GE Lighting LEDs Decorate US National Christmas Tree for the 51st year

LED-based spherical ornaments, traditional LED light strings, and commercial-grade GE Tetra Max LED products combine to efficiently light the US National Christmas tree located at President’s Park in Washington, DC.

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GE Lighting has announced that for the 51st year its products have been used to light the US National Christmas tree located at President’s Park in Washington, DC. The design this year includes a garland made with 7-in. spherical, LED-based, warm-white ornaments combined with sugar-plum-based light stings and an LED-based, star-shaped light on top of the tree.

“We are very proud to be part of this great tradition and to be able to bring new technology into the design,” said Mary Beth Gotti, manager of the GE Lighting Institute and holiday lighting designer for the National Christmas Tree. “Each strand of GE LED holiday lights consumes up to 80% less energy than incandescent holiday lights and provides similar light that consumers love from traditional incandescent holiday lighting.”

The US National Park Foundation that hosts the tree said that the lighting design consumes a total of 5700W. The foundation said the use of LEDs delivers 80% energy savings overall and equates that to avoiding burning one ton of coal and a 5700-pound reduction in carbon emissions.

The ornaments were designed to enhance the aesthetics during the day, appearing as large snowflakes while enabling dynamic presentations at night. In total there are 265 ornaments on the tree and 225 LED light strings. GE designed the star on the top of the tree using the commercial-grade Tetra Max LED system that is generally used in professional signage applications and that provides a bright and sparkling tree topper.

You can see the lighting of the tree using LEDs online at the National Park Foundation website. In addition, UL is a sponsor of the tree and is operating a raffle for a National Christmas Tree Lighting poster.

GE Lighting LEDs Decorate US National Christmas Tree for the 51st year

GE Lighting introduces LED downlight based on Zhaga modular light engine

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The Lumination DI Series of downlights relies on the Infusion family of SSL modules that are compatible with the Book 5 Zhaga specification for socketable light engines.

GE Lighting has announced the Lumination DI Series of LED-based downlights that are available in 4- and 6-in. round and square versions with a broad choice of CCT, CRI, and beam spread. The flexibility comes courtesy of the use of solid-state lighting (SSL) modules as the base of the product that is compatible with the Zhaga Consortium Book 5 specification.

The GE downlight announcement is the second instance this week of a company announcing a major recessed downlight product family based on a modular light engine. Earlier, Lutron announced the Finiré family based on Xicato LED modules. While the modular technologies GE and Lutron chose are quite different, the benefits in each case include the ability to design and build one basic fixture and offer many variations through the choice of the light engine — a topic we discussed recently in a feature article on modular SSL.

“With lumen package options from 1000 to 4000 lm, the Lumination DI Series truly is the ideal LED alternative to everything from 13W CFL to 100W metal halide downlights,” said John Koster, GE indoor LED product manager. The company also offers CCTs ranging from 2700K to 4000K, and the choice of narrow, medium, and wide beam patterns. In the case of the DI Series, GE is using modules with a CRI of 90 because the target application is lighting high-end retail, hospitality, and office spaces.

In the GE Lighting case, the products use the Infusion modules that rely on phosphor-converted white LEDs whereas the Xicato modules use remote-phosphor technology. GE developed the Infusion modules in house after having acquired the original technology from Journée Lighting back in 2009. GE has continued to evolve and expand the family having introduced new modules in the Gen3 family back in September.

The other elements that differentiate the GE design are the Zhaga compatibility and the fact that Book 5 defines a mechanical design that can be installed with a twist-and-lock motion that is akin to changing a lightbulb. “At the heart of the design is the Infusion DLM downlight module, which uses a unique color-mixing technology to deliver 90+ CRI and very high R9 at all lumen levels and color temperatures without sacrificing efficiency,” said Koster. “Better yet, the socketable module allows for easy upgrade as LED technology advances, ensuring the lowest total cost of ownership. Customers will finally be able to upgrade or service just the LEDs — tool-free — without having to change the entire downlight.”

Indeed, the Zhaga compatibility would presumably mean that you could even upgrade the feature with a module from a vendor other than GE. For now, however, neither GE nor any other competitor has had Book 5 modules formally certified for compliance by a test lab. The complexity of the mechanical design has prolonged the certification process relative to other Zhaga books that define non-socketable light engines, which require tools for installation. Still, GE expects to achieve certification for its modules.

GE Lighting introduces LED downlight based on Zhaga modular light engine

LED headlights to update older cars

General Electric, Philips, and Sylvania all showed new sealed-beam replacement LED headlights at SEMA. All are targeting owners of older models and collector cars, since sealed beams disappeared from most new-model cars years ago.

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Light emitting diode, or LED, headlights are all the rage at Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas this year, as several major manufacturers have stepped up with products to retrofit older cars with the latest headlight technology.

Increasingly common on new vehicles, headlight makers tout LEDs for their brighter light and long life, said to be as much as 10 years or more. The downside is, LEDs aren’t cheap, easily adding hundreds to the cost of a new car. (See our evaluation of headlamp restoration kits.)

General Electric, Philips, and Sylvania all showed new sealed-beam replacement LED headlights at SEMA. All are targeting owners of older models and collector cars, since sealed beams disappeared from most new-model cars years ago.

All three manufacturers offer standard 7-inch units; GE and Philips also make 5×7-inch rectangular styles. GE claims a life expectancy of 15,000 hours for their Nighthawk LED lamps, while Philips simply says to expect its LED headlights to last 50 times longer than conventional halogen lights.

Sylvania’s Zevo line includes interior and exterior LED accent lighting kits, daytime running lights, and fog lights, in addition to headlights. The Interior Base Kit starts at $35. But if you’re looking for a set of LED headlights from any of the three manufacturers, expect to pay in the neighborhood of $500 for a pair.

The new LED products are arriving in stores now, with wide availability expected in early 2014. Our tests of new models with LED lights have shown they do produce a brighter light than Halogen bulbs, but don’t necessarily help you see any further down the road.

—Jim Travers

LED headlights to update older cars