Starry Night Lights is proud to announce its participation in the US Government’s Energy Star Lighting program. Given our focus on preserving the environment in general, and the night sky in particular, it only makes sense for us to participate in this program. Energy Star is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy designed to help us all save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices. Results are already adding up. Americans, with the help of ENERGY STAR, saved enough energy in 2006 alone to avoid greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 25 million cars — all while saving $14 billion on their utility bills.

Energy conservation related to outdoor lighting makes incredible sense. Lighting consumes roughly 25% of all the electricity produced in the US. If we can make major strides in conserving energy while lighting, this can add up incredibly fast. On top of energy saving light bulbs and light fixtures, home and business owners are encouraged to strongly consider installing motion sensors on all their exterior lights. Motion sensors can ensure that your outdoor lights are off the vast majority of the time and yet turn them on the instant they are needed. In many cases, homeowners can reduce their outdoor lighting bill by close to 99%. This is a huge savings that adds up day after day and year after year. Given that motion sensors start around $60, you can pay for their purchase with just a few months of reduced utility bills. After that, the savings continue year after year after year.

Starry Night Lights is pleased to announce the introduction of energy efficient LED light bulbs by Lumoform. LED light bulbs are the most energy efficient lights currently on the market and Lumoform LED’s are the best available. LED’s consume far less energy than incandescents, halogens or even compact fluorescent light bulbs for a given application. LED’s typically use about 1/10th the energy of incandescents and less than 1/2 that of compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL). Additionally, LED light bulbs last far longer than any other solutions. In many instances, LED’s will last in excess of 50,000 hours. This constitutes several decades under normal usage scenarios. You can install an LED light today and simply forget about them. This is especially great when you’re looking at recessed lights in high ceilings. In many homes with cathedral ceilings, recessed lights can be over 15 feet high. This makes bulb replacement a difficult (and perhaps scary) proposition. If you make the switch to LED’s today, you may never have to change your light bulbs again!

Lumoform LED light bulbs are an excellent way to save money and reduce your carbon footprint. Over the life of the bulb, you can save over $400 dollars in energy savings. This is calculated in today’s dollars. Given the fact that energy prices seem to be rising steadily, your savings may actually be considerably larger. Additionally, you’ll save over one ton of carbon emissions. This is a significant savings for just one bulb. As we worry about the effects of global warming and how it can affect our lives, savings like this are substantial and should be looked at seriously. Many other greenhouse gas reductions will require significant technological advances and/or lifestyle changes. How much easier can it get than to simply replace one type of light bulb with another? This is an absolute no brainer

Modern design isn’t what it was years ago. Previously, a home that was described as modern referred strictly to its looks. It had modern lines or a modern look to it. It had all the features you’d expect. Very little (if any) thought was given to efficiency. In our time of global warming, modern homes are starting to take on a much more environmentally friendly and environmentally conscientious approach. Modern homes still have the cool lines and look they’ve always had, however they now use the most energy efficient designs, appliances and features. This only makes sense as not a day goes by that we don’t hear about the destruction we’re heaping on our poor planet. Does your modern home have what it takes to be modern in this day and age? Let’s take a look…

You designed your home to be a bold statement of who you are. No detail was overlooked. Or was it? In many instances, the outdoor lights chosen for a home were almost an afterthought. ‘Oh, yeah, code requires that we put some exterior lighting in. Let’s see what’s available at the local lighting store’. If this describes your home building experience, you know how limiting that can be. Most lighting showrooms focus on interior lighting. The outdoor lights that they display are what everybody is buying. Face it, display space is expensive. No lighting store is going to be able to display everything under the sun. So, what do they do, they pick what’s been popular. Which is very likely the same as what was popular last year (since they can’t know what people will buy if they don’t display it in the first place).

Starry Night Lights offers a huge selection of night sky friendly outdoor lights for your home or business. Building something on the modern side? We have a large selection of modern outdoor lights that are as distinctive as the homes they’ll adorn. Checkout the SPJ 601-DL from SPJ Lighting. This distinctively modern outdoor light fixture is hand crafter from stainless steel for years of service. It has a closed top (hence the ‘DL’ designation) so no light will shine wastefully up into the night sky while it’s solid sides ensure that you won’t be keeping your neighbors awake at night. Night sky and neighbor friendly are two requirements that most nicer communities have or will soon be adding to their outdoor lighting codes. Even if yours doesn’t yet have one, wouldn’t it be better to make more efficient use of the light your producing? Of course, it would.

