LED Bulbs Bring Safety And Savings

The Windsor Police Department, the United Way and the Ford City Neighborhood Renewal program have teamed up to decrease crime and improve safety at night in the Ford City neighborhood of Windsor, ON Canada. The group is supplying LED bulbs to 832 homes in the neighborhood free of charge. Residents are being asked to install the bulbs on there front porches and leave the lights on all night. The goal of the project is to decrease crime with improved lighting and visibility. An added bonus of using LED bulbs for the project is a marked decrease in energy usage and prolonged bulb life. Residents will spend approximately $2.07 a year to run the LED bulbs an average of 8 hours a night compared to $12.72 for a 40 watt incandescent. The LED bulbs should last over 13 years at that rate.
This story shows one of the better uses of LED lighting. It also shows how governments and the private sector can work together to help the community. Even with the price of LED lighting dropping dramatically over the last 2 years, prices are still much too high to consider using them in every light in your house. Light fixtures that are used infrequently or are used only a few hours a day are not good candidates for LED bulbs. Lights that are used 5 or more hours a day, such as a porch light or landscape lighting, are much better places for LED bulbs. Thanks to CBC News for some of the information contained in this article.

Ashville Cuts Energy Costs In Half

The City of Ashville, NC is expecting to cut its energy use and maintenance costs in half by switching all of it's streetlights to LED's. Ashville is replacing each of the cities 3,643 streetlights with 67 watt or 195 watt LEDway streetlights from Cree, Inc. of Durham, NC. The move is expected to save Ashvill $260,000 a year. The upgraded lights will not only save the city money in energy and maintenance, it will reduce the cities carbon footprint and reduce light pollution. Ashville is paying for the lighting upgrade using Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Progress Energy, who supplies electricity to the city, will use reduced rate tables to calculate Ashville's energy rates because of the lighting upgrade, saving the city even more money.

Businesses can greatly reduce there energy and maintenance costs by switching to LED lighting. Outdoor lighting is a great place to start. LED parking lot lighting and LED landscape lighting can decrease your outdoor energy bill by 70% or more. Waterfront restaurants, bars and hotels can save even more by switching to LED deck lighting and underwater LED dock lights.

Atlanta Airport Saves $.5 Million A Year

Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport has found a way to trim more then half a million dollars from its annual operating costs, upgrade the lighting in it's parking garages to LED lights. Hartsfield-Jackson is replacing all 4,342 of the 210 watt metal halide lights with super efficient LED lights that use only 80 watts. The move will save the Worlds Busiest Airport $500,000 a year in electricity and thousands more in reduced maintenance costs. LED lighting is quickly becoming the obvious choice for saving money by reducing energy consumption. LED lights are perfect in applications that use high wattage lamps, are on more then four hours a day or have a limmited power supply. Consider using LED lights for parking garages, for public buildings or even LED lights for boats and RV's.

LED Bulbs Slash Towns Maintenance Costs

Pekin, Ill. is upgrading the bulbs in all of the towns 178 ornamental streetlights with highly efficient and long lasting LED bulbs. The original bulbs and ballast in the ornamental light have been a drain on the cities budget due to high maintenance costs. The old bulbs and ballast have needed frequent replacement since being installed during the cities streetscape project of 2000. Upkeep of the old lights has required the city to keep replacement bulbs and ballast in stock and requires a full time maintenance crew to upkeep the lights. The new LED have an estimated lifespan of 8 to 10 years, meaning they will be virtually maintenance free for the life of the LED's. In addition, the LED lights use only about 10% of the electricity consumed by the older lights. Underwater LED boat lights from Shadow-Caster give you the same maintenance free longevity and low power consumption as Pekin's new LED streetlights. With 40,000 hours of maintenance free performance and extremely low power consumption, you'll be able to enjoy your night on the water without worrying about maintaining your lights or your battery.

Eugene Lights Up Local Business

The city of Eugene, OR is brightening up downtown by providing local business with grants designed to improve lighting and business in the city’s downtown urban renewal district. The grants are part of the cities Downtown Safety Initiative and were awarded to 13 businesses facing Broadway between Lincoln and Pearl streets, and facing Willamette Street between Sixth and 11th avenues. The grants, ranging between $1,400 to $2,700, will be used to purchase and install lighting at the businesses that will improve lighting and safety in the downtown district. Local businesses applying for the grants had to supply the city with contractor estimates on how much their lighting projects would cost. The grants were awarded by a panel consisting of members from the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce, Eugene Police Department and representatives from the Eugene Water & Electric Board. The city will compensate the businesses for the purchase and instillation of the lights once the work is completed. Many of the businesses are planning on installing energy­ efficient LED lights. The LED lighting will reduce the businesses energy usage by up to 70% while eliminating maintenance costs for 10 years or more. These cost savings will directly reduce the businesses operating costs and improve there profits. Waterfront restaurants and bars can improve customer satisfaction, reduce operating costs and boost there profits by installing underwater LED lights around docks and seawalls. The LED lighting improves safety for float up customers while improving the night time water views.

U Of Wyoming Makes Greenhouse Greener

In an effort to maximizing financial and environmental returns by focusing on efficiency, the University of Wyoming is making changes that will reduce energy use and make the campus carbon neutral. One of the biggest energy users on campus is the schools greenhouses. The greenhouses are used for the research of crops, soil, weeds, plant pathology, entomology and agroecology. Upgrades to the 40 year old greenhouses include the installation of translucent polycarbonate covers, advanced control systems, new exhaust fans and upgrades to energy efficient LED grow lights. The LED lighting will replace 600 watt high intensity discharge lights. The switch to LED lighting alone will save the college more than 13,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year and trimming $54,600 a year from it's power bill. With an expected 50,000 hour lifespan, the LED lights have on bulbs to replace, saving the college thousands of dollars in maintenance costs. LED lighting is the easiest, most efficient way to lower power consumption and save on energy costs. Replacing power hungry incandescent bulbs that are on for 4 or more hours a day with LED lights is the fastest way to lower your lighting bills. Porch lights, outdoor security lights and underwater dock lights are all great places for LED lighting.

Lighting Science Groupe LED Bulbs

Lighting Science Group DEFINITY LED bulbs makes LED flood and spot lights, vanity lights and 60 and 40 watt equivalent omnidirectional bulbs. DEFINITY LED bulbs come in a four different color temperatures, Warm White 2700K, Warm White 3000K, Neutral White 4000K and Cool White 5000K. DEFINITY LED bulbs are 75-80% more efficient than traditional bulbs, are dimmable, are "instant on", and have a calculated lifetime of 17 years based on 8 hours a day of use.  Independent tests have shown that the lumen (light) output of DEFINITY LED bulbs is 25-30% brighter then comparable LED bulbs.The 60 watt equivalent DEFINITY LED bulb is a direct replacement for conventional 60-watt incandescent bulbs. DEFINITY LED bulbs use 85% less electricity then 60-watt incandescent bulbs and provide a 35% lower total cost of ownership compared to CFLs. Shadow-Caster SC series of underwater LED boat lights also provide you with long life low power usage and they come in 5 greate colors.