1. Look for Energy Smart products and ENERGY STAR labels

2.  Invest in the best ceiling fans to provide cooling in summer and better warm air circulation during the cold, winter months.

3.  Opt for the latest automated systems, lighting controls and cool new switches.

4.  Accessorize with LED nightlights in hallways and bathrooms.

5.  Play it safe.  Keep clutter to a minimum and task light to a maximum.

Show off your fashion-forward, good sense—get rid of inefficient, old-fashioned incandescent light bulbs.  Why wait until January to comply with new lighting codes and requirements? Get a jump-start on making your home and office environments more energy-efficient now.  Replace old bulbs with new energy-efficient halogen, CFL (compact fluorescent) and LED (light emitting diode) bulbs.

Check out the latest energy-saving solutions in home lighting and accessories:

Under-cabinet LED strip lights and tape lighting.

LED Christmas lights and novelty lamps.

Tabletop candlelight and energy saving low lights.

Energy Smart outdoor lights.

ENERGY STAR-qualified ceiling fans.

BE CEILING FAN SAVVY

“The National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) annual survey of consumer preferences indicates that ceiling fans are one of the Top 10 most likely products to include in new construction.” –www.enlightenmentmag.com/ceiling-fans/ceiling-fans-come-of-age

Ceiling fans—especially those with ENERGY STAR-qualified AC motors and the latest DC fan motors* –will provide significant cost savings on monthly electric bills when used in conjunction with your heating and cooling systems:

•In warmer climates, you may lower your air-conditioning thermostat a few degrees and maintain the same cooling comfort by adding an energy-efficient fan.

•In cooler climates, you can save on heating costs and electric bills by lowering the thermostat and operating ceiling fans in the reverse mode to push warmer air down from the ceiling.

* “Saving an additional 70 percent in energy has made the DC motor ceiling fan the biggest advance in this industry,” according to Jeff Dross, Corporate Director of Education and Industry Trends, to enlightenment Magazine (August 8, 2013).

The latest ceiling fans and decorative portable fans include Traditional, Retro, Rustic and Futuristic designs.  Get expert advice and personalized attention:  Professional lighting consultants at Capitol Lighting will help you to custom-design ceiling fans and lighting control systems for your home or office space.

Experience illustrious energy-saving illumination and comfortable eco-friendly air circulation with the most affordable, energy-saving light fixtures and ceiling fans.

INVEST IN THE BEST ENERGY-EFFICIENT LANDSCAPE LIGHTING

New Kichler landscape lighting products are the go-to choice for energy-efficient landscape lighting that is luxurious and affordable.  Cost-saving outdoor light fixtures accommodate LED lamps, as well as CFL and halogen.

Creative concepts in landscape lighting include Kichler’s TaskWork LED Tape Lighting.  Available in an outdoor/wet version, these LED lights are sleek and ultra-low profile.  They are versatile, easy to install and affordable.  This highly flexible, 24-volt tape is fully dimmable and comes in a variety of color options and convenient lengths up to 20 feet.

Kichler-The Premium Choice in Landscape Lighting TM  , offers decorative path lights, accent lights, specialty items, transformers, LED lamps and accessories for residential and commercial lighting applications.

For more information on LED lamps, energy-efficient landscape lighting and cost-saving light fixture applications, visit with a professional lighting consultant at Capitol Lighting or check out the latest energy-efficient landscape lighting, ceiling fans and light fixtures at 1800lighting.com.

May your days be merry and bright and may all your Christmases be in the right light.

This month of our LED industry link roundup is for the month of October of 2016. Also, we couldn’t forget… Happy Halloween!

This month we’ve seen lots of news about schools converting to LED and how cucumbers are seeing positive results from LED technology, along with some really great news about MyLEDLightingGuide. The news regarding the LED industry is ever increasing in excitement, and as the technology grows, expands, and simply gets better; the news will continue to be better and better.

Without further ado, here is the second addition of A Month in The LED Lighting Industry Link Roundup…

our retrofit kit LEDs without any penalty (because well, the complaint has been dismissed with prejudice by GTL). This allows us to continue selling all of our lighting fixtures as usual, and we will continue to do so with even more persistence now that this has passed.

LEDs Will Light Up Homer Harbor Next Year

Yet another city in the process of upgrading their cities lighting system over to LED technology. Next year Homer Harbor is going to be making the switch over to LED, which will surely inspire even more cities and towns to do the same.

San Francisco to install LED lights in street lamps to minimize maintenance, improve safety

Interesting enough another big city is about to convert over to LED technology. The reasoning for them is to reduce maintenance due to longer lifespans in LED technology as well as to improve safety. Read this article to discover more of the reasoning behind the conversion and what is driving this major city to make the conversion.

