Schools Save With LED Lighting

A positive learning environment is extremely important to your child’s education.  Most would not think of lighting being a factor in the learning environment; it not only effects how your child learns, it also affects the type of education that their school can provide.  Not only can children benefit from a stable, well lit learning environment; schools can afford to provide a higher quality education if they are energy conscious.  Reduced energy bills can free up need cash for other pressing and important requirements like buying new books, computers or upgrading teaching infrastructure. 

Close to 40 schools in Austin are saving $480,000 annually ($12,000 per school) after energy saving retrofits.  The Twin Falls school district revamped the energy systems of 11 schools and achieved savings of US $3.5 million per annum that works out to almost $319,000 per school. The US Green Building Council estimated that on an average a green school would be able to save at least $100,000 per annum. Translated into education equivalent terms – these green schools would save enough money to “hire two new teachers, buy 200 new computers, or purchase 5,000 new textbooks.” They further estimate that over the next ten years green schools could save $20 billion in energy bills alone. With over 95,000 public elementary and secondary schools and 29,000 plus private schools in the United States - the target seems to be well within reach.

So how can schools potentially reach these savings?  Lighting and heating are the two most important heads of energy consumption in a school, with lighting being the single biggest source of energy consumption.  As much as 50% of the electricity bills of a school are from lighting alone; however, despite this, lighting is also the area where it is easiest to reduce electricity bills.  Replacing incandescent and fluorescent lights with LED bulbs can increase energy efficiency by up to 9 times.  This means LED’s can achieve the same levels of illumination while using up to 90% less electricity.  Schools can also reduce their electricity bill by using lower wattage bulbs and de-lamping – which means placing lights strategically so not as not to lessen the lighting coverage.  De-lamping is also effective since LED’s provide better light levels through producing directional light.
 
New Tek Partners offers an alternative to the strobe-like effect of fluorescent lights in the LEDGREEN LED light tube.  Casting a calm, natural light, this LED light tube eliminates the inconvenient and potentially harmful flickering.  Computer desk lamps, bathroom lights and other bulbs of varying shapes and sizes are found throughout schools.  New Tek Partners provides a multitude of LED bulbs that can be used for such applications.  Next time you are in your child’s school, take notice of the lighting and think how it can affect their education.

What is an LED Light?

With the current hot topic in energy consumption being LED lights and their energy efficiency benefits, some consumers might find that they are not completely familiar with what an LED is.  It is important for consumers to not only know that LED lights can save them money on utility bills and help the environment, but how the technology behind the lights allows them to do it.
 
LED is the acronym for “Light Emitting Diode”; a semiconductor device that produces light.  LEDs have evolved from small indicator lights to now being used for indoor and outdoor lighting solutions.  The LED consists of a plastic housing containing a cathode and anode, which are separated by a crystal of semiconductor material.  The anode and cathode work together to carry the current when voltage is applied.  The LED bulb is a collection of these LEDs, which need to be combined to increase the light output per bulb to a level suitable for personal use in a home or office environment. 

All the LEDs within a bulb have the same voltage and current requirements, creating a uniform device.  Besides this LED cluster, an LED bulb has other non-moving parts: Driver Electronics act as the “brain” of the bulbs and convert voltage; a Heat Sink acts as a thermal manager, keeping the bulb cool – unlike common incandescent lights: Optics diffuse the directional light, which creates a direct swath of bright light that doesn’t appear yellow, dull or directionless, like incandescent lights.  This technical superiority is what makes LED lights the perfection replacement for old incandescent lighting. 
New Tek Partners is a company that provides LED lighting solutions to everyone; from a new consumer looking to try a bulb in their home to an LED veteran looking to branch out and get creative.  Replacements for old screw-in incandescent bulbs, LED tubes, flood/wall packs and many other varieties of LED lights are available.  For those just getting into LED lighting, it would be best to take advantage of New Tek’s free Lighting Audit to see how much LED bulbs can help in your quest to save money.

Where in your home or office can you replace incandescent lighting with LED's?

Even Governments are Realizing the Cost Effectiveness of LED Lighting

Consumers aren’t the only ones reaping the benefits of LED technology.  Local governments and state agencies are also learning that LED’s are cost-effective solutions that also have positive effects on the environment.  Recently, state agencies in both Washington and Mississippi are turning to the filament-free lighting solution to provide their cities with “green” lighting.

In Jackson, Mississippi, Rankin County officials, and those in the city of Flowood, have installed new solar-powered LED street lights.  This project will eliminate electric costs for Flowood.  Also, in the same area, the city of Ridgeland replaced many of their traffic signals lights with cost-effective LED bulbs over the last few years.  According to officials, a regular traffic signal bulb with last from one year to 18 months, while operating 24 hours a day; LED bulbs will last them around eight years operating on the same schedule.  Several more upcoming LED projects are planned for the area, which will result in plenty of future savings for the city.

