Proper Light Placement: When Less is More

Proper indoor lighting is crucial in businesses that specialize in senior care. The natural decline of eye function with age means people in their 60s need 3 times as much light to effectively complete tasks as those in their 20s. It might seem like the answer is flooding the building with bright lights, but this isn’t effective. While certain eye conditions associated with age cause difficulty seeing in dim light, others create a sensitivity to glare and light changes. Proper placement of adjustable lights in hospitals and senior living facilities will allow you to use fewer lights with increased functionality.

Task Lighting

Lights with adjustable brightness and placement can be used to meet individual needs in many rooms. Living areas outfitted with adjustable lamps create effective spaces for reading or hobbies. Task lighting in the kitchen may include bright lights placed directly over cutting and cooking surfaces. Dimmer switches in these lights can be effective in eliminating glare. Instead of flooding bathrooms with bright light, carefully placed lighting around the sinks and mirrors can create the right environment for a safer shave.

Motion Sensors

It’s not unusual for seniors to suffer insomnia or need to get up during the night. Bathing a dark room in bright light can actually be counterproductive for aging eyes. While younger eyes may adjust in a moment, the pupils of seniors react slowly to changing light. This problem can lead to potentially dangerous nighttime falls. Equipping bedrooms, hallways, and bathrooms with motion sensor night lights can shed enough light to reveal obstructions without the addition of blinding glare. Wireless motion sensing lights can be stuck to walls close to the floor to provide adequate path lighting at night.

Increasing the amount of light is not always the answer for better visibility. Proper placement adds the right amount of light exactly where it is needed. Contact us at Relumination for more practical lighting tips to improve your business. 

How LED Lighting is Changing the World

There’s no doubt lights have changed a lot in the 130 years since Thomas Edison created the first light bulb. Lights have changed the world, this can be seen from pictures taken in space of the world at night, it’s amazing how much influence the light bulb has held over the past century. Now more recently, a new kind of light, that I’m sure you’ve heard of by now, is changing the world, the LED bulb.

A Light-emitting diode (LED) is a large advancement over traditional lighting. They consume far less energy and have a much larger lifespan than traditional lighting. It’s no surprise that many businesses have converted over to LED lighting. According to researchers, a decade from now almost half of commercial lighting will be LED. With lighting responsible for using approximately 20% of the world’s electricity, LED lighting is, without a doubt, the light of the future. It’s calculated that with LED lighting we can reduce the impact of lighting from using 20% to only using 4% of the world’s electricity, and save over 300 million barrels of oil per year in the U.S.

LED’s have been proven to be reliable, efficient and long-lasting. They are used in everything from flashlights to flat-screens and headlights on vehicles. Not only can LED lighting save you money as a business, but also as a taxpayer, municipalities are beginning to see the long list of benefits of making the switch to LED. For example, the city of Los Angeles plans to reduce their annual energy consumption for public lighting by 40% with the use of LED lighting. LED lights are bound to change the world, like Thomas Edison’s first light bulb did over a century ago.

As LED’s popularity grows the more they prove that they will pay for themselves. Its predicted that as technology furthers, LED lighting will become cheaper, making the initial investment in them payoff even quicker. Its no surprise that LED lighting is taking over the world, and it only makes sense to jump on board now! If your looking for LED lighting for your business contact us!

Why is LED lighting more energy efficient?

What makes LEDs more energy efficient than other types of lighting? LED lighting uses a completely different physical process than previous lighting technologies, and this is what makes it more efficient.

Incandescent Bulbs

Incandescent bulbs heat a piece of metal to a high temperature so that it glows white hot. Unfortunately, a lot of energy is lost as heat, as you can easily notice by putting your hand near an incandescent bulb.

Fluorescent Bulbs

Fluorescent bulbs actually operate by two physical processes in sequence. The first of these happens by running an electric current through mercury vapor, which causes the mercury atoms to emit ultraviolet (UV) light. This light is not visible, so fluorescent lamps require another step, and this is where fluorescence comes in.

Fluorescence is the process where a material absorbs light of one color and emits light of another color. In the case of fluorescent lamps, a material coating the bulb absorbs the UV light and emits visible light. This process is more energy efficient than incandescent bulbs because there is no need to heat a material. However, because it is a two-step process where each step is not perfectly efficient, its efficiency is still limited.

Another issue with fluorescent bulbs is that the mercury they contain is hazardous, and has to be disposed of properly.

LEDs

LED stands for light emitting diode. The diode is the physical object which emits light. This is a one-step process, which helps explain why LED bulbs are more efficient than fluorescent bulbs.