B.P. Schools Still Looking for Savings via LED Lighting and Solar

This school is seriously making a huge sustainable decision with LED lighting and solar. That will provide a highly sustainable situation, depending on how much of that solar power goes to powering the school lighting system. Since LED lights use much less energy to run, this could produce a very high ROI situation for this school and any others that follow suit.

Interesting Reads

Here are some interesting reads that we found this month. They aren’t exactly news we should all know about per se, but they sure are interesting for anyone interested in LEDs!

Trials see cucumbers gain from LED lighting

LED plant lighting systems are being tested and proven to show positive results to crops indoors. This post is an interesting read for anyone who’s interested in how LED technology is effecting the indoor grow industry, this one specifically with cucumbers.

When you think of caring for your home, you don’t often think about the electrical system unless something is going wrong. With an electrical system, when things go wrong, they often go very wrong. You don’t want to lose your home to an electrical fire or even a life due to not having the knowledge you need to safely complete an electrical project or upgrade. That’s why you need your local electrician in Gladewater for any electrical projects you have around the house. But we truly cannot stress it enough that electrical work is not a do-it-yourself project, and to prove our point (and to keep you safe), keep reading in order to to learn the top five reasons that residential electrical work is not a do-it-yourself project.

While changing out things like light switches may seem like simple tasks around the house, and arguably they are, you’re still exposing yourself to bare wires that carry an electrical current. The average American home runs on 120 volts AC. While a quick zap from accidentally touching a bare wire will probably not be enough to kill you, you could easily be gravely injured. Low amperages can easily kill someone and amps vary widely. Additionally, if you accidentally hold onto a wire with a normal voltage, for any number of reasons, this could also kill you. The number one most important thing when dealing with electricity is safety. A professional electrician knows many of the proper techniques and processes in order to perform a variety of electrical services safely.

Like any other home project, there are some electrical projects that you can easily completed with a screwdriver or hammer, and there are others that require very specialized tools in order to complete the job properly. In fact, buying the tools to do the job may cost you substantially more than hiring a local electrician in order to complete it. Tools like a multimeter, insulated hand tools, wire striping or crimping tools, and fish poles or tapes are all essential tools for most electrical services. The costs can easily add up, especially if you just have a small project or two that you need completed.

Along with saving yourself the money associated with buying specialized tools you may only attempt to use once or twice, there are several other factors that can save you both time and money. You could spend hours trying to solve and repair a problem that would take a trained electrician a fraction of the time. Also, you may incorrectly estimate the amount of materials you need to complete the project, which can cause additional incurred costs. Lastly, you can’t get the same prices on materials that contractors can, which just increases your overall costs.

You may be great at following a manual, step-by-step guide, or YouTube video for a standard electrical repair or upgrade, but in older homes, standard is rarely the case. In fact, many older homes have wiring layouts that are anything but standard. Trying to find where wiring runs for an outlet that connects to a lightswitch may not be as easy as it sounds. This creative wiring will be tackled the quickest by a professional with the right level of experience, not by yourself when you don’t know what to expect.

Electrical work also involves keeping your home up to code for safety and for resale value. Most everyday individuals don’t have a clue what building codes are and what is required in order to keep home wiring adherent to code. That’s where your local, licensed electrician comes in. They are educated in how to keep your home up to code and the most affordable, safe ways in which to do so. If you own an older home, you may run into a situation where you need to upgrade the wiring to keep your home up to code. This can easily get expensive and complicated, but is well worth the hassle in order to protect your home, family, and investment.

Nest truly has some for everyone. If you are looking to make your home more secure, then you simply cannot go wrong with a Nest security camera. Offering 24/7 live video, alerts sent to your devices whenever something happens, exceptional quality night vision, and microphone and speaker capabilities, the Nest Cam offers greater levels of security than others on the market. With our free home assessments and estimates, you can be sure that your cameras will protect your home effectively, and that you’ll have an idea of the costs that you’re in for.

The device that professionals in our industry cannot stop talking about, of course, is the Nest Thermostat. Forget about “smart” technology. The Nest Thermostat is a learning thermostat, meaning that it gets to know your comfort preferences and will learn to program itself. This only takes about a week. Nobody home? The Nest Thermostat will turn itself down to save energy. You can also regulate its operation via your phone, tablet, or computer.

There is also the Nest Protect to consider. A new offering, this device is a smoke and carbon monoxide alarm. You can silence false alarms from your phone, get alerts on your phone, and get precise information regarding the location of smoke or CO in your house. Contact us to learn more, and consider taking advantage of this great offer.