The downward facing nature of this and many other fixtures offered by Starry Night Lights is an ideal candidate for the directional light produced by LED light bulbs. LED’s can be aimed. They emit the vast majority of the light they produce in the direction the are pointed. Since this fixture ‘aims’ the light down, LED lights work quite well with this fixture to illuminate the ground beneath them (which is where you need the light in the first place). They’ll also cooperate in efforts to reduce light spill into areas that should not be lit (like the night sky or your neighbor’s bedroom).
Modern living has some new requirements that earlier generations rarely if ever had to think of. Energy efficient light bulbs are an easy to meet some of these new ‘lifestyle guidelines’. These will consume far less energy thereby generating far less global warming / green house gases. They’ll also save you a considerable sum of money over their life spans. Energy efficient is typically a win-win situation.

Almost one-fourth of the energy used in homes is used for lighting. Unfortunately, most homes still use the traditional incandescent light bulbs invented by Thomas Edison over 100 years ago! These bulbs convert only about 10 percent of the electricity they use to produce light, the other 90 percent is converted into heat. With new technologies, such as better filament designs and gas mixtures, incandescent bulbs are slightly more efficient than they used to be. In 1879, the average bulb produced only 14 lumens per watt, compared to about 17 lumens per watt today. By adding halogen gases, the efficiency can be increased to 20 lumens per watt. Compact fluorescent light bulbs, or “CFLs”, have made inroads into home lighting systems in the last few years. These bulbs are more expensive to purchase, but last much longer and use much less energy, producing significant savings over the life of the bulb. Compact fluorescent bulbs are over 4 times as efficient as incandescent. For example, a 40 watt incandescent bulb would typically be replaced by a 9 watt compact fluorescent. Compact fluorescent bulbs are not without their own issues, however. The primary drawback of CFL’s is the fact that they contain mercury in them. Break one of these inside your home and you’ll need to have a haz-mat team come in an clean up the mess. Also, while they’re some 4x more efficient than incandescent light bulbs, they’re no where near the top of the heap as far as energy efficiency goes. So, what is the most energy efficient light bulb available for your home? Simple, LED light bulbs.

LED light bulbs are are watt for watt the most energy efficient light bulbs your can purchase for your home. Throw in the fact that they last for 50,000 - 100,000 hours of operation, and changing light bulbs may become a thing of the past. As an example, if you left LED lights on for 12 hours per day, they’d typically last for 25-30 years before they burned out. Most people don’t own their homes that long, so put in a set of these and you might never change them again. Also, as this post is about energy efficiency, LED’s put out an incredible amount of light while using a minuscule amount of energy. LED’s are more than twice as efficient as compact fluorescents and about 10x as energy efficient as incandescent light bulbs. As we try to reduce our production of global warming green house gases, we need to look for the simple things that we can do in our everyday living that can have the biggest effects. Switching to LED light bulbs can cut your home lighting energy use by almost 90%. This is a substantial savings in both money and green house gas emissions.

LED’s aren’t for all types of applications. They are directional lights. ie… they shine in the direction they are pointed in. They don’t shine in all directions as typical incandescent light bulbs do. LED light bulbs are appropriate when you need powerful directional lighting. Presently, LED excels over other bulbs in spot and flood lighting applications. Track lighting, spot lighting, canister lights, and outdoor flood lights are currently the most appropriate places to use LED bulbs. At the moment, if you need general radiant illumination, use energy saving compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs…but stay tuned for LED replacements of CFLs in the very near future!

LED light bulbs are not currently Energy Star Certified. This will likely change in the not too distant future as these lamps are even more efficient than the current energy star sweet heart, compact fluorescent light bulbs. Look for Starry Night Lights to dramatically expand its energy efficient lighting offerings. This will include both compact fluorescent and LED light bulbs.

A great option to consider when lighting a living space, whether indoor or outdoor, would be the discreet regressed Eyeball light fixture by Progress Lighting. The Eyeball allows flexibility and freedom thanks to its smart design.

Small, cozy spaces can really make a home. But just walking into a small room doesn’t mean automatic relaxation for you or house guest. Entering a small room, there really is an automatic feeling of comfort or claustrophobia. So the limited space of a small bedroom, den or office-nook really is precious, and depending on how that space is used, the room can become a secluded haven or a cluttered trap. And when looking for ways to conserve that precious space and the atmosphere of your smaller room, try looking up, to the ceiling. Although raising the ceiling is likely out of the question, you may be able to raise your light fixture. If your current fixture is a ceiling mount fixture or a chandelier, a recessed fixture like the regressed Eyeball makes a great substitute. The light fixture will be adding light to your room without cluttering your small space.

