Speaker Systems Can Now Be Found In LED Bulbs.

Recently, we discovered a new segment of lighting that had is scratching our heads at first. Lighting with built in speaker systems. While it seems like a joke, these bulbs do exist and are continuing to sell. These are connected light bulbs with embedded wireless powered speakers, and both elements can be controlled from a mobile device or a computer. Why would anyone want such a thing? Is this a solution that exists for no other reason than that it can be done?

Well, as we did some digging, there are some practical applications. The real selling point here is that LED bulbs do not take up any shelf space, they don’t require wires, and simply draw power from the light socket. This allows the speakers to be deployed as surround-sound channels in a home theater, or they can be a part of a whole-home audio system. All with the added benefit of zero wires to be strung around the space and wireless control. Pretty cool right?

The biggest drawback is exactly what you think it is, the sound quality. It is s speaker in a light bulb, and it sound is pretty good (For a speaker in a light bulb). But there is no way that these types of speakers can replace the speakers of a surround sound system, or even a higher end wireless speaker system. However, as we see technology advance, I wouldn’t be shocked to see this become a more common occurrence. The speakers are a great idea, but need a bit more practicality to have more universal appeal.

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PROJECT HIGHLIGHT: REGAL CINEMAS

City Lighting Products has worked with Regal Entertainment Group for many years now. They operate the largest and most geographically diverse theater circuit in the United States, consisting of 7,347 screens in 573 theaters in 42 states along with Guam, Saipan, American Samoa, and the District of Columbia, with approximately 229 million attendees for the fiscal year.
Regal Cinemas needed professional and long lasting lighting fixtures for a variety of their locations. City Lighting Products was able to help them achieve this goal with a customized lighting plan.

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Deloitte Releases Energy Report For Business Owners

Business owners have fallen in love with the advances in lighting technology, and it's not hard to see why. They are increasingly embracing energy efficiency as a way to improve their bottom line. Reducing their energy and operational costs not only helps them monetarily, but they have an added side benefit of  reducing their carbon footprint. This is a great promotional tool to use, just ask your PR and marketing friends, 

Recently, Deloitte (a major financial consulting firm) published a study on these exact findings. The goal of the report was to provide insights that can be useful in helping businesses make energy related investment and business decisions. The numbers themselves shed new light onto how many companies see lighting as a way for them to compete in the marketplace. Of the sampled businesses, 79% view reducing electricity costs as critical to maintaining a competitive advantage over their competitors. Additionally, cost cutting was cited as a motivation for 59% of respondents, and more than 55% of businesses now generate energy on-site.

Like many other aspects of business, these upgrades are now a necessity. In the 2015 study, Deloitte saw a significant increase in the formation of the corporate energy vision, and a larger emphasis on an energy management strategy. More than half of the businesses sampled stated that they have an energy plan in place, many others are working on putting one together.

While this might not be news to us at City Lighting Products, many of you might be new to the idea of an energy plan. You may also have questions on how to approach the subject, and would like some advice. We are happy to help. City Lighting Products works with single stores all the way up to national wide organizations. Feel free to pay us a visit at our local branches, or pay us a visit here: http://www.citylighting.com/

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CITY LIGHTING PRODUCTS PROJECT HIGHLIGHT: ZOES KITCHEN

We are always happy to help businesses with their lighting needs, whether you are a national retailer with multiple locations, or a single store looking for more efficient lighting, we can help you with a customized solution. This week, we would like to highlight our work with Zoes Kitchen.

City Lighting Products is the sole supplier of lighting to Zoes Kitchen, and have been happy to work with them for many years. Zoes made the move to a complete 100% interior LED lighting package, and have seen excellent results ever since. Moving forward Zoe’s has adopted the same lighting concept for all locations. See more here: http://www.citylighting.com/project.php?c=4&p=7

Arsenal Football Club make the switch to LED Lighting!

Professional sports teams all over the world are making the switch to LED lighting, and we could be more excited for this transition. Arsenal, one of the biggest soccer clubs in the world, have recently completed a stadium upgrade that features LED lighting for the 2015/16 Primer League Season. Like we have covered in past City Lighting Products blogs, upgrading a stadiums lighting has a few benefits. First, the lights last longer, are more energy efficient, and decrease maintenance costs because they don;t have to be replaced as frequently as traditional bulbs. Second, the lighting tends to make the fan experience much better. In other professional sports teams arenas, LED lighting has been proven to make the payers and field much more vibrant and easier to watch. A huge plus for a business based on what transpires on the field. 

