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

Last year, we helped the Staples Center in Los Angeles retrofit to LED lighting. Between that venue and the adjacent Microsoft Theater, the property manager retrofitted over 100 fixtures to LED, bringing the cost of energy down to 25 percent of what the venues used to pay, when they were using metal halide fixtures. Check out our case study here.

But their decision had more to do with maintenance than energy, which can be extremely difficult in hard-to-reach areas. 

That brings us to our first reason why venues like the Staples Center and the Microsoft Theater are rapidly retrofitting to LED:

Summer is in full swing and I'm glad, because that means baseball is in full swing. And I love baseball.

But the game of baseball is a lot like a lighting project. And I don't love lighting projects.

What gives?

Well, I should back up here. I work for a lighting company. So saying I don't love lighting projects isn't the most rah-rah thing to say. 

Remember Super Bowl XLVII a few years back? Even if you're not a football fan, you probably do. The Baltimore Ravens won, Beyoncé played the halftime show, and this awfully-emotive commercial debuted somewhere along the way. Maybe you don't remember any of that. But you probably remember this: the lights went out. 

This weekend, many of us will be climbing ladders, scaling our roofs, and wrapping the inside and outside of our house with holiday lighting. Whether you prefer a few strands hung on the shrubs in the front of your house or a display straight out of Christmas Vacation, in the back of your head, there's always that question –– "How much is this going to cost me?"

If you haven't heard the latest buzz about street lighting, don't worry. The Lighting Insights Blog is here for you.

Earlier this month, The American Medical Association (AMA) adopted guidelines for communities to follow on selecting LED lighting options. The AMA stated that some solid-state lighting in street lamps can have harmful effects.

High-density LED lighting can emit a blue-rich light that creates a worse nighttime glare than those produced by conventional lighting technologies.

This blue-rich light appears white to the naked eye causing the glare and reduced visibility causing a safety hazard. 

These white LEDs also have an effect on disrupting our circadian sleep rhythm by more than five times compared to traditional lighting. This disruption to your sleep can reach much farther than you'd think. 

We try not to take ourselves too seriously here on the Lighting Insights Blog.

Let's be real, when you talk about light emitting diodes and color rendering index and center beam candle power all day, it's nice to have a laugh now and again.

Two medical practices that care for dementia-stricken individuals in Europe have installed tunable LED lighting systems with the aim of resetting the circadian rhythms of their patients and creating a more serene, calming atmosphere. 

The centers –– which are located in London, United Kingdom and Neuss, Germany –– used separate products to pursue the same initiative. 

We enjoy finding stories about the various ways LED lighting can improve lives, experiences, and processes. In the past, we've covered how the lighting technology can help to grow plants in outer space, make the Times Square ball drop even more spectacular, and light up remote villages of Africa.

That's why when we heard this story about BikeScout lighting up bike paths in The Netherlands, we lit up. Pun intended. We were especially excited about it because our international office is located in Amsterdam and The Netherlands is one of the most bike-friendly countries. (Amsterdam is appointing a Bike Mayor, for crying out loud.)

***UPDATE: A Philips Lighting IPO took place in May. You can read our story about it here. 

Philips' previously professed intent to spin off its lighting division in order to concentrate on continued growth in its healthcare and technology enterprises took a few steps forward Monday.