New Ferris wheel coming to Santa Monica Pier

Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier plans a $1.5-million state-of-the-art replacement for its 90-foot-tall Ferris wheel that will feature computer-generated special effects lighting in time for Memorial Day weekend.

Depending on the season, the 15,000 LED lights might illuminate a Valentine’s heart, Fourth of July American flag or a Christmas wreath. The old wheel sported only three bulb colors: 2,392 white, 1,500 red and 1,500 blue.

The sea air and salt water took a toll on the old wheel, with new paint jobs often looking weathered almost upon completion. The new Chance Morgan galvanized steel wheel is expected to resolve that problem.

During its 12-year Hollywood career, the Pacific Wheel starred in 105 photo shoots, 71 television commercials, 69 television shows, 28 feature films and 13 music videos while entertaining 3 million riders.

Article

LED lights over the Mississippi River

MUSCATINE, Iowa -- Another Eastern Iowa bridge gets ready to span the darkness.

The Centennial Bridge in the Quad Cities has been lit up for years, but now another Quad City area bridge will be glowing on the Mississippi River with a very high-tech show.

The Norbert F. Beckey bridge is lit behind me with much more than lightbulbs and can be controlled by computer.

As the sun was setting over the bridge we took a close look at what makes this lighting so different, LED lights. The lights are set in fixtures all along the bridge and blend in because they're painted the same color. It took three years to test and have the department of transportation and the coast guard check to make sure the lights didn't disturb traffic going over and under the bridge.

Musco lighting donated $250,000 as did many other local companies. The designers estimate the LED's will last 12 and a half years without maintence and that's not the only benefit.

Jim Berns, the lighting engineer says, "We can make every light do exactly the same thing at exactly the same time, fade from one color to another." The controls will be at Muscatine's power and water.

Dozens came out to see it lit up. The bridge started out in solid colors and turned purple and gold the local high school colors. But that's just one of the 16.7 million color options the lighting engineer says the bridge can be. For example it will be red, white and blue for the 4th of July.

It will be lit every night when it gets dark enough all night long.

This project means Muscatine has the first bridge spanning the Mississippi river with LED lighting.

Article

Multi Set LED Retro Fit Bulbs

Today we have added a new product type to our site. We are now offering a Multi Set LED pack of LED Retro fit bulbs. In this pack of 50 you will have QTY 10 of Red/Blue/Green/Yellow/Orange LED Replacement bulbs. We are offering these in both C7 and C9 styles and are available immediately!

Some additional information:
* Colors: Red/Green/Blue/Yellow/Orange
* Number of LED's: Three (C7), Five (C9)
* For static displays only, no animation
* E12 (Candelabra) - C7, E17 - C9
* Power Use: 0.96 Watts
* Over 80% energy savings compared to traditional incandescent bulbs
* Waterproof
* Cool to the touch
* Bulb Life Rating: 100,000 Hour
* Use: Indoor/Outdoor

LED lights shine at saving energy in tech gear

The same innovation that makes laptop screens thinner turns out to be one of the best energy-saving technologies on Earth - and it's all thanks to new tricks that make it possible to create more illumination using the most humble member of the semiconductor family, the light-emitting diode, or LED.

Semiconductors, you will recall, are materials that can be coaxed into either conducting or not conducting electricity. Computer chips, which turn on and off, or count to zero and one, are the most common type of semiconductor. Solar cells, which emit electrons when struck by the photons in light beams, are another well-known semiconductor.

The LED is a solar cell in reverse, said Steven DenBaars, a professor of materials science at UC Santa Barbara. "When we put in electricity, it comes out as light," he said.

Although the LED has been in commercial use since the late '60s, it has ever been the blinking idiot of the semiconductor world. Costly to make and emitting only tiny amounts of light, the LED was at first useful only in expensive instruments such as calculators, watches and eventually those old VCRs that used to flash 12:00.

But in a world that is warming globally, this all-but-forgotten semiconductor may finally get its day in the sun, according to technology analyst Sweta Dash, who noted the growing importance of LEDs in a recent report for market research firm iSuppli Corp.

Writing about the display screens on electronic devices from wall-size to wrist-size televisions, Dash noted that one of the most important trends is a switch in the type of backlight that helps brighten the screens and increase the color range. Increasingly, Dash wrote, laptop and PDA makers are opting to use LEDs as backlights. Why? LEDs are thinner and use less energy than the fluorescent tubes inside today's flat-panel screens, she said.