The material at the at the heart of an LED is a semiconductor. This material is able to directly absorb electric energy and emit light, which also helps keep efficiency high.

LEDs are not perfectly efficient. Their efficiency depends largely on the type of semiconductor material used. Scientists are constantly exploring new semiconductor materials to improve LEDs and provide better energy efficiency.

If you have any questions about LED lighting, please feel free to contact us.

3 Myths About LED Lighting

When any new type of technology is introduced or whenever there is something many people do not know about, there always seems to be a variety of false information being spread around. Unfortunately, this false information gets talked about so much that people begin to accept the false information as true information.

Since LED lighting is being used more now than in previous years, more myths and misconceptions continue to spread. We find it very surprising that so many people believe these myths and misconceptions because some of them can be very outrageous. We want to point out some of the common myths and misconceptions we have heard over recent years and finally disprove them.

Myth 1: LEDs Costs Too Much

When it comes to LED lighting, many people worry about the price tag, and this is very understandable. However, this may only be true if you are thinking about the overall costs as far from an upfront perspective. When you are discussing LEDs from an upfront perspective, it can be more expensive when you compare it to the other options on the table. However, LED lighting has a greater value when you look at it over the course of an entire lifespan. While you will pay more for an LED light bulb or light fixture, the usage of your electricity will not be as expensive. Also, you will not need to worry about constantly replacing light bulbs or paying for any repairs or maintenance on your light bulb or fixture.

Myth 2: Lighting Does Not Have A Big Impact On My Utility Bill

Many people do not see a need to change their lighting because they feel that it does not have a major impact on their electricity bill. However, the other items you have in your home have been designed to be more energy-efficient. Since other items in your home are being improved and are more energy-efficient, you will need to make changes to your lighting as well. If you do not make these changes, you can expect to see a high increase in the percentage that lighting accounts for in regards to your electricity bill.

Myth 3: LED Lights Are Not Bright 

Incandescent light bulbs were measured differently than it actually should have been measured. In previous years, the brightness was measured by wattage. However, the brightness of a light bulb should have been measured by lumens. As a result of brightness being measured incorrectly, people were not purchasing the correct lighting. Today, it is important to pay close attention to luminosity instead of the wattage of a light bulb.

Have you heard any of these myths about LED lighting? Have any of these myths led you to stay away from LED lighting? Do not let the myths about LED lighting stop you from changing your lighting. For more information on LED lighting, please do not hesitate to contact us today.

The Search for Better LEDs

Light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, are an energy efficient source of light. They have many advantages over incandescent and fluorescent lights: they are more energy efficient and last longer. But LEDs are not perfect, and they could be better.

Problems with current LEDs

One problem with current LEDs is that they generate heat: not nearly as much heat as incandescent bulbs, but still some heat. If you have an LED light and you’ve ever held your hand close to it, you will know that it doesn’t get very hot. However, according to EurekAlert, in situations that require intense lighting, like vehicle headlights and stadium lighting, LEDs can get hot and this can cause problems.

LEDs get hot because the portion of energy that doesn’t get used to make light becomes heat instead. This causes the LED to get hot and that changes its properties. It may become less energy efficient or change color slightly.

Using computers to search for better LEDs

A chemistry professor at the University of Houston has been awarded a $656,000 NSF grant to look into this problem. Professor Jakoah Brgoch uses computers to better understand chemistry. What do computers have to do with chemistry? By making simulations, chemists can explore different models of how certain chemicals react with each other. Or, as in this case, they can explore how different materials would behave at various temperatures.

The goal of this research is to find LEDs that work well at low temperatures and continue to work well at high temperatures. In a few years, this technology might come to market and could be helpful for any number of situations that require intense light. If that does happen, Relumination will be there to help you choose the best option for your business. Please contact us if you have any questions about LED lighting.

LED Lighting For Your Commercial Space

One of the real workhorses in the LED lighting industry is commercial lighting. Lights that are used in the commercial industry need to be able to withstand the heavy flow of traffic in various areas, in addition to having enough efficiency to illuminate extra lighting and signs. Commercial lighting should do more than provide customers with the comfort level and safety they need, but the commercial lighting should also be appealing enough to attract the attention of those who are passing by.

There are many business owners that make the decision to use traditional signs and lighting for these type of tasks, but we suggest using something that will provide you with better results. As a commercial business owner, you are going to need lighting that is more enticing, efficient, and durable. The commercial lighting you need for your location should also be easy to customize so it can flexible enough to complement the style of your business.

