In a paint store, color is everything. But it’s hard to make color samples stand out when exposed T-12 fluorescent tubes are lighting the way.
At the Benjamin Moore paint store in Staunton, Virginia, store owner Lesley Merritt was used to dealing with the store’s outdated lighting. When a fluorescent tube began flickering or burned out, she would guide customers to another spot in the store so they could inspect color samples in better lighting.
But she doesn’t have to do that anymore thanks to the recently installed Cree LED lighting. Lesley replaced 28 T-12 fluorescent tubes with 18 long-lasting Cree CR24 LED Troffers. The troffers feature Cree TrueWhite Technology®, which is Cree’s patented technology that delivers highly-efficient light with high color accuracy, while maintaining color consistency over the life of the product.
“Although we sell paint, color is essentially what we sell. So for colors to look more accurate and more vibrant here in the store is very helpful,” Lesley said.
Not only is the light quality improved, but the store is reducing its energy consumption, as well as the time and money it spends on lighting maintenance. By replacing 28 T-12 fluorescent tubes with 18 Cree CR24 LED troffers, the store is reducing its lighting energy consumption from 2,240 watts down to 792 watts.
“In the past six years, all of the fluorescent tubes have been replaced at least once,” Lesley said. “Some have been replaced more frequently due to flickering and poor color quality. Usually we dealt with the flickering and the colors not matching for a long time before we would decide we were going to pay somebody to change the bulbs. I’m really looking forward to the new Cree LED lights not needing to be changed for a long time.”
There’s another perk to the new LED lights too: Lesley can’t hear them. The first day Lesley flipped the switch on the LED lights she said she couldn’t believe how quiet the store was compared to the constant hum of the fluorescent tubes.
Watch this video to get an inside look at the transformation of this store:
This is the fifth part of a five part series that follows up with winners of Cree’s monthly LED lighting giveaway. Each month, Cree gives away at least 5 Cree LED lights in a photo contest. To enter, submit your bad lighting photo here.
FRIDAY: We’ll show you how LED lighting can even help a plein air painter. Confused? Stay tuned to see what our March 2010 winner did.
March 2010 winner Gary Bradley
You might not think interior lighting would be important to a plein air painter, but it is to Gary Bradley. After all, plein air painters work by sunlight! And although Gary spends much of his creative time outside painting landscapes and buildings, he brings those paintings back to his studio to paint a larger picture. That’s when good lighting becomes very important. Lucky for Gary, he won five Cree LR6 LED downlights back in March 2010. And the timing couldn’t have been better. Gary was moving into a new house around the same time he won the contest, so he got to upgrade the lighting in his new studio from the get-go.
Gary Bradley installed Cree CR6 LED downlights in his studio.
When I recently followed-up with Gary, he told me he bought three more Cree LED downlights to complete the lighting in his new studio. He installed a dimmer so he can control the light levels and conserve even more energy. “I’m very conscious that when I turn them on, I’m using far less energy than in the old days when I had multiple lights that used lots of energy and also required a lot of balancing to get good light,” Gary wrote in a recent email. “I give Cree lights an A+ for artistic work. Thanks for the gift.” Thanks, Gary. We’ll take that A+ and hang our report card on the break room fridge for everyone to see. If you have a room in your home that could benefit from an LED lighting makeover, show us! Submit a photo of the room to our July photo contest. One lucky winner will receive five Cree CR6 LED downlights, shipped directly to their doorstep.
“I was truly impressed with the product, most notably the ‘juicy’ color rendition that gives a rich color depth to the merchandise on display,” wrote to me in a recent follow-up email.
And it turns out that seeing really is believing. Bob explained that last year his client was wooed by the cheap price tag of CFLs, but now that he has experienced their poor performance, he’s considering scrapping them for LEDs.
Cree's LRP-38 LED lights are the three lights on the front of this track. You can see more down the right side of the track.
“At the time I had installed the LRP-38 test, an electrical contractor was talking in the client’s other ear about CFL lamps. Of course, since the CFL lamps were cheaper, the client started installing them in his stores. Now he has some second thoughts about that decision and is very unhappy with CFL and its lackluster color rendition and overall quality. So the discussion about using LED lighting has been rekindled. Stay tuned.”
Sometimes it’s not your home that needs a makeover, it’s your business or office. If you work some place that needs better lighting, show us. Submit a photo of your bad work (or home) lighting to our July photo contest. One winner will receive five Cree CR6 LED downlights!
