Thanksgiving is right around the corner, which means the holiday season will be upon us in no time. Many retail and craft stores have been stocked with holiday supplies and decorations since before Halloween! One of the fun parts of the holiday season is decorating your home with various lights and other illuminations. When heading to the store to buy holiday lights, don’t overlook LED string lights. Though a little more expensive than incandescent holiday lights, you’ll save a bundle on electricity and most likely won’t have to purchase new lights next year.

LED lighting is the best possible choice for holiday lighting this season when it comes to saving money and reducing your carbon footprint. LED lighting uses only 10% of the amount of electricity that incandescent holiday lights use and do not produce carbon emissions. In a statement by Christmas Décor,  “According to the U.S. Department of Department of Energy, if all conventional Christmas lights were replaced by LED lighting, annual energy savings would total two billion kilowatt-hours – enough energy to power nearly 200,000 homes. “ LEDs also have a longer life compared to incandescent holiday string lights. Incandescent lighting lasts 2,000 hours while LEDs last at least 50,000 hours, which amounts to 20 years of use. LED string lights are built better and are more reliable than incandescent lights. There is no filament in LEDs, just a chip, and because of the epoxy coating, they are less likely to break in shipping and storage. Incandescent string lights are also a safety hazard because they get warm after a few hours of use, which increases the chance of a fire. LEDs do not give off heat and can make for a safer and happier holiday.

Make this the most environmentally friendly holiday season yet and pick up LED holiday string lights!

LED lighting has benefits other than saving electricity, money, and reducing carbon emissions. Colored and color-changing LEDs can spruce up any decorative hotel or resort. W Hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona, is becoming known for its LED lighting display throughout various areas of the hotel. Located on Camelback and Scottsdale roads, the all-glass exterior hotel features a pool area set up similar to a beach, various dining areas and lounges, a sunset beach bar, and a breath-taking view of Camelback Mountain. When brainstorming the lighting schemes of the hotel, designers ran into many budget, technical, and regulatory problems, from not having enough money to not having support from politicians who weren’t familiar with the technology they wanted to use.

Once Retina Lighting and Transport, LLC got involved, the LED lighting scheme ideas became a reality. In the elevator, the “W” logo of the hotel is displayed on LED wall panels when a customer enters the elevator. When the doors close, the customers are treated to a stunning LED light show. When the customer reaches their destination floor, the LED panels return to the “W” logo. The outdoor pool area is also decorated with LED lighting. Four four-ton LED light sticks illuminate the Grand Lanterns around the wetdeck. The lanterns change colors with the 360-degree mobile bar that floats around the pool. A 24’ aquarium in the hotel is also lit up with LEDs.

The W Hotel is probably also saving thousands of dollars each month on its remarkable lighting displays because of the incredible efficiency and long life of LEDs! If you are around the Phoenix/Scottsdale area, you should check it out!

March Foods, a United Kingdom based food warehouse system, spent a few years looking for ways to reduce energy in its warehouses. Paul Cope, Managing Director of March Foods, had a few issues with the current lighting in his 35,000 square-foot warehouse he was looking to solve with new lighting. He had 84 450-watt high pressure sodium lamps in the warehouse that operated 24 hours per day, six days per week. Cope also said the workers aren’t in every area of the warehouse all the time, but if he shuts the warehouse lights off, they’d take 10-15 minutes to come back on. The HPS lighting hung 4-5 feet off of their 15-foot ceilings, which were in the way of extended pallet trucks, and the height of the lamps made them impossible to replace without a cherry picker. The company used to wait until 4-8 lamps burned out so they could rent a cherry picker for the weekend to replace them, which cost the company over $2,700 annually.

Paul Cope’s solution? LED lighting! March Foods replaced every HPS lamp with a 150-watt LED lamp, which are 66% more energy efficient than the HPS lamps. The instant-on feature of LEDs saved the food warehouse company another 72% on energy and reduced carbon emissions by approximately 98 tons annually. Tom Klimes of Interior Control Ltd. sold Cope the lamps and said the lamps come with a five-year warranty, but could last more than 10 years if they aren’t used 24-7. The LEDs also only hang two feet from the ceiling as opposed to four or five feet, so they are less likely to be hit by pallet trucks. Cope also plans to see a return on his investment in less than three years, but it may be six months sooner than projected once electricity prices are taken into account.

Even the workers approve of the new lighting. Cope said the HPS lamps were dim and looked “old,” and he was ready for something new. “One of them [March Foods workers] even says that now he feels noticeably less tired at the end of a night shift,” said Klimes. The energy and cost savings are endless with LEDs! Retrofit your warehouse today!