Unlike the traditional lighting options you may have used in the past, LED fixtures will allow you to customize the look of our fixtures. When you have this type of versatility, the LED lights you use in your commercial property can create a variety of light colors that will be able to fit in any space. With the versatility of LED lighting, you can enjoy a variety of activities under the perfect lighting and colors.

LED lighting has become an option that is not only stylish and convenient but affordable as well. Since LED lighting fixtures do not require as much electricity as the traditional lights, LED lights will continue to be a budget-friendly and energy efficient option. When you use the latest and greatest LED technology, your lights will be able to produce over 50,000 hours of illumination. This means you can ultimately get up to 5 years of use with LED lighting.

If you would like more information on our LED lighting services, please do not hesitate to contact us today.

3 Reasons Why Your LED Lighting Retrofit Should Include a Redesign

Switching over to LEDs doesn’t just make your building more energy efficient. It makes it brighter. It gives you more lighting options. It even gives you remote access to your lighting settings. But it’s not just enough to rewire the sockets and improve your network. Your lighting needs to be redesigned for you to fully tap into all of the benefits of LEDs. Here’s why:

1. You get more brightness per unit.

No matter what building you have or the industry you’re working in, the lighting probably reaches a bare minimum of ‘sufficient.’ Either through general design or OSHA requirements, your incandescent or fluorescent lights do the job. But when you switch to LEDs, each bulb is capable of a lot more light. LEDs can run to approximately 3% of the sun’s brightness each, and that means your workspace is going to becoming very bright — maybe too bright.

Redistribute the lighting so your employees don’t have to worry about too much glare or light pollution as they work.

2. Directionality gives you more control over lighting the space.

Traditional bulbs emit light in every direction, and their covers could block off the lighting in a pseudo-attempt at directionality. But LEDs have an actual directional beam. With smart LEDs, you can even program that direction to change over time, along with brightness and color.

Your current lighting setup was designed based on the limitations of the time period. So update the configuration to match the new opportunities, especially in a retail or public space.

3. Make sure you meet new regulations.

Just like lighting technology updates, so do safety regulations. If you have freezers, regulations are tightening how much heat runoff can influence the temperature. Employee safety advocates also care about glare, lighting for overnight employees, and more. While you’re retrofitting your system for the new technology, redesign for compliance changes, too.

Get Your Hospital Ready for the Future of LEDs Now

LEDs hit the lighting world by storm, and there are several good reasons for that. Not only are they energy-efficient and produce less heat, but they’re also customizable. Everything from dimness to color and direction can be programmed into LEDs. But while that makes LEDs a smart bet for new hospital constructions, it used to be another story for retrofits. Here are three reasons why your administration should make switching to LEDs a priority:

1. The current infrastructure will support future bulbs.

Early adoption of technology is always risky. Switching to the last data storage medium or buying the latest devices can be expensive or an investment in a fleeting trend. But LEDs are here to stay, and their current support systems are built to last. Whether you want to start retrofitting your hospital in sections or you want to overhaul the whole property, switching to LEDs is a safe bet.

2. Dimmable, programmable bulbs help people do their jobs.

LEDs in hospitals don’t just have the general benefits like in other commercial settings. They also have specific benefits for your employees and your patients. You can automatically program LEDs to duplicate daylight with bright white light so employees on the night shift are more alert. You can also add dimmable bulbs to waiting rooms and patient rooms. Even color-changing bulbs are being studied for their positive impacts on people’s healing rates.

3. Save on variable expenses.

Hospitals cost a lot of money to run. You have to keep the lights on 24/7, and even a single hospital room has a lot of specific lighting requirements. But LED bulbs will cut down on electrical costs. Because they have long lifespans, you also save on replacement bulbs, or diodes, over the years.

Contact us at Relumination to get started. We can help plan, implement, and analyze your hospital’s lighting systems.

LED Lighting: Are You Ready To Make The Switch?

Is today the day you are going to move ahead with your commercial lighting and switch your incandescent light bulbs for the popular LED light bulbs? If you are thinking about making the switch, we know there are some more things you will want to know about LED lighting.

An LED is a light source that converts electricity into light by using a semiconductor. LEDs can convert electricity up to 90 percent more efficiently than the traditional incandescent light bulbs. The majority of today’s LED light bulbs have a projected lifespan of 25,000 hours. With your commercial lights being switched on and off every day, your business will definitely shine longer and brighter than ever before.

LED light bulbs can come in a variety of styles and colors. This means that you will not have to settle for the traditional white bulbs that you are currently using. You can use the LED light bulbs as part of the signage outside of your business without worrying about the color of the bulb fading over time. You will also not have to worry about constantly checking your light bulb for popping sounds.