Representatives in Seattle, Washington are already experiencing what those in Jackson, Mississippi will in the next few years.  They are already saving $300,000 a year.  The Seattle City Light utility is looking to install thousands more in the near future.  By the end of 2014, it is projected that the city of Seattle will have a total of 41,000 LED lights and will have cut operating costs by $2.4 million a year due to this change.  Last year, officials expected a 40 percent reduction in energy consumption.  The LED lights have actually beaten that estimation and are using 48 percent less than the high-pressure sodium lights they replaced.

New Tek Partners is an LED technology provider based in Pennsylvania.  They offer lighting solutions that are useful not only to consumers, but to governments and agencies as well.  Their selection ranges from powerful, screw-in bulbs for you home and office all the way to LED street lamps commonly seen in residential neighborhoods, parking lots and highways.  In today’s challenging economy, it's important that residents and government officials take the opportunity to stretch every dollar as far as it can go, while remaining energy conscious.  LED lights are the perfect way to do that.

Where can your city benefit from making the switch to LED lighting?

Overcome Lighting Pollution with Outdoor LED Lights

Indoor LED lighting is a hot topic in today’s energy efficiency discussion; however, the impact of LED lighting goes far beyond its useful indoor applications.  LED lighting can also be used outdoors in yards, streets, and businesses in the form of flood/wall packs and street lamps.  Like indoor incandescent lights, common outdoor lights are known to use most of their energy in the form of heat, as opposed to light. 

Besides wasting light, light pollution can have many other impacts on the outside world.  It is common for people driving at night to have to squint their eyes from the glare of high pressure sodium lamps.  That is because the light is directed horizontally, thereby causing an increase in glare and reducing clarity of vision.  LED lights direct all of their output downwards, avoiding the issue of glare and allowing drivers to see clearly at night. 

Another benefit to using outdoor LED lights is the lighting coverage.  LED lights have an increased coverage area which means you can install less street lamps and/or flood packs while receiving a greater coverage area than the equivalent number of regular lights.  Not only will this decrease the amount of energy used, it will also result in dramatic cost savings.  Like their indoor lighting counterparts, LED outdoor lights use a diode rather than a filament or gases.  This means that toxic gases, like mercury, are not released into the environment.  This same diode is also what gives LED lights the ability to emit a much brighter white light.
 
New Tek Partners offers lighting solutions to help reduce the impact of outdoor lighting pollution.  Their LED street lights are the ideal lighting to replace the outdated high pressure sodium lamp, which are prone to flickering and narrow light coverage.  Flood/wall packs also make for an ideal lighting solution to surround your home.  All of New Tek Partners’ outdoor LED lights feature full spectrum light, high lumen per watt consumed, wide angle of light, zero light waste, zero mercury pollution, low power consumption and no moving parts or filaments. 

These LED lights also come with a 5 year free replacement warranty.  With all of these benefits to LED lighting, it’s hard not to consider the impact that New Tek Partners lighting solutions could have on your lifestyle.  When surveying the surrounding area of your home or business, think about the effect that LED lights could have on your wallet and health, and turn to New Tek Partners for all of your outdoor lighting needs.

Where can you replace incandescent outdoor light bulbs with LED lights?

LED Lighting Solutions are Mercury Free ~ Best For Your Health

One of the many benefits of LED lighting is that they do not use mercury in their construction.  But what does that mean for consumers?  Mercury is a known neuro-toxicant.  It stunts neurological development and impacts the cardiovascular system.  An alternative to LED lighting called the Compact Fluorescent Lamp claims to have less mercury than incandescent bulbs, measured at around 5 mg per CFL.

Additionally, because of this mercury risk, CFL’s have to be disposed of a certain way.  Why risk the chance of using a lighting solution with heavy metal?  With LED lighting, there are no worries with heavy metal pollution and no need to dispose of them in a special manner.  Using LED lights not only lessens your health risk, but it also lessens the risk of harming the environment.
 
If you’re looking for a refined lighting solution, then LED bulbs are the way to go.  They do not employ any mercury in their constructions.  They also emit less greenhouse gases that either bulbs or CFLs due to a number of reasons:

• The mercury released by CFL’s is 5.01 milligrams and that by bulbs stands at 4.56 milligrams over 6000 hours of operations. LED bulbs produce a minuscule 0.6318 milligrams of mercury in this time frame. This is 7 times less than either CFL’s or bulbs.

• They use around a seventh of the electricity used by incandescent bulbs and half that of CFL’s.

• There are no greenhouse gas emissions of reverse logistics as will happen in the case of CFL’s.

• They last for almost a decade compared to a year or less for bulbs and 2 years for CFL’s– the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the transport of LED's is obviously less than that for either of those lighting devices.