The light produced by the regressed Eyeball can be directed, accenting important features of your room, whether they are antique movie posters on the wall, your favorite futon or the unique-to-your-room window seat.  And by opting out of a multiple-lamp ceiling fixture or chandelier, you can spread that light throughout the room with multiple fixtures on about the same energy.

So as you look to light a smaller space, keep in mind the head room.  If the ceiling’s a little lower than usual, consider recessed lighting.  By removing the clutter of a mounted fixture, it’ll free up some room to think.

Check out this and other great indoor and outdoor lighting options at StarryNightLights.com.

The invention of the telescope obviously sparked a revolution in the field of astronomy. Galileo Galilei improved the original design of the telescope and started making observations. His observations led to conclusions that shocked the world. Though suspicions existed before Galileo that Earth was not the center of the universe, Galileo’s observations with help from the telescope, provided a foundation for the truth that the Earth does move.

Happily, we live in a day more open to scientific discovery. Curiosity and exploration are celebrated. No Spanish Inquisition is going to get our scientists down. In fact, the world today has changed so much and become so truly inquisitive that it’s pouring almost astronomical resources into understanding the universe in which we live. And what ranks among the great tools of a modern-day Galileo? Without a doubt, it would be another telescope. But while the one that makes it under the Christmas tree is likely more advanced than any telescope Galileo ever had, it’s not enough. Today’s Galileos needed something a bit more precise. And in 1990, this generation’s brightest astronomers and astrophysicists opened a Christmas present that was decades in the making: the Hubble Space Telescope.

And amazing astronomical images just kept coming. In Galileo’s time, great minds had proposed that Earth was in motion in some heliocentric system. But thanks to Galileo’s deft application of the telescope, he was able to prove that the Earth wasn’t the center of everything. So today, something a little more heady: great minds in astronomy and astrophysics proposed that the universe in which we live is expanding—and rapidly. They were even able to estimate the rate at which all the galaxies in known existence are moving away from each other. One proponent of this theory was Hubble space telescope’s namesake, Edwin P. Hubble. And with the Hubble space telescope, as with Galileo’s telescope, we’ve been able to give more substantial proof of this claim—we’ve even managed to more accurately measure the rate at which the universe is expanding.

And the beautiful vistas of deep space and celestial bodies is unparalleled by anything we’ve ever pointed up from Earth’s surface. Naturally, even without man-caused light pollution, the Earth’s atmosphere would provide distortion to views into deep space as captured by the Hubble space telescope. So Hubble’s presence in space, and not on Earth’s surface, is critical.

But what about us? Left behind on Earth, we still have the chance to see some amazingly beautiful things, including Comet Holmes (17p). But if we live near a densely populated metropolitan area, we face a bit of a challenge. That challenge is presented by light pollution, a phenomenon caused by light generated on the Earth’s surface as it is cast into the atmosphere. Views are obstructed because a glow is added to the sky. So while this effect doesn’t influence Hubble’s clear-space view, it really does hamper the at home astronomer. But there are options and measures that can be taken to combat light pollution. Community wide measures have been taken even in some Southwest, such as this civil ordinance adopted by Tempe, Ariz., which restricts light broadcast into the night sky.

And on a private level we can combat light pollution and allow room for our children’s (and our own) curiosity about the night sky. For more information on light pollution and how to combat it, check out www.StarryNightLights.com.

Vision 3 Lighting boasts, “Our ’standard’ is their ‘custom’.” And because it’s a lighting firm built on options, this statement isn’t far from the truth as Vision 3 addresses the competition: by offering a great variety of finishes and designs, they allow a huge selection while asking ’standard’ prices.

One such example is this step light by Vision 3. The fixture is offered in 14 different finishes to match the aesthetics of diverse indoor and outdoor living spaces. And as lighting needs may vary, it’s also available with two different cutoff options for either a narrower or broader cast of light. Further still, the fixture can be rotated angularly to best suit a stair set’s needs exactly.
This fixture prevents stubbed toes and awkward ascents up the stairs. And outdoors, a well designed step light like this preserves the night sky, and even the overall evening mood, by keeping the light only immediately where it is needed: on the steps.

This is just one of many outdoor lighting options offered at StarryNightLights.com. Many of our products are Dark Sky friendly or Energy Star approved. Check out our site for more information about lighting products and light pollution.

