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LED

What does Rare Earth have to do with Lights?

Many people don’t know what goes into the production of LED lights and other new technologies. Well I, Dr. Bulb, am here to shed some light (get it?) on this process.

One of the components of LED lights, rare earth, is a highly sought after commodity, and mining of these minerals has sparked quite a bit of controversy recently. China, the leading exporter of rare earth due to their large reserves, began limiting their exports of these elements last year; but the bubble that initially raised prices burst, and ever since prices have been dropping.

Part of the reason for the drop in China is that their economic growth has weakened, and in addition to being the largest producers of rare earth, they are also the biggest consumer of the materials. Despite regulations placed on the mining of these materials, illegal mining may skew the actual mining statistics. These recent events have opened the door for other countries mining rare earth to enter the market. Read more on these developments here.

These issues are important to LED manufacturers, especially as LEDs are quickly gaining popularity. LED lights are becoming increasingly popular for many types of lighting including sports and commercial lighting. LEDs are great for many purposes. View different types of LEDs.

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LED

LEDs Offer More Than Just Energy Efficiency

LED lights have gained a lot of spotlight in recent months for their incredible energy efficiency. Well I, Dr. Bulb, am here to tell you about some of the other reasons why LEDs are as incredible as they are.

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LEDs offer incredible options for design that could not be achieved with more conventional bulbs. These lights are incredibly versatile and can be designed in ways that will astound home and business owners with their beauty and efficiency. Many of these design possibilities are available because LEDs have a high CRI, which means the quality of the light they emit is incredible. This high quality lighting lends itself well to showrooms and illuminating artwork. Another advantage of LEDs is that there are many available rebates for businesses that choose to switch to LEDs.

There are many different types of LEDs available at Access Fixtures. Whether you’re looking to light your company garage, a walkway, interior, or almost anything else, you can find the LED fixtures you need.

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LED

Guppies Love LEDs

Dr. Bulb here. Well, actually, today you can call me ‘Dr. Blub’ because I’m here to talk about fish.

LEDs are quickly gaining popularity and replacing other types of lighting. One of the most recent trends is LED lighting for fish tanks. LEDs are a beautiful and efficient solution to lighting many varieties of fish tanks.

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Lighting is a very important consideration when building a sustainable environment for your fish and other aquatic plants and animals. Before you purchase lights for your aquarium, make sure you do your research to find out the specific requirements for the type and size of tank that you have. LEDs are a great solution for supplementary and independent light sources for freshwater and saltwater marine reef aquariums. They emit a beautiful, bright light and also use very little energy, especially compared to other aquarium lighting options.

Interested in LEDs?

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LED

Why Don’t You Have LEDs Yet?

Its 2012 and in another two years you wont be able to find incandescent lamps anymore. That’s right folks; the traditional soft white lamps you have in your kitchen or hanging in your restaurant will no longer be easily available. So what will we do and what is the future of lighting?

If you haven’t heard it from someone else you are hearing it now from Dr. Bulb: LED and solid state lighting is the future. They are durable and small enough to fit on a key chain, they last for close to a decade, and they are extremely energy efficient. The movement away from incandescent to LED is occurring, but it is happening slower and more painfully than VCs or entrepreneurs expected.

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With LED technology, you change lamps less, experience less lumen depreciation, and save massive amounts on your energy bill. So what is keeping people from this new technology?    

Unfortunately, LEDs have not yet made it into the home on a large scale. However, they have started to make it into the enterprise. Groom Energy and Greentech Media Research predict that the LED enterprise lighting market will grow by 30 percent in 2011 and surpass $1 billion in annual revenue by 2014. The 2010 U.S. market for commercial and industrial LED lighting is sized at $330 million in annual revenue. 

The initial cost of LED lighting doesn’t help the cause, either: light bulbs show tremendous price elasticity. This means that small changes in the price will have a much larger effect on the demand.

Fred Maxik, the founder and CTO of the 900-employee Lighting Science Group, doesn’t feel that cost is holding the industry back. He said recently that in commercial and retail applications, LEDs can today be justified on an energy efficiency basis. What’s needed, according to Maxik, is consumer education. More consumers and business owners need to understand the benefits of this technology and spread the good word.

Where are the LED evangelists? Why are there not people shouting from the rooftops that they reduced their home energy costs by hundreds of dollars. Here at my Dr. Bulb headquarters, I just installed a bunch of new >Kumho LED lamps in various fixtures as well as my track lighting system. These are currently available on Amazon.  Adopting a new lighting technology shouldn’t be that hard. Not only am I saving big on my monthly energy costs, but I have some of the most high tech and lamps available in the lighting industry. Jealous? Get your own today and let the saving begin!

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