TUESDAY: We see how the October 2010 winner made over his office and how a bathroom went from spooky to smiley.
WEDNESDAY: We revisit an energy professional who is using his LED lighting from the December 2010 contest to spread the good word.
THURSDAY: It’s not all about your home. We revisit the February 2010 who shows us what LED lighting can do in a retail space.
FRIDAY: We’ll show you how LED lighting can even help a plein air painter. Confused? Stay tuned to see what our March 2010 winner did.
October 2010 Winner Mark Rogers
One of our big fears is that people will try subpar LED lighting, and that their bad experience will prompt them to forever shun LED technology. That’s why our judges don’t shy away from selecting a winner who already has LED lighting. Back in October 2010, Mark Rogers submitted a photo of his office, where he had installed PAR30 LED spotlights.
We’re not sure whether they were quality LED lights or not, but we are sure that they’re not really working in this application. He won five Cree CR6 LED downlights, which are the right fit for the recessed lighting in his office. It made a big difference. Take a look at his before and after photos: When I wrote Mark last year to tell him he won, he said he was excited because “there are evenings when I would love to work just under the downlights” but they weren’t providing enough light. Well, that’s not a problem anymore.
Before Mark installed Cree LED lights.
After Mark installed his Cree CR6 LED downlights!
Here’s what Mark said when I recently followed up with him: “The Cree CR6 installed in minutes, without any special tools, looks like they were built-in, and the dimming is smooth and reliable. You can see the light distribution is amazing – a perfectly natural look with plenty of beam angle! Great color temperature and an elegant appearance. I am a fan!”
The color temperature he’s referring to is the warm light delivered by the CR6 downlights, which has an incandescent feel at 2700K without wasting the energy. The CR6 LED downlight consumes only 10.5 watts and is designed to last 50,000 hours, which means he could leave his office lights on eight hours a day, seven days a week, and he could go 17 years without having to replace them. But we hope he doesn’t have his office lights on for that long every day. Mark deserves some downtime!
October 2010 Runner-Up Dan Leighton
Occasionally our judges have had a tough time picking just one monthly winner. Luckily that was the case for North Carolina resident Dan Leighton who won two Cree CR6 LED downlights to replace the CFLs in his master bathroom. “My wife and I noticed an immediate change when we first flipped the switch. The Cree LEDs lit up the small area and made it feel bigger, a dramatic difference from the yellowish-orange glow of the CFLs emitted,” Dan wrote me in a recent follow-up email. “I have not done it yet, but I plan to install a dimmer now that I have that option.”
Before Dan installed Cree LED lighting in his bathroom.
After Dan installed Cree CR6 LED downlights in his bathroom.
We love that Dan’s new LED lighting provides the same warm light you would expect with 65-watt incandescent bulbs, but conserves significantly less energy. And he would have been hard-pressed to dim the CFLs, if he’d tried. The CR6 LED downlight consumes only 10.5 watts, and is designed to last 50,000 hours, many lifetimes longer than incandescent and even CFLs. And it’s a good thing too, because it doesn’t look like it’s easy to change a bulb in Dan’s bathroom.
We’re strong believers that if people can see quality LED lighting in action, they’ll want it. That’s because quality LED lighting is beautiful, very energy efficient, and can last a long time. What’s not to love?
So when we first launched our LED education portal, CreeLEDRevolution.com, we set out to makeover poorly-lit spaces through a monthly photo contest. The idea was to end the oppression of inferior lighting (or at least make a dent in it).
Since then we’ve awarded more than 100 Cree LED lights to homeowners and office workers from coast to coast. We followed up with the lucky winners to find out where they ended up using their Cree LED lights and what they think of them.
This week we will be highlighting follow-up interviews from some of the winners we heard back from. So stay tuned to our blog all week for stories from these LED revolutionaries. Here’s what you can expect:
TODAY: We check-in on our July 2010 winner who has developed a love for Cree LED lights.
TUESDAY: We see how the October 2010 winner made over his office and how a bathroom went from spooky to smiley.
WEDNESDAY: We revisit an energy professional who is using his LED lighting from the December 2010 contest to spread the good word.
THURSDAY: It’s not all about residential lighting. We revisit the February 2010 who shows us what LED lighting can do in a retail space.
FRIDAY: We’ll show you how LED lighting can even help a plein air painter. Confused? Stay tuned to see what our March 2010 winner did.
