greentechZONE Products for the week of December 15, 2003
Forever Bright Says....
I'm Dreaming Of A Green Christmas -- Forever Bright's LED-Based Christmas Lights Cut Energy Consumption by 90% Or More, Last Nearly Forever
 A patented breakthrough in light emitting diode (LED) technology has enabled the manufacture of a new type of Christmas light. Called Forever Bright, these new holiday lights use 80-90 percent less electricity than standard incandescent light strings, and are designed to last up to 200,000 hours.
Based on microchip technology, these solid-state, LED-based holiday lights use semi conductor chips as a light source, and are encased in plastic instead of glass. This means that, unlike conventional Christmas lights, there are no glass bulbs to break or filaments to burn out.
Forever Bright lights:
- Use one-tenth the amount of electricity
- Last up to 20 years
- Plug directly into standard 110/120-volt wall outlets without the use of transformers
- Are nearly indestructible because the lamp housings are solid epoxy and/or polystyrene
- Have Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and Canadian Standards Association (CSA) approval for indoor and outdoor use
- Remain cool to the touch (only 1 degree F above ambient room temperature, when lit)
The lights come in standard light strings of 35, 50, 70, 100 and 105 counts, and are available in red, green, white, blue, and multi-colored arrays. They also come in numerous designs and sizes.
Forever Bright holiday lights, available in major retail outlets nationwide, represent a leap forward in lighting technology. They provide the consumer with the same festive Christmas spirit at a fraction of the operating cost, and without the aggravation, of traditional Christmas lights.
The Forever Bright lights are designed to stay lit for up to 200,000 hours," says Dave Allen, President of FiberOptic Designs. "That means that you can run these lights 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and they will last for more than 20years. Just imagine how long they will last when they are only used for a few hours a day during holiday seasons."
Traditional holiday lights, which constantly burn out, pass electricity thorough a filament that glows due to electrical resistance. To the consternation of consumers, the already short lifespan of the thin incandescent filament is shortened even more when it is bumped or jostled or simply turned on and off.
LED lights, however, can be jostled, packed, unpacked, or turned on and off continuously without shortening the lifespan of the light. "Incandescent bulbs, by design, conduct electricity poorly. This is what makes them produce light," adds Allen, "but it also creates heat. The LEDs create much less heat. In fact, they only produce one degree Fahrenheit more heat than ambient room temperature. This makes them much safer than traditional bulbs, which can become a fire hazard."
Forever Bright lights save energy as well -- 80-90 percent less energy consumption than traditional bulbs. "If illuminated for 24 hours a day, the Forever Bright lights will save the consumer nearly 30 kilowatt hours per month. Multiply that by the lifespan of the lights, and Forever Bright lights will save the consumer tremendous amounts of money," adds Allen.
Even though the LEDs use a much lower voltage than traditional bulbs, they can be plugged into a standard outlet without the use of a transformer. The bulbs are made of a solid state epoxy that won't break like normal bulbs and are Underwriters' Laboratories (UL) approved for indoor or outdoor use.
Headquartered in Yardley, Pennsylvania, FiberOptic Designs research and development facilities are located in LaJolla, California. The company operates sales offices out of its Yardley, PA headquarters as well as the International Marketing Corps' showrooms and offices nationwide.
EN-Genius Network Says...
The release above pretty much says it all from the consumer perspective, with both significantly lower power bills and longer life. Even if you are not an environmentalist the rugged, sealed, construction of these lights means reliability. I don't know about you, but I'm thrilled about being spared the hours of jiggling, wiggling, and plugging normally required to locate the one loose or dead bulb in the string when you're trying to revive last year's lights from their long slumber in the basement.
 The instant I saw their press release, I knew I had to get my hands on a set or two for my tree. Happily, Forever Bright was kind enough to ship me one of their 35-light strings for evaluation. In short, it's everything they say it is, and a bit more. The "bulbs" are actually faceted gumdrops of lightly-tinted plastic that encapsulate the LED and diffuse its light. While slightly dimmer than mini-bulb incandescent strings, it's plenty bright enough to look great in any setting. The rugged assembly sparkles with lovely vivid colors of red, amber, green, and blue. I'm told you can order strings of a single color as well, and this year, they are also offering white LEDs.
Getting back to the environmental aspects of these little beauties, a recent government study has some sobering news about conventional light sets. The study's conservative figures for Christmas light operation in America (residential only, running 6 hrs a day, for 30 days) indicate that we consume well over 2 billion kW-h a year spreading the holiday glow. And that's not counting all the stores, hotels, and other commercial establishments that use Christmas lights in their décor on a seasonal or permanent basis. Since LEDs use around 10% of the energy used to drive a typical mini-bulb, the power savings are pretty obvious.
What's less obvious is the impact on manufacturing waste and our landfills. While the materials are relatively standard polluting styrene and PVC plastics, the amount of materials going to landfills are nearly negligible when you amortize the impact across the projected 200 k-hour life. It's especially impressive when you consider the tens of millions of conventional lights sold each year end up in landfills after only a season or two of use.
My only other question was why hadn't anybody brought something like this to market before? When I inquired with Forever Bright, they explained that they had to overcome several technical issues in order to make a product that was affordable. It seems that their patented design allows the LEDs to run on ac power, and without a costly and energy-munching transformer. Whatever they did (I have my suspicions), it's resulted in a great product that is an excellent example of a practical application of green engineering that conserves resources and improves the quality of our lives at the same time.
Between the power efficiency, long life, and hassle-free operation that these little gems offer, they're more than worth the higher price ($14.95 - $20.95) you'll pay for a lifetime worth of pennies-a-day illumination. In fact, I'm going to actually buy a few more sets of these lights and begin to phase out the finicky, power-hungry incandescents that currently adorn my family's Chanukwazamas (we celebrate Chanukah, Christmas and Kwanzaa in our home) tree. If you can't find them locally, you can buy them direct from BriteLite.com.
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