As summer draws to a close we are reminded of the precious time spent outdoors among family and friends. Here at Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of San Antonio and the Hill Country, we strive to make the time you and your family spend outdoors in the evening just as enjoyable as those during the day. LED is our most popular type of lighting because of all the benefits that go along with installing an LED system. These include savings in energy costs, durability, and energy efficiency. However, there is an added benefit to choosing one of our LED systems that you rarely hear about.
Our location, along with many other Outdoor Lighting Perspectives locations, choose Cree LED outdoor lighting for our LED outdoor lighting installations. Researchers at Cree recently stumbled upon an added benefit of this LED product that can be added to the long list of reasons using LED in the landscape is a smart choice; they discovered insects are less likely to be attracted to LED outdoor lighting than other genres of outdoor lighting!
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In a story published on the Cree Revolution Blog, Gary Trott, a product development innovator for Cree LED Lighting speaks candidly speaks about how Cree LED’s can reduce the number
of insects getting into your lighting fixtures, and also how using LED can reduce the number of insects attracted to your illuminated outdoor living areas. When he set out to help develop this innovative LED, bug ingress prevention was NOT a design goal, but he quickly noticed a significant decrease in the number of insects present in an LR6 downlight installed above the door he walks through every day. After being in place for four years, the light had almost zero bugs in it! This sparked his curiosity which led to research and findings from Marianne Shockley Cruz Ph.D. and Rebecca Lindner at the University Of Georgia Department Of Entomology. The paper that details the results of this groundbreaking research is titled “Insect Vision: Ultraviolet, Color, and LED Light.” In essence, the research indicates that since insects are attracted to UV light, and Cree LEDs emit little or no power in the UV spectrum insects just aren’t interested and a less interested bug means fewer bugs present where Cree LED’S are used, period.
Not only is this news welcomed by homeowners as a way to decrease the amount of pests that interfere with outdoor living, such as the dinner party on your deck, or a game of corn-hole in the backyard on a late summer evening, it also decreases the risk of being bitten by a mosquito that could transmit an illness onto you! As of 8/12/2014, the Texas Department of State Health Services has already confirmed 16 cases of human West Nile illness in Texas this year. Any efforts to discourage coming into contact with mosquitoes, especially during the evening hours when most species feed, is beneficial.
To learn more about the many benefits of LED outdoor lighting, including our innovative LED conversions.
