The first quarter of the year is when we are winding down from the year prior and are in wind-up mode for the current year…..
This year (2013) in particular, the buzz is all about tax changes/increases and more on economic recovery for families and business. In the world of repair, remodel and building, January-February tends to be a time home-owners and business decision-makers take to prepare for building and improvements . . . Many are waiting with baited breath ’till after tax filings before deciding to go ahead with certain expenditures.
Well… Lighting Valley, Inc. understands the times and the economic pressures many are experiencing. Every cent saved ads to the financial security people need to be feeling with so much unsettled economically….
What better way to save than on energy costs? These days, without conservation measures in place, what we pay out for lighting, heating, running appliances and equipment can be a major drain on our budgets.
This is exactly why we spend the time to promote our wide selection of LEDs that, in comparison, pull substantially less wattage for comparable illumination.
So, what’s holding people back from moving in the LED lighting direction for home and business?
- lack of understanding about the products available
- concerns about upfront costs; awaiting prices to reduce
- awaiting technology improvements to ensure product consistency and quality
- have decided they don’t like the appearance of the LED lighting
…. All of these are very reasonable concerns…. and each one quite answerable in the current day market. Let’s examine…
Lack of basic understanding about the products available: So many of our customers come in with very reasonable, basic questions such as…. “I already have recessed can lights throughout my home and use incandescent bulbs . . . Don’t I have to change out all the fixtures to convert to LED lighting?” Answer: Not always. There are a variety of retro-fit units on the market for just this kind of situation. Also, it is perfect alright to convert to more energy efficient LED lighting in phases. A home or business owners could even begin simply with changing out medium based screw in bulbs one table lamp at a time until all of those are taken care of.
Concerns about Up-front Costs: The bulbs are substantially higher in cost compared to an incandescent or fluorescent. Where’s the real savings? Well… the savings can be found in a few places…. The most obvious is that this type of lighting pulls much less wattage than say an incandescent or florescent. Compare 3 watts for a level of 25 watts in incandescent or with LED flood lights, 30 watts for a level of 200 halogen bulb watts or 50 watts for 350! Other ways to savings is in the reduced time and labor for changing out spent bulbs. Yet another is in the reduced heat (almost none from LEDs) compared to incandescents that converts at much as 65-70% of energy drawn to producing heat…. consider how this works against air conditioning!
State of Flux: Rumor has it that with LED technology being still in development, the promised long life expectancies, the quality of light, the consistency over time and from one bulb to another, the LED product is simply unreliable at this point in time and it’s better to wait to allow things to settle down a bit. Answer: As is the case with other market products, in LED lighting, quality, consistency, reliability and life span has all to do with the quality of construction and materials used. Martjin Dekker, CTO of Lemnis Lighting, a Dutch start-up manufacturer of LED bulbs, said failures tend to stem from a breakdown of components within the bulb other than the bulb’s LED (light emitting diode, which is a semiconductor). Those components convert homes’ alternating current to direct current, and knock voltage down from the 220-240 volts and 110 volts common around the world, to around 5-to-12 volts. They also include a heat sink. (Reference: SmartPlanet article> http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/intelligent-energy/when-good-lights-go-bad-led-breakdown/6204
Appearance: The LED is too harsh in appearance and I prefer more ambient, diffuse area lighting. Answer: We know exactly what our customers mean when they refer to the “harsh” appearance. Manufacturers listened and things have changed. By careful positioning of the LED materials, the use of light reflectors and diffusing textures on the outer globes, many are surprised at the improvements when the call is for soft, ambient lighting.
We invite you to stop in to any one of our three showrooms for a demonstration of some of the LED products from our wide, wide selection ranging from small, powerful bi-pin and single contact bulbs often used in landscape lighting to retrofit unites for recessed lighting, bulbs for track lighting and our high-output flood lamps for warehouses, shops and outdoor safety and security.
Lighting Valley, Inc., Ventura 2439 South Victoria Avenue
Ventura, CA 93003 – 805 642 2700
Lighting and Bulb, Thousand Oaks 45 North Rancho Road
Thousand Oaks, CA 91362 – 805 370 1172
Lighting Valley, Inc., VanNuys 14061 Vanowen Street
VanNuys, CA 91405 – 818 786 8243
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