This lighting blog covers a wide range of lighting topics including current events, the lighting industry and product related blogs. I, Dr. Edison Bulb have 30+ years of lighting experience, my specialties include LED, commercial lighting and sports lighting. I am continuing my learning by keeping up with current lighting events and keeping track of them in this lighting blog.
Color qualities of electric light can be difficult to understand. What color do you really want for your lighting application? I, Dr. Bulb, have learned to follow “Class A color” designation as the most reliable indicator. The lighting industry relies on correlated color temperature (CCT) and color rendering index (CRI) to communicate color qualities of electric light. However, neither metric can reliably predict human color perception. Therefore, the “Class A Color” designation is a better predictor of user acceptance...
read moreI, Dr. Bulb, have been fascinated with Wi-Fi-enabled LED bulbs, and have even tried them out for myself. But researchers at Context Information Security recently announced that they have been able to expose a security weakness in a Wi-Fi-enabled, energy-efficient LED light bulb that can be controlled from a smartphone. This got me thinking… What happens when hackers take control? Could they turn people’s lives upside down? Or could they make life a little more amusing? Simulate a Haunted House Hackers could install a speech...
read moreParking garages are an effective venue for providing high-octane chase scenes in action films and creepy stalkers in suspense thrillers. In real life, parking garages are usually kept well lit, facilitate traffic under 5 miles per hour, and are generally safe. Here are some the latest trends in lighting these popular places. LED Lighting is becoming the parking garage lighting of choice. Its popularity is growing as prices fall and because of inherent advantages such as energy efficiency, superb color rendering, broad and directed light...
read moreThere are mounting concerns over the efficiency of the products that power our everyday lives and our lighting is no exception. When looking for the most energy efficient types of lighting available today, one is faced with two different answers: LED or linear fluorescent lights as the most efficient. However, which one of these lighting source reigns supreme in the battle for most efficient lighting source? Certainly there has to be a clear winner in this energy usage battle. In recent years, LED lighting has continued to grow in popularity...
read moreA pub owner was recently asked to take down the LED parking lot lights he installed to light his parking lot. The lights were installed after complaints about the lack of light. However, he started receiving different complaints! One neighbor complained to the city council that the 16 foot high white LED lights shine into her bedroom and make it difficult to sleep. She said, “I feel that local residents needs would be better served by the floodlights being replaced with lights of a more considerate design, height and light intensity.”...
read moreLight-emitting plasma (LEP) and light-emitting diode (LED) technologies represent two distinct ways of creating efficient, bright light. They both share features like minimal degradation of the lumen output, high reliability in any environment and the ability to be integrated into just about any control system. The difference, however, between these two lighting technologies involves how they each create light. What is a LED? A light-emitting diode comes from a semiconductor. When a direct current is applied in the right way, the...
read moreIn the past decade, LED technology has greatly expanded with the result being the prevalence of LED bulbs in a variety of applications. However, it has proven difficult to produce an LED bulb that can mimic the color temperature of the classic soft-white incandescent bulbs that many people prefer for home lighting. Therefore, LED bulbs have been slow to enter the home market. A single LED diode produces blue light. Scientists have been able to apply ceramic coatings to the blue LED diodes that can absorb some of the blue light from the...
read moreSustainable energy technology continues to advance as the Probe Start and Pulse Start Metal Halide light sources compete for supremacy. High intensity discharge (HID) Metal Halide lighting sources pass an electric arc through a gas. The technology continues to advance in order to achieve the best light intensity, color and affordability. “What is Probe Start?” The Probe Start Metal Halide lamp has better lumen maintenance and longer life than older technologies. Just like a car starter or match, it uses a trigger starter probe...
read moreThe brightness of a lighting fixture isn’t determined by the light that gets installed in it. While it does play an important role in determining the maximum achievable lumen output, it’s ultimately the ballast that determines how many lumens any given light fixture will produce. The ballast, or more accurately the ballast system, is what supplies the bulb with electricity. It’s key in determining how much electricity actually travels to the bulb, which in turn determines what measure of power runs across the lamp and how...
read moreWhen considering the manufacturing costs and overall lifespan of LEDs, how do they really compare next to CFLs and incandescent bulbs? An infographic from Chadwicks compares CFLs, incandescent light bulbs, and LEDs. The infographic looking at factors such as lifetime, energy demand during use, energy used to manufacture, lifetime, and lighting costs. LEDs may cost the most per bulb, but they also provide the greatest life span per bulb, the least amount of electricity and expense during use, and the least number of bulb changes. I, Dr. Bulb,...
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