USA LED boasts state 1st [Connecticut Post, Bridgeport]

infoTECH News

[April 21, 2010]

USA LED boasts state 1st [Connecticut Post, Bridgeport]

(Connecticut Post (Bridgeport) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Apr. 21--USA LED Lighting Solutions has scored a first in shedding some light on energy savings.

The Southbury-based provider of light-emitting diode systems recently completed the state's first all LED-lighting installation in the new 11,000-square-foot headquarters for Prime Publishers Inc. in Southbury.

"I think there's a very big market for this," said Scott Schaake, who in August founded USA LED as a division of his energy- efficient products company Tiger Technologies LLC.

By installing 452 LED bulbs, Prime Publishers will realize an annual energy savings of $6,835 -- and $102,525 over an LED bulb's life expectancy of 15 years, Schaake said. The company will lessen its yearly power consumption by 35,732 kilowatt hours, he said.

LED lighting, which can cut a company's energy costs by as much as 80 percent, has the added benefit of containing no mercury, lead or other harmful metals found in incandescent light bulbs, Schaake said. It also helps the environment by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide released by the burning of fossil fuels used to produce energy, he said.

The LED lighting is expected to lower Prime Publishers' electricity bill by 60 percent, said Rudy Mazurosky, Prime Publishers' chief executive officer.

"LED is definitely the wave of the future for lighting technology," he said.

USA LED, which has secured four companies in China to manufacture its products, has installed LED lighting at La Bonne's Epicure Market in Woodbury and about a dozen other Connecticut businesses, said Schaake, who holds a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering. He also is talking to about 25 companies in the state and a Maryland firm about the use of his LED light products, which include an assortment of interior light bulbs and flood lights.

"My next step is to put efforts into advertising and marketing," said Schaake, who in December launched USA LED's Web site and plans to send direct mail to 400 area businesses.

USA LED in January replaced all the 100-watt metal halide bulbs in the lampposts along Southbury's Main Street with 23-watt energy-efficient induction bulbs, which use electromagnetism rather than a filament to carry current. The company sells light bulbs and flood lights at prices ranging from $26.46 to $100.38 and street lights from $457 to $1,050.

Schaake said the market for LED lighting will grow because future federal Environmental Protection Agency rules require 100-watt light bulbs to be 28 percent more efficient than today's bulbs.

"Now is a very good time to invest in this technology," he said.

The market for LED lighting will continue to grow as bulb prices go down because the technology provides the efficiency of fluorescent bulbs while simulating the more aesthetic lighting of incandescent bulbs, said Tom Griffiths, publisher of Solid State Lighting Design, an Austin, Texas-based industry news Web site focused on LED lighting.

"Anything that can resemble a glowing fire creates a good ambiance," he said.

To see more of the Connecticut Post, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.connpost.com/.

Copyright (c) 2010, Connecticut Post, Bridgeport Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

[ InfoTech Spotlight's Homepage ]

blog comments powered by Disqus

FOLLOW US

Subscribe to InfoTECH Spotlight eNews InfoTECH Spotlight eNews delivers the latest news impacting technology in the IT industry each week. Sign up to receive FREE breaking news today!
FREE eNewsletter