Entering is simple, just submit a photo of poor lighting in your home or office. Maybe you have CFLs that make everything in your kitchen look ghastly. Or maybe those incandescent lights in the den are sucking up too much energy and putting out too much heat. Each month our judges select one winner (and occasionally a runner-up) to receive five Cree CR6 LED downlights.
“About half the canisters in the house are now equipped with Cree LEDs and I plan gradually to replace the rest,” Jerry wrote to me in a recent follow-up email.
That’s great news considering Jerry and his family were avoiding turning on lights in the living room and office because it was too much of a pain to change them when they burned out. The Idaho family won the July 2010 LED lighting giveaway after submitting this photo and explaining:
Jerry entered this photo to Cree's LED Lighting Contest.
“The living room (and office) in our house is equipped with incandescent downlights in 16.5 foot ceilings,” Saltzer told me in an email. “The light they produce is fine, but replacing those light bulbs is such a big production that we are inclined to leave them off as much as possible and use floor and table lamps instead.”
Now the family doesn’t have to worry about that. In addition to replacing the energy-wasting incandescent downlights in his living room and office, Jerry says he has installed four Cree CR6 LED downlights in his kitchen. He has also installed four Cree LBR30 LED lamps in his stairwells.
And while it probably wasn’t oodles of fun dragging out the ladder to installing all of these new LED lights, Jerry gets to look on the bright side. Since his new Cree LED lights are designed to last 50,000 hours, he shouldn’t have to worry about changing these lights for years, even decades, to come.
If you want to put away your ladder for a long time, enter our July LED lighting photo contest. Simply submit a photo of poor lighting in your home or office that you would like to get rid of for good. One lucky winner will receive five Cree CR6 LED downlights.
Christopher Cunningham was online trying to figure out what to do about his lighting. The Michigan resident says he “tried going with all fluorescent for the money savings on my power bill but they make everything look like it has a yellow cast. Poor for reading, taking pictures and just about everything else.”
Lucky for Christopher, his online search led him to Cree’s LED lighting photo contest. So he submitted this dimly-lit photo:
Christopher submitted this photo to our contest.
“I figured it can’t hurt to give it a try and send in a picture of the lighting problem I have in the living room,” he wrote me in an email.
Well, it’s a good thing he did, because Christopher is the May winner of Cree’s LED lighting photo contest. He wins five Cree CR6 ™ LED downlights, which will probably solve his problem, since the lights feature beautiful light quality similar to incandescent lighting.
He’ll also be saving more energy too. The CR6 LED downlight consumes only 10.5 watts, but is designed to replace a 65-watt incandescent light.
“I’m hoping the new addition of Cree CR6s will put some life back into the living room … all while saving on my electric bill,” Christopher wrote.
We don’t think that’s going to be a problem. And, on top of the light quality and energy savings, it will also likely be a very long time before Christopher has to worry about swapping out a burned out bulb. His new Cree LED lights are designed to last 50,000 hours, which means he could leave them on 8 hours a day, seven days a week and they could last more than 17 years!
We get it. Not everyone is eager to break up with their incandescent light bulbs. There’s something comfortable about a screwing in the same type of bulb your great-great-great grandmother used. Change isn’t easy, even if it’s ultimately for the better.
But what we don’t get is how the media can continue to ignore LED lighting as an alternative to Thomas Edison’s energy-wasting lighting. The latest example is this article in the Charlotte Observer, which details examples of consumers hoarding incandescent light bulbs.
In the article, readers see anecdotes about North Carolina residents who are reportedly stockpiling boxes of incandescent light bulbs in advance of the government-mandated incandescent light bulb phase out. Then the article proceeds to detail concerns about compact fluorescent light bulbs, making it sound as if CFLs are the only option. There’s not one mention of the alternative that we know and love – LED lighting.
To add insult to injury, the article even references President Barack Obama’s recent trip to Cree, but the reporter fails to note that Cree is an LED lighting manufacturer writing: “Incandescents, little changed since the days of Edison, use about 75 percent more energy than CFLs and produce more heat. In fact, President Barak Obama visited Durham to tour a manufacturing facility of energy-efficient lights and tout job creation.”
This isn’t the first time an entire news story on the incandescent lighting phase out has failed to mention LED lighting. We told you about our disappointment with a recent NBC Nightly News story that left out LEDs. No doubt, this won’t be the last time LEDs are slighted in the news media.
LED lighting isn’t some fly-by-night fad. In fact, the U.S. Department of Energy projects that in the next 20 years LED lighting will account for the majority of lighting applications, with commercial applications leading the way. The DOE also forecasts that businesses will replace about 80 percent of their incandescent and halogen lighting with LED fixtures by 2025, according to EE Times.