Wal-Mart, one of the largest and most popular retail providers, is about to get an LED lighting retrofit that will save the company millions of dollars and have a substantial impact on the LED market. Cree recently announced in a press release that 650 Wal-Mart stores will be replacing the ceramic metal halide lighting in their produce and electronics departments with Cree LRP-38 LED light bulbs. In new construction projects, Wal-Mart will be installing Cree’s popular LR6 recessed downlights.

The LRP-38 LEDS are 82% more efficient than the 70-watt metal halide lighting currently used. One of the reasons the lamps were chosen is because their expected lifespan is 50,000 hours, which lasts more than five years when turned on 24 hours a day. The lights also reduce glare on items and helps focus customers’ attention on Wal-Mart products. Neal Hunter, Cree co-founder and president of Cree’s LED Lighting Division, said the LED lighting will be “…making food and merchandise attractive, which we believe enhances the customer’s experience.” Not only is the installation benefiting Wal-Mart, but it will also have a big impact on Cree. Though we couldn’t find any information about financial details, we did find that Michelle Murray, spokeswoman for Cree, said it will be an important milestone for the company.

Wal-Mart has also made many other changes in their stores to be more “green.” They have mounted refrigerated units on top of some stores that reduce refrigerant charge by 90% and use waste heat to heat water used in bathrooms and kitchens. A Wal-Mart store in Santa Ana, California, installed solar panels on the roof that supply 20-30% of power needed to operate the store. The store’s dual-mode diesel-electric trucks increase efficiency by 25%. Fifteen trucks in Phoenix run off of fuel made by waste brown cooking grease, which could also increase efficiency by 2%. The store also has a “Home Efficiency Center” that offers customers LEDs, CFLs, Energy Star washers and dryers, and high efficiency toilets.

We look forward to seeing how Wal-Mart’s installation of LED lighting impacts the market and the company! Continue to keep going green, Wal-Mart, and we hope others will do the same!

According to National Grid, an international electricity and gas company, typical grocery stores in the northeastern portion of the United States spend $460,000 annually on energy, 78% of which is spent on lighting and refrigeration. Energy costs are probably similar in the rest of the U.S and around the world. These high costs typically equal the grocery store’s profit margin. One way that many grocery chains can  save energy and increase profits is by switching to LED lighting!

One popular place to replace lighting in grocery stores is in freezer cases. In Eugene, Oregon, Albertson’s Grocery installed LEDs with occupancy sensors in their freezer cases. They were impressed with the increased color uniformity on products in the cases. Albertson’s Grocery will save 2,659 kWh annually per five-door case, and combined with maintenance savings, will see a return on investment in 5.4 years. The sensors will also reduce electricity consumption by an additional 12%, making the new LED lighting 73% more efficient than previous lighting!

In Puerto Rico, the SuperMax supermarket chain will be saving over $170,000 annually by switching to LED lighting. They are replacing over 1,000 lighting fixtures in their stores, including ceiling lights, lighting in prep areas, and cooler, freezer, and display cases. The new LEDs are said to have a 50,000-hour lifespan and will save SuperMax more than $1 million over their lifetime! Most conventional lighting used in grocery stores only lasts 12-18 months before needing to be replaced, and also need to be cleaned periodically.

Another benefit of LED lighting in freezer cases is that LED lighting doesn’t give off heat, so the lighting does not have to compete with the refrigeration system to keep freezers cold, therefore conserving even more energy. Also, it takes less LED fixtures than incandescent or fluorescent fixtures to illuminate a grocery store because of their bright, uniform light. The lighting also enhances displays and makes for a better customer and employee experience while saving energy. Even installing LED exit signs can save $60 per fixture each year! We hope more grocery stores make the switch to LED lighting.

Our CEO, Daniel Henderson was asked to be on a great local radio program called Your Triple Bottom Line. The show is about sustainability and as it relates to people, the planet and profits. Daniel shared valuable information about the company and LED Lighting with the hosts, Derrick and Angelo.

A link to the podcast can be found here: http://bit.ly/your3bl14

If you would like to learn more about the radio program, Your Triple Bottom Line, you can visit their website here: http://your3bl.com/

Of course, we all know about the energy and maintenance savings that come from LEDs. In Indian Wells, California, the city replaced over 100 six-inch incandescent downlights in the City Hall, Emergency Operations Center, and Public Works Maintenance Facility with Cree LR6 LED downlights. The old incandescent lamps burned 3,640 hours per year and consumed 30,385 kilowatt-hours per year. Now, the new LEDs burn the same amount of time, but consume only 3,969 kilowatt-hours per year, saving the city almost $4,500. Not only can other office buildings benefit from savings seen at these municipal  buildings in Indian Wells, but LED lighting can also improve the workplace for employees.

