What is the Future Lighting? LED Wednesday, December 11th, 2013
According to industry experts, and as reported in Forbes, the future of lighting is LED. The world has had the benefit of artificial light ever since Thomas Edison invented the first light bulb over 130 years ago. Over the last few decades, significant progress had been made in lighting technology and energy savings. Compact fluorescent lights use just 13-watts to produce the same light that 60-watt incandescent bulbs require. LED (Light Emitting Diode) lights are now available which produce the same amount of light for just 7.5-watts of electricity. The benefits of LED for the environment is more than just electrical savings, though. LED lights are solid state, last up to 50,000 hours, contain no mercury and are 100% recyclable. LED lighting allows for precise control functionality in lighting design. This technology goes beyond commercial use, it is starting to transform city nightscapes as well. The Empire State Building in New York City, as part of it 21st century renovations, replaced traditional lighting fixtures with LED. Exterior lighting, which previously had 10 colors, now has 16.7 million possible programmable colors to work with. LED technology allowed designers to restore the original interior lighting schemes from the 1930, to complement the colors of the ceiling murals and stone walls in the lobby. The interior lighting was replaced by fluorescent lights in the 1960s. Tvilight Intelligent Street lighting Solutions offers dimmable LED streetlight systems, which are already in use in Assen, The Netherlands. Lights along streets and pathways are set to a dim level, and increase in brightness as pedestrians or vehicles approach. The integrated system ensures a sufficiently large area of light is available when needed to provide both utility and safety. The Philips FreeStreet lighting system employs sleekly designed directional LED streetlights. The lights are suspended from a cable stretched along streets and across open spaces. This lighting system reduces energy consumption by up to 60%. The design reduces light pollution, eliminates lamp posts, and makes the light fixtures practically invisible during the day. LED lighting is fast becoming the most favored technology for new and retrofitted lighting needs. The benefits of LED include greater energy efficiency, lower maintenance costs and environmentally sound technology. Relumination LLC works to provide lighting upgrade, service and support tailored to each customer. Contact us to discuss how our lighting solutions can benefit your next project.