Arsenal’s Stadium and Facilities Director, John Beattie, said: “It is important for both players and fans alike that we have top-quality lighting for the club’s evening fixtures and the new floodlights provide just that. This will be extremely beneficial for both matchdays and other events that we host at Emirates Stadium.”

One of the biggest advantages LED lighting has for a team like Arsenal are when it comes to slow motion replays. When images are slowed down, traditional lighting fixtures produce a flicker effect that is captured by high speed cameras. However, LED lights do not produce this flicker effect due to their construction and design. Therefore, when projecting a instant replay in the stadium, or on TV, the picture will be much more crisp. Don’t be shocked of you see more and more stadiums switching to this technology in the near future.

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OUR FAVORITE OFFICES- IMPACT HUB BELGRADE

Office spaces are some of our personal favorite spaces, especially when it comes to lighting them properly. No matter where you work, each individual office has different wants and needs. A conference room is going to be different from a personal office. Even the separate offices within your team may have different lighting solutions based on the space and work that needs to be accomplished there. Simply picking a cookie cutter mold for your office is not always what is best, and there are so many wonderful office designs that incorporate wonderful lighting products. That is why we wanted to show off some of our favorites at City Lighting Products. These offices have been hand selected by our team, and we will show off why we think they are so amazing. Our first selection is the wonderful office of Imapct Hub in Belgrade.

The reason we selected this space, was due to the wonderful way they incorporated light into their space. While traditional lighting would have worked, it would have covered up the curved ceiling, and made the space feel much more cramped compared to the open office concept. Their solution is great. They added bright flood lights on each of the pillars to cascade the ceiling with light, and allowed the space to be covered with a nice reflective light.

Overall, we feel like this space is a wonderful example of how a little creative thinking can give you a custom look and still maintain the functionality of the office space. We understand that every space is different, and that your lighting needs need experienced hands and innovative thinking to be perfect. If your space needs an update, feel free to give City Lighting Products a call.

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LED Lighting Furniture Introduced by Vibia

We thought we change it up a bit, and give you all a quick and fun post for you. After all, we all don;t need dense lighting related articles every day. Yesterday we encountered a Barcelona-based design house, Vibia, that had introduced some new furniture that looked to combine light with exterior spaces. Areas like patios, gardens, rooftops, etc. A lot of these spaces have a surprising lack of lighting solutions when compared to home interiors. By day the fixtures take form as a stool or coffee table. However when night falls, theses focal points come to life with LED lighting. 

When it come to the actual construction, the lights are connected to tubular steel rods and finished in your choice of off-white, khaki or green matte-lacquer.  See all the pictures on Retail Design Blog.

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NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR LED USES MATERIALS THAT CAN BE APPLIED LIKE PAINT, THUS REDUCING COSTS

New lighting technology continues to amaze us, and the rest of the lighting world. We at City Lighting Products are always looking to stay on top of the newest and most effective solutions for anyone’s retail space. Recently, LED lighting has allowed many companies to continue to light their spaces while reducing maintenance and energy costs. Next, a breakthrough was made where the lighting color spectrum was increased to over 16 million different color combinations. Now, it looks like we will soon have an inexpensive LED lighting solution due to painted materials. A LED paint substitute has been developed by a professor and his team out of Florida State University. Which could radically reduce the price of every LED bulb going forward.

The new LED technology the FSU team developed uses a combination of inorganic and organic materials that dissolve and can be applied like paint. The material shines a red, green or blue light and can be used for making a light bulb. What makes this LED technology different is that it foregoes the development processes that make traditional methods more expensive. Instead of using four or five layers of materials to achieve the product or effect needed, the new LED material only needs one layer, making LED easier to manufacture.

Simply put, this breakthrough can help LED lighting become the norm. As of right now, the biggest issue most consumers have with LED lighting is the high upfront cost. However, soon we may all be able to easily afford long lasting lighting.

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