Many studies conducted have shown LED lighting can improve employee efficiency and morale. Fluorescent lighting can make workers feel sick and make them less productive during the workday, which hurts the employees and the company. High exposure to ultra violet rays from compact fluorescent lamps can increase feelings of depression and fatigue in employees. The lamps also generate heat and cause “hot spots” to occur on the lamps, which means the rest of the light dims, causing eye strain. CFLs also contain mercury, and exposure to mercury from broken lamps can cause permanent damages to the lungs, throat, and skin. LED lighting is a healthier alternative lighting option for office buildings. LEDs do not flicker, which decreases workplace strain and headaches. Studies have also shown LEDs can help reduce the risk of developing cancer in women who work in shifts or windowless environments.

We hope to see more office buildings choosing healthy, energy efficient LEDs to create a happier and more productive workplace.

We are pleased to find that two popular United States chain restaurants have recently decided to retrofit their restaurants with LEDs. LED lamps help improve the appearance of food and highlight decorations around the restaurant. They also save money by consuming less power than other fixtures and can lower the power consumed by the air conditioning because they don’t give off heat. LEDs can also illuminate outdoor signs.

Chili’s, an American Tex-Mex cuisine restaurant, is installing 125,000 LED lamps in the interior and exterior of all 827 of its corporate restaurants. Brinker International, parent company of Chili’s and Maggiano’s restaurants, purchased the new lighting manufactured with Cree XLamp LEDs from Eco-story LED Lighting Solutions. According to LEDs Magazine, “Eco-story claims this will be ‘the largest U.S. roll-out of LED lamp technology to date.’” They are replacing 30-50 watt lamps with 4.9-watt LED MR16s and 60-watt PAR20 and PAR30 lamps with 6-watt LEDs. Other indoor and outdoor lamps were also replaced. Brinker’s savings from this installation are almost unbelievable! It calculated each restaurant would save $87.00 per week, totaling to $3.7 million each year! Bill Stauffer, co-founder of Eco-story, said the appearance and lighting quality in Chili’s has greatly improved with the new LEDs.

Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar, who call themselves “the world’s largest casual dining restaurant,” hired LED Saving Solutions to install its first retrofit of its restaurants in Newtown, Pennsylvania. They chose lights that gave off similar light to what they had installed previously to keep the mood and dining experience the same. LED Savings Solutions’ Lighting Audit and Savings Report analyzed the new lighting and found that the restaurant will save $150,000 in energy costs and reduce CO2 emissions by 1.8 million pounds. If all 2,000 Applebee’s restaurants in the chain switched to LEDs, they would save a combined total of $1.5 million per month, $18 million per year, and $300 million over the lifetime of the lamps!

With these kinds of projected savings, we hope to see more restaurant LED retrofits!

Today, October 21^st, General Electric is celebrating World Lighting Appreciation Day. Today marks the 131^st anniversary of Thomas Alva Edison, founder of General Electric, testing the first commercially practical incandescent light bulb. It’s crazy to think about what life would be like without the light bulb. We would hope that someone would have eventually invented it, but if not, we’d be stuck lighting candles and torches to get around in the dark!

To celebrate, General Electric is hosting a Lighting Redefined Symposium at its headquarters in Niskayuna, New York, where the company will make an important announcement about an important breakthrough in LED lighting technology. They will also be taking photos of Edison around the campus. You can view photos of the great inventor on www.facebook.com/edisonsdesk.

General Electric is asking people around the world to also celebrate Lighting Appreciation Day by tweeting their thoughts on lighting, how it has impacted their life now and where they think lighting developments may go in the future. People can also include photos and videos of their favorite lighting displays in their homes, companies, around their city, or even holiday lighting displays. We know some of you go crazy with holiday lighting decorations on the interior and exterior of your homes! When tweeting, use the hashtag #weheartlighting so that others can see your response. If you don’t have a Twitter and want to see what everyone is saying about Lighting Appreciation Day, go to www.twitter.com and search #weheartlighting.

Check back with us soon to see what General Electric’s breakthrough LED technology announcement was all about! Happy World Lighting Appreciation Day, everyone!