Practical advice on commercial lighting from LED retrofits to lighting design.

We teach HID part numbers on Fridays in our School of Lighting program, and that's fitting because they're pretty easy, relative to fluorescents and incandescents.

After new employees spend hours trying to memorize chart after chart for incandescent and fluorescent part numbers, HIDs feel like a gift. 

And if you've been tracking with our part numbers series so far, you might feel the same way, now that we've arrived at HIDs. 

Lighting manufacturers speak different dialects of the same language: part numbers. The point of our part number series is to help you to better understand what all of those characters on your light bulb mean, so you can accurately and easily order replacement products. 

Understanding part numbers is especially helpful when manufacturers begin to phase out and discontinue certain products, causing you to have to buy replacement products from another manufacturer. That's especially useful if you have compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs, with so many manufacturers beginning to phase them out of production.

Growing up in Japan, I learned quite a bit about the challenges that come with learning a second language. I remember having both English-speaking and Japanese-speaking friends and being the translator between the two groups. And I had to work hard to make sure information didn't get lost in translation. 

Oftentimes, there were tricky moments for me, as the translator. Like, when my English-speaking friends would tell a joke while smiling, that smile was perceived as nervousness by my Japanese friends. The cultures were so different, each having so many nuances, that most communications had challenges like that. I was constantly trying to figure out how to accurately capture the intent, the context, and proper body language from the native culture and properly translate it for the other culture.

Calculating energy savings and finding lighting rebates is no easy feat. You're often left searching on your own for seemingly impossible-to-find answers to your questions. Well, search no further. We've compiled a list of our top resources for energy savings and lighting rebate information.

When I first started working at Regency, I knew little about lighting. I knew what an incandescent light bulb was and who Thomas Edison was. I knew that the lighting that came in tubes was fluorescent. And I knew that LEDs were becoming a thing. Beyond that, pretty much nada.

So needless to say, when I was in lighting training and first heard about high intensity discharge (HID) lighting technology, I had no real framework for what that was or where it was used. It just sounded foreign. And, well, intense.

Compact fluorescent lamps (CFL bulbs) first emerged on the lighting market as a more energy-efficient alternative to the incandescent light bulb.

Manufacturers had already started producing linear fluorescents, but the linear tubes did not fit into the same socket as incandescent light bulbs.

If we've said it before, we'll say it a thousand times. The lighting industry is confusing. Between the countless manufacturers, types of lamps, product names, and descriptions – navigating through it all is no small task. That's why we're here. 

Acronyms can be overused or flippantly thrown about in conversations – especially in the commercial lighting industry. But that can leave people disoriented and blank. Typically, if I'm in that situation, I feel tempted to just nod along, pretending I know what the other person is talking about.

You may have heard about the light bulbs that are too hot to handle. Or perhaps you have heard them referred to as the lamps that have a bulb within bulb – similar to a dream within a dream, huh? 

These are called halogens.

How do halogen lamps emit artificial light? Where should you use halogen lamps? Where does halogen fit into the lighting industry?

Let’s answer those questions and dive into the pros and cons of halogen technology.

Think about the last time you were at a store buying a microwave or some other appliance, like a refrigerator or a dryer. The sales associate probably rattled off a bunch of the product’s features. They probably demonstrated what it could do, talked about pricing and upgrades, and leaned on their usual talking points. 

Our technologically advanced day and age has filled our lives with a bunch of equipment with functionality that most of us probably couldn’t begin to explain in any kind of detail. Sure, we can thumb around on our iPhone’s apps and show our grandmothers how Instagram and FaceTime work, but could we ever explain the device’s technological makeup? 

When you’re in the market to purchase a new car, the sticker price isn’t the only number to consider. A well-informed buying decision is aided by visibility into the cost of insurance, maintenance, gas, and any interest accrued on the purchase, if you’ll be depending on financing. 

It’s also important to note that, unlike real estate purchases, cars almost always depreciate in value. 

This kind of 360-degree buying approach is also useful in lighting buying decisions. Just like there’s more to consider than sticker price and horsepower when buying a car, price and wattage or lumens aren’t the only considerations when you’re in the market for new or replacement lighting.