As Dash explained, behind the flat-panel display in a typical laptop there sits a thin fluorescent lightbulb that illuminates the back of the screen. Dash's report noted how designers increasingly are using LEDs in this backlight function.

"In notebooks, everyone is trying to get more battery life," said Dash, adding that the solid state LED also takes up less space than today's fluorescent backlight. And that allows for sleeker products like Apple's MacBook Air, which is about three-quarters of an inch thick at the hinge.

Thanks to this happy confluence of low-power consumption and thinness, Dash predicted that "in the next few years we will see this major change where these LED backlights are going to be everywhere."

John Peddie, whose Tiburon consulting firm has tracked graphics and multimedia for three decades, said LED backlighting will not only yield thinner electronic devices but a more vibrant palate of colors on display screens. Current display technology can represent a palate of about 24 million colors. "We need close to a billion colors, our eyes are that sensitive," said Peddie, adding that LED backlighting will enrich visual display.

But snazzier graphics and thinner gizmos are just the beginning of the LED revolution. The same power-saving characteristic that drives computer design is already making LEDs economical as a source of illumination in real world applications like traffic lights, according to DenBaars, the UCSB professor who works at that school's Solid State Lighting and Energy Center.

"Cities are saving hundreds of dollars per intersection per year with LED traffic lights," said DenBaars, who broke down the savings as follows.

The 100-watt incandescent bulb in a streetlight might cost $2 to buy, $40 to install and $73 a year to run, plus the cost of electricity. The bulb will likely last just six months, he said, pushing the cost to about $160 per year - two bulbs, two installations and the electric bill.

A 15-watt LED stoplight could throw off the same illumination at an annual electricity cost of about $11 - more than enough to offset the $50 cost of the solid state lamp, which should last five years, he said.

Because of the favorable economics, cities have led the charge on using LEDs in traffic lights and other round-the-clock situations in which the initial cost of the solid state device is still quite high relative to other light sources such as compact fluorescent bulbs. But it will be a while before consumers can justify the higher costs of LEDs as energy-saving replacements for older household fixtures.

"A room light is on about four to six hours a day," DenBaars said, and that works out to a payback period on the order of three to six years.

So while LEDs may be ready to make computers smaller and sleeker, the technology will have to come down in price before it can find wider household application. But DenBaars said LEDs will eventually have a big role to play in reducing electricity consumption. And in the short term it may even find applications where its benefits outweigh its installation costs, such as in outdoor lighting for decks and patios.

"LED lights don't attract bugs," DenBaars said. "They don't emit ultraviolet light like incandescent and fluorescent lights. And it's the ultraviolet light that attracts the bugs."

Article

LED lighting a green investment

Don't look now, but the lightbulb illuminating this newspaper is a relic that is likely to fade away over the next dozen years, making way for a brighter future.

A federal energy bill approved in December will require a 70 percent increase in lighting efficiency by 2020, spelling trouble for the inefficient incandescent lightbulb.

The year 2020 is several lightbulb changes away, but Roger Deane is not waiting to tap into the latest in green technology for lighting his Scottsdale home.

An admitted electronics enthusiast, Deane has converted all his interior and exterior lighting to light-emitting diodes, or LED lighting.

"I hate to say it, but it's as plain as day" that LED lighting is the way to go, Deane said from his home southeast of Lone Mountain and Scottsdale roads.

Compact fluorescent lightbulbs are the rage for reducing energy use with more-efficient lighting.

But LED lighting is touted as more efficient and is a greener option than compact fluorescent bulbs, which have trace amounts of mercury.

Durham, N.C.-based Cree Inc., an LED manufacturer, said its products use 50 percent less energy than compact fluorescent bulbs and 85 percent less than incandescent bulbs.

LED lighting costs and availability are among the hurdles in the consumer market.

A single LED light bulb can cost as much as $100 and they are not readily available in big-box hardware stores, except for things like flashlights and night lights.

Deane spent about $4,000 converting to all LED lights in his home, but that includes specialty lighting far beyond what is found in most homes.

"As more of this type of lighting gets accepted, the price will come down," Deane said.

Cree has developed a recessed LED-lighting fixture that sells for about $130 and can last up to 25 years.

That LED fixture is a popular alternative to compact fluorescent lights in California, which requires high-efficiency lighting in new homes, said Gary Trott, Cree vice president of market development.

