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Posts in the incandescent category

McDonalds' Golden Arches Go Green with Low-Voltage Halogen and LED Lighting

By BulbAmerica Editor

Today there are roughly 13,000 McDonalds fast food restaurants in the United States, all of which have signs, lighting, stoves, and other appliances that consume energy. Like many businesses throughout the United States, McDonalds has begun drawing up plans for becoming more environmentally friendly. A large part of these plans has involved developing environmentally friendly lighting solutions to reduce energy consumption and operating costs.McDonalds has already taken steps to reduce energy consumption but maintain excellent lighting by using Philips’ excellent low-voltage dichroic MR16s to ensure that McDonalds’ restaurants have great looking, long lasting lighting.

McDonalds has also been attempting to improve on the efficiency of high performance halogens and has been experimenting with LED lighting systems coupled with natural lighting. In a prototype restaurant in North Carolina, the lighting is nearly totally comprised of LED bulbs and fixtures and is supplemented by skylights and natural light. The restaurant’s LED Lighting and natural lighting is projected to save this McDonalds roughly 78% in energy consumption. Though it may be a long time until all 13,000 McDonalds restaurants are LED lit, it is promising to see that corporations as large as McDonalds are joining in the green revolution.

BulbAmerica has a wide selection of low voltage halogen lighting products and LED products to save you energy and money while giving you great quality lighting. Retrofit your incandescent bulbs with energy efficient halogen, CFLs, and LEDs and join the green revolution today! As usual leave questions or comments on our blog or Facebook or call us at (888)505-2111 with any further questions you have.
By Victor Lopez | 20 November, 2014 | bulbs, incandescent, lamps, led, lights | 0 comments | Read more

New Labeling for Light Bulb Packaging in 2011

By mid-year 2011, the Federal Trade Commission will institute new packaging for light bulbs. The new packaging is modeled after the nutritional information tables found today on the back of food packaging. Light bulb packaging information will be divided among two panels. The front panel will feature information regarding energy cost and brightness while the back panel features the same information plus more technical information on color and toxic elements. The new light bulb packaging will clearly indicate light bulb brightness, energy cost, life hours, color temperature, wattage, and whether the bulb contains mercury or not. The Federal Trade commission is putting the new packaging in place to make light bulb purchasing a less confusing process, and to make the industry overall more consumer friendly. Traditional light bulb packaging has emphasized wattage. Wattage does not, however tell you anything about the color of the bulb, whether it contains toxic elements, or how many life hours the bulb has.
More importantly, the FTC’s revision of light bulb packaging will highlight the information most relevant to energy expenditure and factors concerning environmentally friendly light sources. The new packaging has producers of energy efficient light bulbs particularly excited because the new packaging will openly display the benefits of energy efficient bulbs. The long life and small energy draw of LEDs, for example, will be made clear to all consumers. The lighting costs feature will allow consumers to calculate how much money they will spend illuminating their homes. In general, the push to include more information on light bulb packaging is advantageous because it encourages consumers to further educate themselves about how light bulbs work, how they can work better, and what their options are.

Keep your eyes peeled for the new labels in the coming year and we’ll keep you posted!
By Victor Lopez | 20 November, 2014 | bulbs, fluorescent, halogen, incandescent, lamps, led, lights, outdoor | 0 comments | Read more

Dimmable CFLs: Are they Really a Bright Idea?

As CFLs storm the lighting world, one sustained criticism of them has been that they cannot dim like incandescent bulbs. This was true when magnetic ballasts were the sole ballast technology for CFLs, but as electronic ballasts have become the standard,dimmable CFLs are now on the market, though not in as large numbers as non-dimmable CFLs. In this article I will take a look at the pros and cons of dimmable CFLs versus dimmable incandescent bulbs and help you decide whether they are worth your money. But first, I think it would be helpful to understand exactly how a dimmer works with an incandescent bulb, and why it is problematic when applied to a CFL. The concept of dimmer is simple, it simply reduces the voltage to the bulb and the bulb’s brightness increases or decreases accordingly. In an incandescent bulb this method of dimming works well because the reduction in voltage simply reduces the amount heat given off and therefore reduces the amount of light as well. This doesn’t work in CFLs because CFLs generate light by exciting a gas, which then yields light. If you cut the amount voltage the CFL receives it will more often than not simply go out because there is not sufficient current to excite the gas.

Today dimmable CFLs are offered by GE, SunLite, and Ushio among other manufacturers. Though dimmable CFLs are certainly an innovation, there are certain limitations to these bulbs. First, dimmable CFLs do not usually dim below 10%-20% brightness because the bulb cannot sustain light at that point. Another complaint surrounds the fact dimmable CFLs, and all CFLs for that matter, can take up to a minute to reach full brightness. This means that you cannot dim the bulb until it has reached full luminosity. Lastly and most importantly, there are limitations regarding the type of dimmer you can use with your CFL. As a rule of thumb never use photo cells or timers with any CFL unless you can do so as indicated on the bulb’s packaging. Dimmers are built to work within a certain power range. Dimmers that are designed for primarily incandescent bulbs, and especially older dimmers, will be engineered to work with wattages above 40w, this is too great for dimmable CFLs and could be problematic. More recent dimmers, particularly those released in the 1990s, have a wider wattage range and are therefore most likely compatible with your dimmable CFL. The point is that if possible, you try to find out what type of dimmer you have and what its range is before you dim your dimmable CFL. One final point is that as incandescent bulbs are dimmed their color temperature typically gets warmer and more ambient; this is not really the case with CFLs. The benefits to dimmable CFLs, however, are that they are more efficient and longer lasting and better for the environment. It is also likely that as the incandescent bulb phase-out approaches dimmable CFL technology will only improve, and rapidly. Dimmable CFLs will save you significant amounts of energy and you will not have to change your light bulb as often as if you use incandescent bulbs.

BulbAmerica has a wide selection of dimmable CFLs and regular CFLs in addition to other energy saving lighting products. We also have many, many dimmers. Check out what we have to offer!
By Victor Lopez | 11 November, 2014 | bulb, compact fluorescent, dimmable, incandescent, light, lights, news | 0 comments | Read more

Tips of the Day - October 23, 2013

Tip of the day: Steps should be lighted for safety; either the risers or the treads can be lit.  http://www.bulbamerica.com/

 
By Victor | 23 October, 2013 | Bulbs, cfl, decor, decoration, home, incandescent, LED, lights, tips of the day | 0 comments | Read more

Get Ready for the Holidays!

Get Ready for the Holidays! Find great deals on Christmas Lights


Visit: BulbAmerica
By Victor | 25 September, 2013 | Bulbs, Christmas, decorations, incandescent, LED, Lighting, lights, xmas | 0 comments | Read more

How much can You Save with Energy-Efficient Light Bulbs?

How much can You Save with Energy-Efficient Light Bulbs?

You know that a compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulb saves you much more in electricity costs than the incandescent bulb. But do you know how much? Take a look at some amazing pieces of statistics on energy-efficient light bulbs to feel good about the choices you have made or be inspired to make the switch.

Lighter on Your Check Book

CFL bulbs...
By Victor | 09 September, 2013 | Bulbs, cfl, compact, energy, fluorescent, household, incandescent, lamps, Light, Lighting, mini spiral, money, saving | 0 comments | Read more
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