Every time reporters omit LED lighting from stories about the incandescent phase out, they are doing a disservice to their audiences. These omissions leave consumers feeling like their only choices are twisty toxic fluorescents.
We hope you’ll join us in our efforts to educate people about LED lighting. If you see an article that doesn’t tell all sides of the lighting story, tweet us, facebook us, or just leave a comment of your own at the bottom of it. As LED Revolutionaries, we must all do our part to spread factual information about energy-efficient LED lighting.
While standing with local media in a hallway at Cree Monday, I heard a familiar voice. It belonged to President Barack Obama, only it wasn’t coming from the TV or the radio. I looked around the corner, and there he stood – President Obama, shaking hands with Cree CEO Chuck Swoboda.
This wasn’t your ordinary day at the office.
Then the door I was standing beside flung open and the White House press pool – about 15 reporters and photographers who flew in from D.C. to cover the president – rushed down the hallway to catch up with the president. I grabbed my video camera and scurried after them.
President Obama visited Cree Monday to tour one of our LED lighting manufacturing lines, meet with his Council on Jobs and Competitiveness and to address Cree employees. Cree was honored to play host to the president and his Jobs and Competitiveness Council.
Here are some highlights from his visit:
The Factory Tour
After exchanging greetings in the hallway, President Obama joined Chuck for a tour of our new LED troffer manufacturing line. The press pool packed together behind a rope in three tiers: The photographers knelt, the TV cameramen stood behind them and the reporters hung out in back.
Cree CEO Chuck Swoboda (right) leads President Barack Obama on a tour of one of Cree's LED lighting manufacturing lines.
We were eager to show the president where we manufacture our new LED troffer lights, the CR Series. It’s been three years since Obama visited Cree while he was on the campaign trail, and since that time our LEDs have doubled in efficiency. So we had a lot to catch him up on. Chuck explained that these new LED lights are designed to replace the outdated fluorescent tubes that line the ceilings of many commercial buildings. In fact, LED lighting is the world’s most energy-efficient lighting!
You can watch some raw footage I shot of the Chuck leading the president through the factory here:
The president broke away from the tour to shake hands with employees. One of them was Josephine Lynch, who secured a job at Cree two months ago. News & Observer reporter Rob Christensen interviewed her and wrote:
“She said her years of unemployment had been a struggle that she managed only with the help of family. She went back to school to get electronics certification.”
After Obama told her to “keep up the good work,” Rob reported that she responded:
“Oooh, I’m going to be the coolest mom on my block.”
The Jobs Council
Once the tour was complete, Obama joined the Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, which was already seated in Cree’s café. Only the president probably had no idea that the meeting was in a cafeteria. All signs of the dining hall were removed. Blue curtains lined the walls, tables were covered with cloths and no one was gaining entry to that room unless the Secret Service said so.
I snapped this photo with my iPhone while photographers were allowed in the room.
It was the second meeting of the new Jobs Council, which the president created so he could receive non-partisan advice on ways to improve the economy, create jobs and keep the United States competitive. The Council committed to meeting outside of DC following its first meeting in February. Cree, located in the Research Triangle Park region of North Carolina, was selected to host the follow-up meeting.
The president briefly addressed the Council, giving photographers a chance to take photos and record footage. Then everyone with a camera was ushered out of the room. Reporters were allowed to stay to cover the meeting. During the meeting, the council outlined some recommendations designed to help spur economic growth and increase jobs in the short term and long term.
The Employee Meeting
When President Obama walked into Cree’s auditorium, employees rose and reached for their cameras. It seemed as if everyone in the room was holding a camera or cell phone, trying to preserve the day the president came to work.
Cree employees listen to remarks.
Then the president did something I don’t think anyone was expecting. He called out Cree employee David Jones by name, saying that he met David during a campaign stop at Cree in 2008. David reminded the president of the visit during Monday’s factory tour, when David pulled out a picture the pair had taken together in 2008. Obama joked that his hair wasn’t as gray in the picture.
“It’s true, I’ve got a lot more gray hair now than I did the last time I visited. But I have better plane, so it’s a fair trade,” Obama quipped, referring to Air Force One.
Then the president got serious, highlighting the recommendations he just received from the Jobs and Competitiveness Council. Those recommendations include increasing the number of engineering graduates in the U.S. by 10,000 per year and working with community and vocational schools to train workers. You can read more about the recommendations here.