Not only can you use LED light bulbs in signage outside of your business, but you can certainly use them indoors. If you love creating displays inside your business to attract customers, you will appreciate the appeal that LED lights can bring.

An incandescent light bulb will brighten the entire display, but LED lighting will give you the opportunity to highlight the parts of the display you want to stand out. Incandescent light bulbs are cooler than LED light bulbs, but the LED bulbs will still produce a little amount of heat. When installing LED bulbs in enclosed spaces, you should make sure the bulbs have been designed for enclosed spaces.

Are you ready to add a little more light into your business? Do not hesitate to contact us today for more information on LED lighting.

Electric Light Has Come a Long Way: Where Do We Go from Here?

Even though nobody wants to go back to candles, there has been a lot of criticism of the poor old incandescent bulb, which has served civilization faithfully for over 130 years. In 2007, President G.W. Bush signed into law a requirement that “screw in” light bulbs will have to be 60 or 70 percent more efficient than today’s incandescent bulbs. The trouble is that 90 percent of the energy that goes into an incandescent bulb is required to heat the metal filament in the bulb to 4,000 degrees F, in order to get the bulb to light. The US law does not ban incandescent bulbs but those conditions are impossible for incandescent bulbs to meet. Manufacturers have phased out old-style 100-watt bulbs [The Washington Post]. “Traditional” incandescent bulbs have been banned from being sold in some states, including California.

So What Do We Replace Them With?

There are two current options that will meet the efficiency requirement of President Bush’s bill.

The Compact Fluorescent bulb is one option. The bulbs are cleverly engineered versions of the long fluorescent tubes you see in the ceilings of some stores and offices. What the engineers did is take the tube (which has to have a certain length and size to generate sufficient light) and bend them either into a U-shape or into a shape like a spring. Sometimes, the bulbs will be mounted in a glass cover so they look like incandescent bulbs. In each case, the bulb itself is mounted on top of a heavier-than-incandescent base which serves as the ballast.

Compact Fluorescents.

The principle behind the fluorescent bulb is a little more complex than other lighting systems.

  1. When you screw the bulb into your lamp socket and turn on the light, AC electric current passes through an adapter in the base of the bulb which changes the current into direct current (DC). The base of the bulb also contains a “starter” and a suppression capacitor. This small system is called the ballast. It builds the current up to the level needed to start the bulb working and serves to maintain a constant voltage because fluctuating voltage in these bulbs will cause flickering lighting.
  2. The current is drawn through the tube which is filled with mercury vapor (and other gases). When the electrons in the tube crash into mercury molecules in the tube, the gas glows with invisible ultraviolet light.
  3. The glass is coated with a phosphorescent material similar to the kind that makes things glow in “black light.” The ultraviolet light makes the phosphorescent powder in the tube glow in visible light which is the light generated by the lamp.

There are two disadvantages of the compact fluorescent system.

The major disadvantage is that they have to be filled with mercury vapor which is very dangerous for the environment. These compact fluorescent light bulbs cannot be disposed of in regular trash but need to be specially recycled.

The second (perhaps less important) disadvantage is that these bulbs require the ballast. The presence of the ballast makes the bulb fitting slightly different from the standard screw-in fitting so the bulbs don’t fit in every socket. The ballast also slows the start of the light. When you turn the light on, there is a slight delay before the light turns on.

Light-emitting Diodes (LED lights).

The light-emitting diode (LED) lamp is the second option. LEDs are the result of a long history of research into special crystals called semiconductors (similar to crystals used in computer chips). These crystals simply glow when you attach them to an electrical source. The circuitry in the LED lamp is very simple. You simply need a current to change AC to DC current (AC is alternative current–the kind of current that comes through your plug from the electric company to DC (direct current–the kind of current that comes from a battery). The current reduced to the correct voltage is connected to the crystal and it glows on its own. This is a property of the matter in the crystal. You often see lamps where there is no apparent bulb, just a small piece of crystal at the base of the lamp that is the source of all the light. LEDs do not generate high temperatures. They tend to last a lot longer than incandescent bulbs and even longer than compact fluorescent bulbs.

The research into the property of these crystals to create light directly from electrical energy is leading to the development of new forms of lamps. Whole wall panels that light up, tubes whose surface has light-emitting property, and even light-emitting paper and flexible plastics.

Relumination was founded with the idea that automated lighting control and new low energy lights can save energy which is less expensive than figuring out ways to produce more. Contact us to learn more.