Efficient Lighting Blog

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#11 Vu Thai

Efficient Lighting

Age: 27
Location: Gardena, CA
2007 Revenue: $2 million
Employees: 12
Year founded: 2007
Website: www.efficientlightingco.com

Efficient Lighting manufactures compact fluorescent lamps, as well as interior and exterior light fixtures, which use up to 75 percent less than traditional fixtures and last six to 10 times longer. Most of Thai’s business comes from companies that are making the switch thanks to rebates and incentives from California’s Public Utilities Commission. Efficient Lighting is now working with other states’ utilities commissions as well. Thai says despite all the buzz about going green these days, we’ve only seen “the tip of the market,” leaving his company poised for even further growth.

Lighting consumes 22% of the electrical power generated in the U.S. When you select energy-efficient lighting, you:• Save a lot of money;

• Reduce the need for additional power plants;

• Reduce greenhouse gases and other pollution; and,

• Are able to use lighting in ways you never thought possible.

Engineers on large remodeling projects find that energy-efficient lighting affords a higher payback than any other energy-efficient system. That includes heating, ventilation, air conditioning, appliances and computer equipment.

Sustainable resource consumption is everyone’s responsibility. Choosing energy-efficient lighting is the easiest way to save money on power. The choice is up to you. What you choose matters to you and the environment.

Fluorescent light bulbs (including compact fluorescents) are more energy-efficient than regular bulbs because of the different method they use to produce light. Regular bulbs (also known as incandescent bulbs) create light by heating a filament inside the bulb; the heat makes the filament white-hot, producing the light that you see. A lot of the energy used to create the heat that lights an incandescent bulb is wasted. A fluorescent bulb, on the other hand, contains a gas that produces invisible ultraviolet light (UV) when the gas is excited by electricity. The UV light hits the white coating inside the fluorescent bulb and the coating changes it into light you can see. Because fluorescent bulbs don’t use heat to create light, they are far more energy-efficient than regular incandescent bulbs.

Click here to see purchase Efficient Lighting CFLs

What’s the difference between a compact fluorescent light bulb and a fluorescent bulb?
The primary difference is in size; compact fluorescent bulbs are made in special shapes (which require special technologies) to fit in standard household light sockets, like table lamps and ceiling fixtures. In addition, most compact fluorescent lamps have an “integral” ballast that is built into the light bulb, whereas most fluorescent tubes require a separate ballast independent of the bulb. Both types offer energy-efficient light.

www.efficientlightingco.com

What compact fluorescent light bulb do I buy to replace a 60-, 75-, 100- or 150-watt regular bulb? How are the watts calculated?

While a regular (incandescent) light bulb uses heat to produce light, a fluorescent bulb creates light using an entirely different method that is far more energy-efficient — in fact, 4-6 times more efficient. This means that you can buy a 15-watt compact fluorescent bulb that produces the same amount of light as a 60-watt regular incandescent bulb.

Don’t worry about the math, though — we make it easy for you to figure out which compact fluorescent bulb to buy by displaying the equivalent regular watts you’re used to prominently on the package. Just look for the wattage you would normally buy in a regular bulb. In case you’re curious, here are the watts needed by regular incandescent bulbs and compact fluorescent bulbs to produce the same amount of light.

Our latest fixture just arrived today! Pls call us for orders!