The go-green movement has increased awareness of depleting natural resources and encourages people to reconsider personal energy usage. Many are considering switching from gasoline-powered transportation to electric cars. This switch would not only ensure the power needed to operate a car, but would also help save the environment and money. One of the primary concerns hindering people from switching to electric cars is the presence (or lack thereof) of charging stations across the nation. Although electric cars are growing in popularity within their niche, it is difficult for owners to feel confident with the availability of energy refill stations as they leave the comfort of their own home. In 2012, the number of publicly available charging stations surpassed 7,000. This number continues to grow as the popularity of electric cars steadily increases. Mr. Electric is here to encourage you that it is possible for you to live comfortably with an electric car! Check out our infographic on the availability of charging stations and their growth across the nation. 

Places such as grocery stores, shopping centers, gas stations and many others are adding EV stations to make them more readily available for electric car drivers. There are dozens of other reasons for you to consider an electric car, some of which include:

One of the main stays in Industrial and Commercial Lighting has been the Metal Halide Bulb. It is common in Indoor Fixtures, such as High Bays, Canopy Lights, Garage Lights and Low Bays. It is

So you have a Metal Halide (or even High Pressure Sodium) light, and you want to convert to LED. You’ve done your research, you’ve been inundated with marketing materials that tell you what is the most important thing to consider (coincidentally it probably is something they think is important). And now you are left to make a decision. New or retrofit? What new versus retrofit. We sell both. Our retrofits perform as well if not better than new fixtures, but not all retrofit kits can make that claim. However, if your fixtures are old, leak, and have seen their better days, then by all means replace them. It does not make sense to buy a new fixture that includes a retrofit kit inside of it like some vendors will try and sell you. The engineering of some of the new fixtures are fantastic. However, the real reason you would want to consider retrofitting is because you have a significant investment in fixtures. Why not keep that investment? Retrofitting is extremely cost effective, especially our Look for the DLC Premium Symbol, it’s different than the DLC Standard symbol. And that gives you the quick notification that the light you are looking at is the most efficient.

And why does that matter. It’s simple. It will save you a lot more money. Let me do three comparisons for you. First a retrofit kit designed at 97 lumens per watt to replace a 400W Metal Halide bulb, a second at 102 lumens per watt and ours at 155 lumens per watt. Lets keep everything else the same. Cost of electricity, hours of use. The only thing different you will notice is the watts consumed and the lumens produced. For the record, our retrofit kit uses the least amount of energy in this test BUT also produces the most amount of light. We will use 12 hours a day operating time and .12 kw.h electricity cost

Calculation 1: 97 lumens per watt retrofit head, 135 watts, 13164 lumens

Savings per fixture per year over 400 watt Metal Halide: $170.82

Calculation 2: 102 lumens per watt retrofit head, 143 watts, 14600 lumens

Savings per fixture per year over 400 watt Metal Halide: $166.62

OK, so between the competitor options, you are neck and neck, the difference is so minimal you can make your decision based on whose website you like more

Calculation 3: 155 lumens per watt retrofit head, 100 watts, 15,776 lumens (this is our LED Retrofit Kit)

Savings per fixture per year over 400 watt Metal Halide: $189.22

So there is clearly a $18.40 savings over the first LED retrofit option and a $22.60 savings per fixture over the second LED Retrofit option. And, we produce more light!

We have 3 mini LED Retrofit Kits, 30W, 45W and 60W designed to replace up to 250W Metal Halide. We have 3 standard sized retrofit kits, 75W, 100W and 120W designed to replace from 250 Watt to 400 Watt Metal Halide. We have 2 Large Retrofit Kits, 150W and 200W, designed to provide more light than a 400W Metal Halide up to 750W Metal Halide. And we have 3 Extra Large retrofit kits, 280W, 320W and 350W, designed to replace 1000W Metal Halide.

Insect Vision: Ultraviolet, Color, and LED Light, Marianne Shockley Cruz and Rebecca Lindner from the University of Georgia’s Department of Entomology write, “Experimental work supports the idea that color perception exists in insects and that they are especially responsive to the shorter wavelengths of the visible spectrum and UV light.” Wavelengths are measured in nanometers, and shorter wavelengths of light (less than 550 nanometers) can indicate ultraviolet (UV), blue, or green colors. Cruz and Lindner also cite work that confirms the correlation between UV light from the sun and moon and how certain bugs navigate Earth. Another point to remember about bugs is that certain types, such as mosquitoes, are attracted to heat and have thermal receptors to help them find it. All of this information is helpful for determining why bugs flock to certain light sources.

The color that is emitted from a light source is important because of its ability to attract bugs. As previously stated, shorter wavelengths (UV, blue, and green light) are more visible to bugs than longer wavelengths (yellow, orange, and red light) and, therefore, will draw them closer. Incandescent, compact fluorescent (CFL), halogen, and high-intensity discharge (HID) lights emit UV radiation that is attractive to bugs, and since certain types of bugs navigate by UV light from the sun and moon, a closer, brighter source of UV light can disrupt their orientation and draw them in. LEDs produce very little to no UV light, which makes them less visible to bugs. However, it is still possible for an LED bulb to produce shorter wavelengths of light (bluish-white/cool white color), which will be more attractive to bugs. Therefore, when browsing for LED lights that will attract less bugs, it’s important to choose a fixture that emits more wavelengths that are above 550 nanometers, such as warm white, ultra warm white, or yellow lights.

CCT) instead of nanometers, it’s easy to tell if the bulb will be more or less visible to bugs. CCT is measured in Kelvin (K), and different temperatures on the Kelvin scale represent different colors. An LED bulb with a CCT below 3600K will emit warm or ultra warm white light that’s not easily seen by bugs. Bulbs with CCTs of 3600K and above will emit natural or cool white light that is more likely to attract bugs.

Incandescent, halogen, CFL, and HID bulbs waste most of the energy they consume—as much as 90 percent—in the form of heat. Bugs with thermal receptors can sense the heat released by these light sources. LED bulbs produce a minuscule amount of heat, which makes them less appealing to bugs.

Bug lights are simply light bulbs with a yellow coating that decreases the color temperature of emitted light. Because of the coating, bulbs will emit a peak wavelength of light that is around 550-600 nanometers. However, you don’t need a yellow-coated bulb to reduce the presence of bugs. LED lights that emit warm-colored illumination, such as yellow malibu light bulbs for landscape applications, or From top left to bottom right: incandescent bug light, yellow LED strip lights, yellow LED malibu light bulb installed in landscape fixture, and gold-tint LED filament bulbs

Ecologist Michael Justice performed an experiment to determine the type of residential light that attracts the least amount of bugs. He used six lighting types inside of an insect trap each night during the summer. Justice also made efforts to equalize the effects of weather and the moon’s irradiance. His LED Z-Bug Bulb™ from NEBO is a bug zapper and an LED bulb in one. The bulb emits white illumination from its top and ultraviolet (UV) light from its caged center. The UV light attracts mosquitoes and other insects toward the bulb’s high-voltage electric grid and kills them on contact.

Because different types of bugs see different wavelengths, it is never guaranteed that an LED light won’t attract them. However, most bugs are attracted to short wavelengths of light and are especially drawn to UV light; they can see it better, and some use it for navigation. Bulbs that emit more short wavelengths of light (cool white/bluish color) will attract more bugs. Lights that emit a majority of longer wavelengths (yellow/orange/red colors) are less visible. Heat can also draw bugs into an area. LED lights produce little to no UV light and a minuscule amount heat, which makes them less attractive to bugs—so long as they emit longer wavelengths of light.