Outdoor lighting is crucial for any business open nights or evenings. So, to present the right image, you’ll need to light your company’s property with professional and efficient outdoor lighting. But, if you want to make your business presentable at night, safe in the dark areas, and add a generally professional feel to the facility, you’ll need to make the right outdoor lighting decision. But in that decision, you may need to take some caution, because inefficient outdoor light fixtures do exist, which don’t produce or direct light as wisely as others. The inefficiency of such fixtures wastes money and requires a higher light fixture density in order to completely light the needed surfaces. But as an alternative, an efficient light fixture, like Stonco’s classic NytePro wall pack, which has all the features you need for your commercial or industrial facility, you’ll need to use less fixtures because they work smarter. NytePro is a great outdoor lighting choice with it’s precision die formed aluminum reflector keeping the light that comes out of the bottom of the device directed exactly where it ought to be. And if you’re in a wetter climate, the fixture is rated for such conditions, and includes a tempered glass lens with a weather-proof gasket to keep that moisture out. And because you’ll need to install fewer fixtures to light your commercial space, your building will not be so cluttered with the bulk of excess fixtures.

And the fixture’s ability to keep the light directed downward would make your business would environmentally friendly. The Dark Sky rating of this product means that it keeps the light it creates out of the night sky, reducing its contribution to light pollution.

Stonco Lighting provides a great line of outdoor fixtures that will accent your business. Check out the NytePro and other sleek, functional outdoor light fixtures at StarryNightLights.com.

A security light is left on all night. If no one is around to see it, does it produce light?

Please excuse the attempted philosophy.

But really, outdoor lighting plays a number of roles relating to the beauty and function of your home, whether it is illuminating your favorite architectural feature, lighting the path to the garbage can at night, or adding security to your home. But in looking for an outdoor lighting option that really adds security to your home, there may be a few things to consider.

Some may argue that while you can see your possessions and home better under security lighting, you may not be the only one. In fact, you may even be enticing criminals, drawing attention to what you are trying to protect. But, this blog won’t argue criminal psychology, but economy instead. A lot goes into powering a light bulb all night, every night, year-round. And that’s assuming your security lighting is limited to one light bulb. A wise suggestion may include utilizing a motion sensor to control the lighting that secures your home or business. In a year, the cost of a motion sensor is recovered in the energy that would have been spent powering the light fixture or fixtures all night. And a great choice for your security lighting motion sensor would be the RAB Lighting Stealth 200.

RAB lighting has been producing high quality products for over half a century: products of such high quality that they’ve lighted NASA’s space shuttle launch tower, Michelangelo’s Pieta at the World’s Fair, and more. RAB Lighting actually invented the infra red motion sensor light control, revolutionizing lighting both in security and practicality.

The RAB Lighting Stealth 200 is a versatile sensor that can pick up motion over a 200° angle of view. And blinders make that detection range easily adjustable. The Stealth 200 also wields a 1000 W switching capacity that can power all the security and convenience lighting you’ll need. And when there’s no one around, friend or foe, your lights aren’t on either.

So whether the tree makes a sound or not, if it falls within the 200° range of the RAB Lighting Stealth 200, you can be sure that at least a light will come on.

Check out this and other energy wise lighting options at StarryNightLights.com.

Comet 17P/Holmes appeared in the night sky early this morning… as if magically. The comet has undergone an incredible brightening… from mag 17 (in the range of the Hubble Space Telescope) to mag 2 (an easy naked eye target) in less than 24 hours. That’s a 500,000x jump in brightness in case you were wondering. It appears as an extra star in the northern constellation Perseus. Visible high and towards the northeast shortly after dark, the comet has an odd appearance. Its core is oblong and though it currently has not tail, it is completely surrounded by a thick ‘fuzzy’ coma. I first got word of the comet this afternoon… and figured I’d go and see if I could see anything. At only 1 day before the biggest full moon of the year, I didn’t hold out much hope for observations. Boy, was I in for a surprise!

As soon as I got the comet in the eyepiece, it showed itself to be far nicer than I’d expected. Think about it… this is a bright, naked eye comet. You can go outside… even in a light polluted city… look up in the sky and see this comet. If you have binoculars, by all means, break them out. They’ll clearly show you the comet as a “fuzzy star”. In a telescope, especially at higher powers, it looks pretty sweet… even better than the accompanying image. My eye was able to see more detail in the core of the comet than my camera could capture Still, this was a pretty nice shot I thought… and the comet will hopefully be visible for some time.