translates to anywhere).

As lighting options, LED bulbs are inclined to offer featured advantages to users, advantages that go beyond better lighting and low power consumption figures over traditional blubs.

Longer lifespans are proven LED bulb upsides, and as advances in the development and manufacture of LED bulbs are currently ongoing, options such as controlled power saving features and even multi-colored light options can be found in certain LED bulbs.

Taking the shape of standard electronics sockets, the installation of LED bulbs don’t require an overhaul with the installed electronic components of a home or office, further illustrating the advantageous side that can be found in LED bulbs.

Bottom line, with the relative affordability and availability of LED bulbs today, there’s really no reason why you have to contend with the use of older, more traditional blubs.

Though their overall functions are no different, LED bulbs prove to be more featured than old standard bulbs, inclined towards being of better service to their users.

Cleveland Gets LED Lights from General Electric to Light Up to Landmarks

The City of Cleveland is getting an LED makeover, thanks to a donation of more than $200,000 worth of LED lights courtesy of General Electric Lighting. The new energy-efficient lights will provide illumination to two of the city’s historic landmarks, the West Side Market and Public Square, with the goal of reducing current electricity costs.

The addition of energy-efficient lights coincides with the current sustainability initiative led by Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson. He notes that GE’s history of community service in Cleveland and their commitment for innovating technologies in lighting make them the perfect figure to help initiate the city’s sustainability drive.

Initiative Overview

The mayor first launched the initiative in 2009, with the goal of preserving the environment and reducing energy consumption, as well as to promote economic growth through the introduction of sustainable technologies.

Since then, the company has held regular annual summits to tackle different sustainability issues, such as lighting, which was discussed in the earliest of these meetings.

According to Cleveland chief operating officer Darnell Brown, the installation of new LED lights won’t just help make the downtown area brighter and more attractive, it’ll also help reduce maintenance costs. He notes that while conventional lights have a rated lifespan of just 6 to 12 months, LEDs last for decades.

Cleveland Rich in Lighting History

The installation of LEDs in the city is appropriate, given how the City of Cleveland was a leader in street lighting. The city’s Public Square was one of the few areas to get the first electric street lights in the country in 1879.

Likewise, LEDs are a pioneering technology, which GET says generates a more uniform light, less shadows and dark spots associated with conventional fixtures like high-pressure sodium lamps.

An LED Lighting Service: A Potential Key to Widespread Adoption

In an effort to work around the problem of LED lighting currently being too expensive for the average consumer, one company is looking to turn the technology into a service.

That is the essentially the core concept of Digital Lumens’ plan to provide LED lighting and energy management services, instead of outright selling their equipment. The startup company, based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, is looking to launch its niche services in early 2013, this according to a statement by CEO Tom Pincince. Part of their service plan’s guarantee is providing enough lighting to ensure a good working environment for employees.

He noted that consumers today typically look at lighting equipment, such as light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs, as a purchase. And because of the ability of LEDs to be integrated with smart lighting control systems, their services could one day expand to managing an intelligent lighting system remotely.

Appeal

What makes the service planned by Digital Lumens appealing revolves around how the LED fixtures can be wirelessly connected through, and how they come packed with processors and sensors that create a lighting system that can be adjusted to the specific needs of certain areas inside an office.

For instance, an office can have lights automatically dimmed when no workers are around, or immediately switch to full power when the shades are drawn (e.g. PowerPoint presentations and film screenings).

Components

Digital Lumens doesn’t do any R&D on the LED components themselves, instead choosing to use products from Cree. The company designs unique lighting systems and have created their own lighting management software.

The company is looking to aim its services on the industrial sector, which involves illuminating spaces such as warehouses and factories.

Medway Goes Loud and Proud with Sustainability Measures, Includes Solar Panels and LEDs

Medway, a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, first took a very subtle approach to the installation of solar energy panels in the town’s high school 2 years ago, the better not to make the school’s neighbours uncomfortable.

That problem, however, doesn’t seem to be an issue today, as the community has now allowed schools in town to proudly install solar-powered LED lighting fixtures, which are located at the entrances of the high school and middle school.

Sign of Commitment to Sustainability

Each of the new, light-emitting diode (LED) lamps is powered by a 135-watt solar panel installed on poles close to the lights, which are used to illuminate welcome signs.

According to David Verdolino, Assistant Superintendent the new LED lamps also serve to highlight Medway’s efforts to be more green and encourage awareness on the importance of adopting more sustainable energy solutions. He notes that the lights are a testament to how Medway is trying to become a Green Community.

