Making Light Refreshing and Responsible
Since the early 1900s, the commercialization of the fluorescent light has made these mercury-vapor based lamps sealed in glass tubes a common fixture. Outperforming incandescent lights in efficiency, fluorescent lights were quickly adopted and placed in office buildings, manufacturing plants, industrial spaces, and the list goes on forever.
The cost benefits of fluorescent lighting long made us turn a blind eye to the dirty little secrets we find inside… Mercury-vapor, mainly: a poison that can cause harmful effects on the nervous, digestive and immune system, and on the lungs and kidneys… Oh, and that may be fatal. Yes, we all want those things hanging over our heads, literally every day.
Fluorescent lighting provided efficiencies for the 20th century, and illuminated the work space. But it couldn’t replace the pure, warm glow of an incandescent light bulb. And that’s why we see a re-emergence of the incandescent bulb in the 21st century, except it’s not the same old bulb it used to be…
Now, incandescent is more like in-clandestine.
There’s a secret agent inside these satisfying bulbs, which imitates Edison’s original design. It’s called the LED filament.
LED filaments are transforming the landscape of lighting and efficiency, and there are no skeletons in the LED closet hanging over our heads.
LEDs are pure, versatile, and responsible.
By responsible, I mean they’re friendly to our environment. They demand much less of our resources and time, and they produce positive benefits on our physical and mental health.
How LEDs are different
SIZE
As technology improves, we see things reduce in size. Thanks to LEDs, every cell phone has a flashlight less than 1/3 the size of a penny. We take this for granted and forget the handheld flashlights we used to have to run and grab to do the job. LED filaments are the size of a fleck of pepper, and can be combined and arranged to create any shape and produce any color of the light spectrum we want – on demand.
HEAT
LEDs produce very little heat, especially when compared to incandescent bulbs which release 90% of their energy as heat, and fluorescent bulbs which release about 80% of their energy as heat.
EFFICIENCY
LED lighting demands much less of our time and resources. Lasting an average 25 times longer than incandescent bulbs and 5 times longer than fluorescent lighting, LEDs require less man-hour maintenance to repair and replace. They also use up to 75% less energy, which provides a real opportunity for us to make a difference together!
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
By lighting responsibly, we can make the largest single impact on energy consumption in the USA simply by screwing in a new light bulb.
So, how many Americans does it take to screw in a light bulb?
All of them, if we want a healthier and more efficient tomorrow! Not to mention, we won’t be tossing shards of glass and mercury into our landfills.
LED lighting is being produced in an endless variety of embodiments.
Today, we can browse the aisles of our favorite hardware store and pick LED bulbs, lamps, panels and more off the shelf.
At Radiant Blinds, we pride ourselves in producing the universe’s first LED powered Lumina; louvers that produce their own light from within. Lumina Shutters transform spaces into comfortable, enjoyable and luminous environments where we can spend our time making warm memories and getting things done, without all that other stuff hanging over our heads.
Learn more about Lumina Shutters at radiantblinds.com, on the Lumina blog, or by completing a request for quotation.
* Some statistics quoted from the US Department of Energy: https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/save-electricity-and-fuel/lighting-choices-save-you-money/led-lighting