Currently, LED lights account for less than 1 percent of the ambient-lighting market but within the next three years, light-emitting diodes will reach the mass market, Trott said.

"The world of lighting will be completely different five years from now," he added.

Until then, Deane estimates that LED lights could pay for themselves within five to seven years by lowering energy use.

He figures that he shaved $20 off his monthly electric bill by changing to LED lights outdoors and an unknown amount from his interior LED lights.

However, Deane said his homeowners association objected to the color of his original outdoor LED lights until he switched to a warmer, white color for the lights.

Deane, 57, started in electronics repairing televisions in 1964, but switched to a mail-order computer-supply business in 1987.

He and his wife, Kim, now operate Wired Communications, an Internet-based business that sells cables and parts for computers, home theaters and ham radios.

Deane, whose license plate on his hybrid Toyota reads LEDMAN, is adding LED lights to his electronic catalogue.

That includes flashlights, headlamps and strips of LED lights in an array of colors.

His home highlights the many applications of LED lights.

Deane has LED light strips under his countertops, recessed LED lighting in his kitchen, LED spotlights over his barbecue and an LED spa light.

He also installed small LED lights in drawers and cabinets to make it easier to find items. And a granite bathroom countertop has red and green LED lights shining through embedded quartz.

Deane admits that the LED lighting is not cheap, but he insists that his LED fixtures will pay for themselves in the long run.

"I'm getting close to 60," he said, "and I'll bet you that my lights will outlive me."

Article

Consumers Ponder Buying Opportunities As Economic Stimulus Payments Arrive

Economic Stimulus Act payments, projected to pump 43 billion dollars into the U.S. economy, are boosting account balances across the U.S. Several companies are offering a variety of attractive offers on services and products. By taking advantage of these special promotions, customers maximize their buying power and contribute directly to revitalizing their local economy.

Jordan, MN (PRWEB) May 1, 2008 – As Economic Stimulus Act payments begin burning holes in the pockets of consumers, companies like http://www.ledholidaylighting.com are offering irresistible promotions on a variety of products. Taking advantage of these incentives allows consumers to maximize their buying power and contribute directly to revitalizing their local economy by supporting Minnesota based businesses.
Consumers have no shortage of companies vying for their Stimulus Act dollars with promotional pricing and special offers. Http://www.ledhholidaylighting.com, an online LED lighting supplier, offers an additional $50.00 bonus with the purchase of a $300.00 gift certificate through August 31st. The certificates can be redeemed any time on their web site. Combined with an additional pre-sale discount of 13%, the total discount equals nearly one-third off the MSRP. While some promotions require surrendering the entire check at the time of purchase, this is unnecessary for ledholidaylighting.com’s special offer.

“LED Christmas lighting has broken out of the holiday mold. Today, it’s used for celebrations year-round and events like weddings, parties, and such. LEDs use far less energy than their counterparts and eco-savvy cities like St. Paul MN are testing them in streetlights to drastically reduce maintenance and energy costs. With an illumination life of up to a decade and a 50% reduction in operational costs, LEDs are the cutting edge of residential and commercial lighting,” explains Travis Fremming, ledholidaylighting.com’s owner.

Recent polls place the economy as the number one concern on people’s minds today. With little improvement forecasted, many consumers have cut back on spending. Others have delayed purchasing items or services they previously bought on a regular basis. The Stimulus Act payments are designed to motivate consumers to return to their prior spending habits, thus revitalizing the economy. But national revitalization depends on spurring local economies. Ledholidaylighting.com, a web-based division of Seasonal Impressions, is doing its part by offering its customers an incentive to inject their stimulus payments into the economy.

For additional information on energy saving, eco-friendly LED lighting, gift certificates, or promotional pricing contact Travis Fremming or visit http://www.ledholidaylighting.com.
About Seasonal Impressions: Locally owned and operated out of Jordan MN, Seasonal Impressions began offering commercial grade holiday lights and installation for residential and commercial customers in 2005. Since that time, they have expanded services to meet growing demand for LED lighting in the private and public sectors. The company also maintains an informative blog on its web site to address increasing interest in the application, energy saving properties, and eco-friendly attributes of LED lighting.

Contact:
Travis Fremming, President
Seasonal Impressions
952-292-4870
http://www.ledholidaylighting.com
###