Gift

Verdolino stated that the LED lamps were given as a gift courtesy of Broadway Electric Co.—the company handled the task of installing the more than 600 solar panels atop the high school’s roof in 2010, and the more than 1,400 panels atop the middle school in 2011, absolutely free-of-charge.

Green Community

Medway has been given the designation of being a Green Community in 2010. The title is part of a state grant program that pours funds into towns and cities that are able to reduce their energy consumption by at least 20 percent in less than 5 years. The town was able to do this since they began counting their green projects in 2009, with their 5 –year market set in 2014.

Hampshire Parks Finally Get Budget for Overhaul of Lights to LEDs

Hampshire, a county located along the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom, is now a step closer to achieving its goal of reducing carbon emissions, thanks to its local council approving the proposal to convert existing streetlights into more energy efficient light-emitting diode (LED) lamps for its two national parks.

The project, which will cost around £1 million, involves the replacement of approximately 3,600 traditional streetlights to LED lamps, which are not only more energy efficient, but also have the ability to be dimmed. The LEDs are provided Urbis and WRTL, and will be distributed across the New Forest and South Downs National Parks. 

Proponents of the project estimate that the new LED park lights will lead to £24,000 in energy savings each year—of course, that figure will depend on how high or low the cost of electricity will be. Moreover, the LEDs are also expected to help reduce Hampshire’s carbon emissions by up to 138 metric tonnes.

The public has thankfully met the new initiative with open arms. Graham Bryant, Hampshire Astronomical Group chairman and a member of the Campaign for Dark Skies, an organisation that seeks to solve the problem of light pollution, notes that LED lights are better since they are more controllable. 

He points out that LEDs are capable of being tweaked to display most of its light towards the ground, instead of towards the sky, as is the case with conventional streetlights that throw as much as 30 percent of their light upwards. 

The initial phase of Hampshire’s retrofit project will begin on May 2013 in Petersfield, and September 2013 in Brockenhurst. The target completion date of the project is set for March 2015.

Bay Bridge Shows Off Amazing Light Display of LEDs

The San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge, known locally as the Bay Bridge, celebrated its 75th anniversary last year, and to mark the occasion, it’s getting a new touch of light delivered by LEDs.

Around 25,000 light-emitting diode (LED) lights will be installed across the Bay Bridge’s western span during the course of the next several months; the project is part of a 2-year art installation that pays tribute to the bridge’s anniversary and its colourful history.

Ben Davis: Visionary

Two years after the proposal of the ambitious art project, Ben Davis and his team, The Bay Lights, are finally in the crucial stage of hanging the lights. The group has secured all the necessary permits for the installation of LEDs and has amassed close to $8 million of the funds required to bring his brainchild to life. 

According to Davis, the LEDs will finally be strung on the bridge in October, which will culminate in a grand lighting ceremony during the project’s completion in March 2013. 

Installation Begins, Artist Leo Villareal on Board

This October, crews will finally begin the task of installing the art project, which was conceptualised by lighting designer Leo Villareal—he has already created similar lighting sculptures and installations in public spaces and museums, and this will be one of his largest yet.

The installation features around 25,000 LED lights, each one programmable and attached to the Bay Bridge’s suspension cables, which span 1.8 miles (2.9 kilometres) of the bridge’s northern section.

The LEDs, designed to work in unison, will display elaborate lighting displays, which will be programmed by Villareal himself. 

Cost and Return of Investment

The Bay Lights managed to do the nearly impossible task of amassing over 60 percent of the $8 million in private funding to make the installation possible. Even more impressive is how the group managed to secure permits from various authorities in the San Francisco – Oakridge area. 

What’s more, a commissioned study by the project’s organisers project that the installation will help bring in close to $100 million in revenue for San Francisco—the money is predicted to come from visitors coming to view the art installation.

The Bay Lights from Words Pictures Ideas on Vimeo.

Nova Scotia Makes the Switch to LED Lights

It’s official—the Province of Nova Scotia in Canada has passed a law that will mandate the conversion of all 120,000 roadway lights in the Province to energy-efficient light-emitting diode (LED) lights, an initiative that’s expect to help gain $5 million in annual energy savings once completed.

The project, estimated to be completed by 2023, sets Nova Scotia apart as the first jurisdiction in all of North America to make the use of energy-efficient LED lights for roadway lighting mandatory.

Nova Scotia Energy Minister Charlie Parker officially finalized the amendments to the Province’s Energy-Efficient Appliances Regulations on September 14. He points out that with the transition to LED-powered roadway lights, the entire Province could stand to save millions of dollars through the sheer savings LEDs bring to the table, as they use less than half the electricity of the current lighting setup.

