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Archive for December, 2009

10 Ways to Save Money and Become More Energy Efficient in 2010

Posted in Various LED Information on December 30th, 2009 by admin – Comments (0)

1. SWITCH TO LED LIGHTING- Use 75% less energy that lasts up to 10 times longer.

2. TURN OFF THE LIGHTS- One 100-watt bulb left on overnight costs $25 per year. Multiply that by how many are in your house.

3. KEEP LIGHTS CLEAN- Dust can cut a bulb’s light output by 25%

4. USE SLEEP MODE/FUNCTION- An average household can cut 60% of the energy their electronics use by using the sleep mode

5. RETHINK OUTDOOR LIGHTS- You save energy and money by switching to efficient outdoor lights. Also consider installing a motion sensor to increase security and savings

6. TURN DOWN THE THERMOSTAT FIVE DEGREES- Turning it down one degree saves about 2% on your heating bill. Turning it down 5 degrees saves about 10 %. Install a programmable thermostat and it will do the work for you.

7. CHANGE OUT FILTERS- To keep your heating systems working at top performance, change out your furnace’s air filter before the winter season sets in. A dirty filter will redue air flow, making your systems work harder

8. USE YOUR CEILING FAN IN THE WINTER- Use the reverse spin option at its slowest speed to help send the warm air down into the room

9. PLUG ELECTRONICS INTO POWER STRIP- Easy to shut off strip when not using. Save these devices from draining energy and your wallet

10. FIX LEAKY WATER FAUCETS- 30 drops of water per minute can waste up to 50 gallons of water per month.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Warmest Regards,

Your Friends at Millennium Visual Systems

LED-Equipped Gown Monitors Carbon Dioxide in the Air

Posted in Various LED Information on December 30th, 2009 by admin – Comments (0)

Dress Lights Up When It Detects Carbon Dioxide

Danish design company Diffus has created a stunning LED-studded dress that lights up when it detects carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The luminous ensemble is laced with conductive embroidery that links a CO2 sensor to an Arduino Lilypad microprocessor. When the presence of CO2 is detected the lights begin to blink faster and faster, issuing an immediate warning about the invisible environmental threat.

Originally Posted by Mike Chino, 12/21/09 on www.inhabitat.com

Wind Turbine Transformed Into World’s Largest Revolving LED Christmas Star

Posted in Be Green, Various LED Information on December 28th, 2009 by admin – Comments (0)

What Christmas is complete without a giant spinning illuminated star? This one is the largest in the world and just happens to be made up of LED lights, allowing it to use the same amount of energy as a common hairdryer! The revolving LED superstar was designed and built by Siemens and is currently mesmerizing viewers in Munich. Check out our amazing pics of this brightly lit installation with 9,000 LED lights spinning away into the night.

Developed in the last 12 months by Siemens and Munich multimedia artist Michael Pendry, the Christmas Star puts out the eco-lighting equivalent of 20,000 candelas. Pendry convinced both Siemens and the Stadtwerke München (Munich City Utilities) to let him install this art piece on one of the utilities’ wind turbines. Each 30 meter blade holds 3,000 LED lights and when it rotates, the blades turn into a dazzling display of light.

The city of Munich will keep up the Christmas Star until the Day of Ephiphany on Januray 6, 2010, which is the last official day of the Christmas season. The Star can be seen every day from 4:30 p.m. to midnight and from 4:53 a.m. to 8 a.m.

Originally Posted on www.inhabitat.com on 12/23

NYC Skaters Sparkle Under LEDs

Posted in Various LED Information on December 21st, 2009 by admin – Comments (0)

Alighting at Bryant Park. Photo by Bill Wisser courtesy of PRNewsFoto/Lighting Science Group.

“The Jewel-Lights add a brighter and environmentally friendlier experience,” said the Director of Design of Bryant Park, Igancio Ciocchini, about the energy saving light emitting diodes. The light fixture is created by lighting designer Leni Schwendinger, who participated in Mexico’s recent “City Beautification/Sustainable Lighting Design Forum.

“I wanted to develop a beautiful, practical, forward-thinking and sustainable solution for new and retrofit markets that translates into significant cost savings and beautification for cities,” said Schwendinger who manufactures the Luminaire through the Lighting Science Group Corporation. Her Light Project fuses art and design with light, illuminating public works and infrastructures around the world for municipal agencies and buildings. Recent projects include the Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum, and SpectraScape in Dallas, Texas.

The Luminaire is durable enough to use on bridges, sidewalk light fixtures and exteriors, aesthetically reducing costs and energy. Available in white diamond, ruby, amethyst, sapphire, and emerald (hence the Jewel-Light name), the environmental solution contains just 24 LEDs that use only 28 watts of energy with a lifespan of 50,000 hours, which should last years unlike incandescent bulbs.