President Obama addresses the audience at Cree.
Obama also touted his new Better Buildings Initiative, which aims to help business owners upgrade buildings for energy efficiency. It’s a move the president says could save America’s businesses up to $40 billion a year on their utility bills.
“And obviously that $40 billion could be better spent growing and hiring new workers. It will boost manufacturing of energy-efficient products like those made here at Cree. It will put contractors and construction workers back on the job. It is a win-win-win-win proposition.”
The president also gave Cree props for the work it has done over the past 20+ years to advance technology and create jobs.
“Today the small business that a group of N.C. State engineering students founded almost 25 years ago is a global company. It’s got 5,000 employees. Next month, your new production line will begin running 24/7. And soon you’ll add another 400,000 square feet of space on a new site next door. So you’re helping to lead a clean energy revolution. You’re helping lead the comeback of American manufacturing. This is a company where the future will be won.”
Indeed, we believe in the future of an energy-efficient world. The LED Lighting Revolution is happening now. And we won’t be satisfied until every energy-wasting light is replaced.
President Obama will be visiting Cree in Durham, NC, on Monday to tour one of our LED lighting manufacturing lines. While he’s here, Obama will meet with the Jobs and Competitiveness Council to talk about initiatives and policies that could help boost economic growth, job creation and the acceleration of hiring across the country.
We’re pleased to welcome President Obama to our manufacturing facility! While he’s here, he’ll get to see where we make our new LED troffers, the Cree CR Series. Our energy-efficient LED troffers are our latest innovation in LED lighting. They’re designed to replace outdated fluorescent tubes that illuminate so many commercial buildings. These lights are just one of many ways we’re working to bring energy-efficient LED lighting to homes and businesses around the world.
President Obama will tour one of our manufacturing lines to see how our new energy-efficient LED troffers are made.
“We’re honored to host President Obama at Cree,” our CEO Chuck Swoboda said today. “We look forward to showcasing our industry-leading, energy-efficient technologies and participating in discussions on policies that can spur economic growth and promote U.S. job creation.”
It's truly amazing how much energy businesses can save with our new LED troffers. This paint store in Virginia reduced its energy consumption by about 65 percent by switching to Cree LED lighting.
President Obama will also be addressing Cree employees and other guests, as well as meeting with his new Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. We will be live blogging and live tweeting his remarks. Follow along right here on our blog or on Twitter. We’ll be using the hashtag #ObamaCree.
Rob Gully is an early adopter. The Missouri resident says he has been using LED lights for five years, back when it wasn’t even on most people’s radar. The first LED lights Rob bought were only bright enough for use in his refrigerator! Five years later, Cree LED lights are now bright enough to illuminate his entire kitchen.
Rob is the winner of the March LED lighting giveaway. He won 5 Cree CR6 LED downlights, and he says they’re the best LED lights he’s found yet.
“I always pick up a few LED light bulbs every year just to see how things have improved and I must say the CR6 bulbs are currently the peak of the LED evolution,” wrote to me in an email.
Here's the photo Rob submitted to the contest.
The CR6 LED downlight delivers the same warm incandescent light you’re used to, but consumes significantly less energy. The 10.5 watt CR6 downlight can replace a 65 watt halogen light. And it’s designed to last significantly longer than a halogen. Rob’s new lights are designed to last 50,000 hours, which means he could leave them on eight hours a day, seven days a week and it could be more than 17 years before he would have to change them!
“A friend came over recently and I took him to the kitchen and told him I wanted to show him some new LED bulbs I got. Only after I pointed out the CR6 could he tell the difference. The biggest compliment about these bulbs is the quality of light is nearly identical to incandescent or CFL (once they are warmed up),” Rob wrote.
Rob isn’t the only March winner. Massachusetts resident Jonathan Hunt also scored some LED lights. Jonathan was a runner-up, receiving 2 Cree CR6 LED downlights. Our judges just couldn’t pass up a chance to save Jonathan from this bad lighting situation:
Here's the image Jonathan submitted.
Jonathan and his wife are big on saving energy. They blog about ways to live a more sustainable life. We’re eager to see Jonathan ditch the CFL reflector bulbs that he has been using in the kitchen.
If you think your lighting is bad enough to catch the eyes of our judges, then submit a photo in our June LED lighting giveaway. One lucky winner will receive 5 Cree CR6 LED downlights. We’ll be announcing the April and May winners soon. Stay tuned.