Moreover, Parker notes that this reduced consumption of energy could pave the way for better air quality for the Province and a smaller carbon footprint on the environment.

Nova Scotia is estimated to have 120,000 streetlights, and according to the new regulations, Nova Scotiat Power will have to convert all of them to LEDs by 2019. Municipalities on the other hand, will have until December 2022. Nova Scotia Power owns and operates the majority of all streetlights within the Province, while the remaining 10 percent of roadway lighting are under the jurisdiction of Nova Scotia’s municipalities.

The plan to change Nova Scotia’s streetlights to LEDs was spearheaded by Province Premier Darrell Dexter, Province Premier Darrell Dexter in 2011. The announcement comes in the heels of many other communities in North America and the rest of the world making moves to  make the switch to LED lights, due to their increased durability (leading to fewer maintenance costs) and superb energy efficiency.

Philips Sees Africa as Potential Market for LED Lighting Solutions

Light-emitting diode (LED) lighting solutions, combined with solar power technology, may have the potential to provide cheap light to poor communities all over the world.

According to Philips Lighting Africa marketing manager, John Westermeyer, the combination of LED lighting technology together with solar power solutions paves the way for impoverished communities to finally have access to cheap, perhaps even free, illumination, particularly at night. With LEDs drawing far less power than any other lighting solution on the market, it’s the perfect companion to solar power, which drastically enhances the lifetime of LEDs.

Philips, which used to be the dominant force in the world of electronics, recently shifted its focus towards developing energy solutions. The company is setting its gaze on developing products and systems for developing markets, such as many countries in the African continent.

While Philips lost its top place to South Korean giants Samsung and LG in the LED television market, the company is setting its sights on Africa as an emerging market for LED lighting technologies. LEDs stand out for their superb energy efficiency, using a mere 10 to 20 percent of the electricity used by traditional lights and generating the same lighting power. Moreover, LEDs have a longer lifespan, with some products boasting of ratings of up to 50,000 hours.

As a sign of its commitment to lighting up impoverished communities in Africa, Philips recently launched an off-the-grid electricity programme in Lomshiyo, Mpumalanga. The company also plans to launch a similar project in Cape Town.

Philips ambitious plans, however, have not been without critics. Westermeyer vocally shut down suggestions of the company using the programme as a marketing strategy, saying that the small-scale electrification of communities in Africa with LED lights and solar power is viable and a huge area of focus for Philips.

City Hall Park in Los Angeles Switches to LED Lights

As proof of how aggressive LED lighting has been in the medium-scale to large lighting projects sector, another lighting project has just been completed, this time in the City Hall Park of Los Angeles.

The park surrounding Los Angeles City hall has just been outfitted with multiple LED lights, as part of a medium-scale renovation project that’s estimated to cost around 1 million USD, with the goal of making City Hall more energy efficient.

3M Company Joins the LED Craze

Conglomerate 3M Company is joining the LED revolution, coming out with its first consumer LED light bulb, which it promises to be better than any other LED on the market.

As is the trend with most LEDs on the market these days, 3M’s high-tech bulb is designed to look just like a regular incandescent light bulb on the outside. 3M Company claims the bulb has a 25-year lifespan, provided the bulb is used 3 hours per day. And once more, like most LEDs on the market, 3M’s LED bulb comes with a $25 price tag, which might not be all that appealing for the conglomerate’s customers.

India Looks to Provide Incentives for LED Light Buyers

Move over compact fluorescent lamps—there’s a new darling in town.

The Delhi government is currently promoting light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as a competing lighting product against compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), which have been shunned by some consumers due to their toxic components. Touted by the government as a superior alternative, LEDs are praised not just for being more energy efficient than CFLs, but for also being easy and safe to dispose and recycle since they contain no traces of mercury.

The high prices of LEDs in India have stifled efforts for consumers to seriously consider them as viable lighting solutions at home (they cost up to 5 times more than the average CFL in India) but the government is looking at offering tax breaks to consumers in an effort to entice them to buy LEDs.

English Entrepreneur Joins LED Revolution with Start-up

LED technology is paving the way for start-ups to capitalise on the growing need for more energy efficient solutions on a residential and commercial level. All over the world, businessmen from different backgrounds are looking into the possibilities LEDs have to offer.

Tony Carter of East Yorkshire, England, is one such entrepreneur. Formerly working as an aircraft engineer, he hopes to join the business of supplying LED light bulbs as the interest and demand for energy-efficient lighting continues to grow. Carter says the demand for methods to decrease electricity bills and cut carbon emissions has made the energy saving lighting market a highly lucrative sector for new entrepreneurs to invest in.