Originally posted on: www.treehugger.com
Reposted on www.nicernews.com

BOROUGH OF RIDGEFIELD CONNECTS WITH COMMUNITY WITH TWO REAL-TIME INFORMATION DISPLAYS

Posted in Various LED Information on December 16th, 2009 by admin – Comments (0)

Woodcliff Lake, NJ (December 2009)- The Borough of Ridgefield enhanced their community information system this week by installing two Millennium Visual Systems’ LED, programmable displays outside of their Community Center and Building Department. Mounted on each building, these displays are regularly updated with current information and also provide a constant display of the time and temperature.

With all the exciting events going on community-wide there is no better way to communicate with the public than to centralize the messages on these two displays. Eric Lenander, the Assistant to the CFO of the Borough of Ridgefield said, “These displays maintain an important transparency between our town and the community.”

These displays will provide municipal announcements, recreational information, health information, and assist in emergency management. Recently, they played a critical role in notifying the community about flu-shot clinics and swine flu health precautions. These eye-catching displays are now a crucial part of the Borough’s communication standard.

LEDs Light Up Washington Monument

Posted in Various LED Information on December 9th, 2009 by admin – Comments (0)

Americans might notice that the holiday lights on the Washington Monument shine a little brighter this holiday season. That is because Baltimore Gas and Electric has helped Washington D.C. switch to energy-efficient LED bulbs this year.

The Baltimore Sun reports that the Washington monument will be illuminated by 84 strands of 200 LED bulbs, consuming only 12 watts of energy per strand. This corresponds with the city’s efforts to conserve energy, even in the midst of holiday decadence.

The country’s beloved monument is not the only major American attraction that will glow green this year.

According to a report entitled “LEDs lighting the way for Hawaii,” it seems LED holiday lights are as fine a way as mele kalikimaka to say Merry Christmas in the tropical state, while the Detroit city Christmas tree will glow green this season. President Obama used LEDs to decorate the White House Christmas tree this year and the energy-saving light bulbs also adorn the tree in New York’s Rockefeller Center.

Moreover, LED lights are becoming more popular with homeowners nationwide; the prices of the LED lights are dropping and consumers can use them to cut power bills and help the environment.

According to Michael Van Camp of Light Visions, a commercial and residential holiday decorating service, Americans have gone wild for LED lights this season. “LED lights are the buzz of the decorating biz,” he told the source. “They just look phenomenal!”

LEDs are 10 times more efficient than conventional bulbs and it reportedly cost Americans just pennies a day to light up their homes for up to six hours with three strands of 100-bulb strings of LED lights. ADNFCR-2708-ID-19502461-ADNFCR

Did You Know?

Posted in Various LED Information on December 8th, 2009 by admin – Comments (0)

Dreaming of a Green Holiday?

Posted in Various LED Information on December 1st, 2009 by admin – Comments (0)

If so, try these 10 eco-friendly suggestions brought to you by Mother Nature.

“Ring, ring…Mother Nature calling, can you cut me some slack this holiday season?”

Certainly, the holidays are celebration of family and friends, a festive time filled with gift giving, decorating, tree trimming and sparkling lights. But not so much fun for the environment.

Trashing the Holidays

Americans generate 25 percent more trash between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day than any other time of the year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The food waste, the ribbons and bows, the paper, boxes and shopping bags, all add up to an extra million tons of waste each week for five weeks.

Strange as it might sound, the holiday season is the perfect time to reduce, reuse and recycle. Here are 10 ways to be celebrate a ‘green’ holiday season:

1. Start a “living tradition” in your family and purchase a live Christmas tree, which you can replant after the holidays. Your local nursery will be able to suggest which kind of tree is best for replanting, as well as how to acclimate your tree from outdoors to indoors.

2. If you by a pre-cut tree, be sure to recycle it after the holidays. Call the maintenance department in your city or local recycling center for instructions.

3. Cut up and use your old holiday greetings cards for gift tags next year, or kids’ craft projects. If you don’t choose to reuse them, be sure to recycle the cards with mixed paper and magazines.

4. Consider not sending greeting cards at all and let your fingers do the “talking.” There are great many Web sites that offer free e-cards. Oh, the trees we would save!

5. Save energy by using LED lights. LED are 90 percent more efficient than traditional lights. If people replaced their normal Christmas lights with LEDs, we’d save at least two billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a month. That’s enough energy to power 200,000 homes for a year. If everyone switched, it would amount to an incredible amount of energy savings. Also, there are many different lighting options that are more environment-friendly, including solar powered lights.

6. Use rechargeable batteries. There’s a USBCELL available that recharges by plugging into your computer. Standard rechargeable batteries are also a good choice.

7. Use newspaper, old gift bags, comics and magazines for wrapping paper. They also work for padding more delicate items and recycle paper at the same time.

8. If you have your mind set on using holiday-themed wrapping paper, try to use post-consumer and chlorine-free recycled paper.

9. Buy handmade items with less packaging such as a sweaters, stuffed toys, wooden toys, puzzles, furniture, etc.

10. Consider gifts of time such as volunteering, gift certificates for favors such as helping a friend with childcare. Or make your own gift certificates that give someone a free hour of babysitting, a free dinner, house cleaning, etc.

Jim WilliamsHealthKey.com contributor