All of New Tek Partners LED lighting solutions are mercury-free.  They are safe for use outdoors or in your home or office.  New Tek’s LED lights are also 100% recyclable and come with a minimum three year warranty.  If saving electricity and cutting down mercury emissions is part of your plan, then look to New Tek Partners to provide you with the proper lighting solutions.

Where in your home or office can you replace incandescent bulbs with LED lighting?

A Comparison Between LED’s and CFL’s

Now that we know that the incandescent bulb is on its way out in favor of more effective, energy efficient solutions as mandated by the Energy Bill, the search for a new replacement is underway.  The two likely candidates are LED bulbs and CFL’s (Compact Fluorescent Lamp).  Although each may have their pros and cons, after exploring a brief comparison, you will see why LED bulbs are a superior choice.

• LED lights use less power - A 6 watt LED produces as much light as a 50 watt traditional bulb. The figure for CFL is close to 13 watts. This means an LED uses half the amount of electricity compared to a CFL. In the era of carbon emission controls, tight budgets, and awareness of energy preservation, LED lights easily score over CFL’s.
• Unlike LEDs, a CFL may require the replacement of the expensive light fixtures - CFL’s are less suited to be used as retrofits in existing sockets. Given that a CFL must accommodate an electronic powering device and long tubes, they are often too large for existing light fixtures. One must either do without the beautiful light covers or else change the light fixture itself. Any cost advantage that the CFL enjoys over LED is wiped out the moment one factors in the need to replace the light sockets and fixtures.
• LED lasts up to 10 times longer than a CFL - The long life of an LED means lesser recurring costs to be incurred to purchase new lights. This also means less solid waste to be disposed and makes this light ideal for hard to reach locations.
• LEDs do not contain Mercury or other toxic heavy metals - CFL lights contain a small amount of mercury and must be disposed off in accordance with the regulations for hazardous substances. LEDs, on the other hand, contain no heavy metal and can be safely disposed off with common waste.

LED light systems have a clear advantage over CFLs, and New Tek Partners provides a selection for indoor, outdoor, home, and commercial.  It is estimated that should LED products be widely adapted, it would slash the use of electricity for lighting by 88%.  The total savings over a 20 year period are estimated to be around $ 265 billion.  Moreover, LED bulbs and tubes could potentially help the US avoid setting up 40 new power plants and help reduce electricity demand.  These savings would go a long way in helping the US meet its commitment to the world community on the carbon emission reduction front.

How do you reduce your carbon footprint and reduce your electricity bill?

Phasing Out of Incandescent Bulbs: Part 2

With the recent move of U.S. manufacturers towards a phase out of incandescent bulbs soon beginning to take effect, many consumers will be left without a complete understanding of why this is happening and what other lighting options will be available.  This move away from incandescent technology is due to manufacturers complying with the Energy Bill, or federal Security Act of 2007, which mandates that household bulbs between 40 and 100 watts use 27% less energy by 2014.  Compact fluorescent light bulbs, otherwise known as CFL’s, are an alternate lighting solution; however, they are plagued with concerns of mercury contamination, flickering lights, safe recycling and incompatibility with dimmer circuits. 

This leaves LED lights poised to be the future of lighting.  Even so, some consumers may finding themselves asking, “Why is incandescent lighting not good enough?”  With incandescent bulbs, there is only a 10% performance ceiling, meaning that the incandescent bulb uses less that 10% of the electrical energy it uses to generate light and wastes the remaining 90% as heat.  This means that a good chunk of what you’re paying for on your electrical bill in terms of lighting is just wasted heat; not to mention that your air conditioning element has to pump this heat out, adding even more cost to your energy bill. 

Incandescent bulbs also have a short life span.  The high temperature that an incandescent light bulb works at means that the filament will expire quickly and cause consumers to frequently replace their lights.  This high heat operating temperature also carries a burn risk.  To put it in perspective, if you purchase a 6 watt LED bulb, it will produce as much light as a 50 watt incandescent bulb; this means a savings of 88% in energy bill lighting expenses, cutting several tons of mercury emissions from coal fired electrical plans, and saving millions of tons of carbon emissions.

Fortunately, New Tek Partners offers LED lighting solutions to counteract the negatives of owning incandescent bulbs.  Their LED bulbs offer up to 50,000 hours of energy efficient lighting.  New Tek Partners LED bulbs also give off virtually no heat, meaning no wasted energy or risk of accidental burns.  LED technology also does not utilize the wasteful filament that so often burns out in incandescent bulbs and causes frequent change outs.  In fact, New Tek Partners is so confident in their LED technology that they offer a 3 year warranty on all of their products.
 
When you make the switch to LED lighting, consider New Tek Partners to be your leader in LED technology.