Philips has revealed that sales in its lighting business were EUR 2.072 billion for the fourth quarter of 2011, (from total company sales of EUR 6.7 billion). The company said that its LED-based sales (including all types of products, from packaged LEDs to lamps and luminaires) grew 37% compared to Q4 2010: LED products now represent 18% of total Lighting sales (or EUR 373 million for the quarter).

Philips’ overall Lighting sales for the quarter increased 7% year-on-year, driven by double-digit sales growth in the Lamps and Automotive groups, and mid-single-digit sales growth at Professional Luminaires, but this was partly offset by a sales decrease at Lumileds, the company’s LED-manufacturing subsidiary. Lumileds will be hoping that its new CEO and new product lines such as the multi-LED Luxeon K modules will reverse this trend.

Earnings before interest, taxes and amortization (EBITA) for the lighting business were EUR 41 million, compared to EUR 198 million in Q4 2010. Philips said that the year-on-year EBITA decrease was due to “continued operational issues at Consumer Luminaires and Lumileds, as well as macroeconomic factors which impacted pricing in our consumer lighting businesses.”

In 2011, Philips’ total sales for lighting were EUR 7.638 billion (see chart), of which 5%, or EUR 380 million (approx. $500 million) was from packaged LEDs (i.e. Lumileds).

In comparison, Cree’s revenue for LED products (including LED components and chips, but not lighting products) was approximately $760 million in 2011.

Elsewhere, Philips said that its sales of all LED-based products amounted to EUR 1.2 billion in 2011, up from EUR 1.0 billion in 2010. The company described itself as “the largest LED luminaires company” and said that its “LED lamps market share exceeds our share in conventional lamps.” Also mentioned was that Philips’ LED licensing program has over 140 licensees.

According to an article on the Smart Planet website, Philips CEO Frans van Houten indicated that the company could soon cut prices on LED light bulbs. A spokesperson for Philips was quoted in the article as saying: “We expect that prices of LED light bulbs will go significantly down in the next couple of years because of product/cost innovation and volume, thereby lowering the threshold for LED light-bulb adoption.”

New products join new CEO at Lumileds

Meanwhile, at Lumileds, the company started the year by announcing a new CEO, Pierre Yves Lesaicherre, and has since revealed two new families of LEDs that will be on show at next week’s Strategies in Light meeting.

The Luxeon M is designed for outdoor and industrial LED lighting applications, and is a multichip, 8-watt, 12-volt package on an aluminum nitride (AlN) substrate. A rnage of color temperatures – 3000K, 4000K, and 5700K – will be available with a minimum CRI of 70.

All the products are “hot tested” and specified at 85°C junction temperature. Luxeon M produces more than 900 lm at 700 mA, and has 120 lm/W efficacy at 350 mA.

The Luxeon K family is a range of LED arrays, with between 4 and 24 LEDs, which are designed for retrofit and downlight LED-lighting applications. The typical flux at 700 mA ranges from 620 to 4455 lm, measured at 85°C.

The CCT will be 2700K, 3000K or 4000K, with a guaranteed minimum CRI of 80 and typical CRI of 85.

Both Luxeon M and Luxeon K will be available in the second quarter of 2012, says Lumileds.

But there’s a method around this. You still wish to put up lighting but not spend too much on electrical bills after the holiday period. Why not experience using the more eco-friendly and also energy-efficient LED lighting? They need not be extravagant. Buy cheap LED light bulbs from your preferred home improvement shop and you would still be happy to join the holiday pleasure while keeping a big chunk of your financial allowance intact.

There are excellent reasons to experiment with LED lights for your holiday design. While they do cost more compared to incandescent in the beginning, the benefits override the initial cost.

First reason is LED lights are more energy-efficient. LED strip lights require as few as 98% of the electricity needed by incandescent light strands to illuminate. Thanks to their unique makeup, LEDs will not consume as much as power as incandescents do. They produce light via a semiconductor chip instead of filaments.

Buy cheap LED light bulbs and you will have assisted to save the world. LED lights are very pleasant to the earth. Their utilization of less energy can help decrease carbon pollutants, and in contrast to fluorescent-based lights, they do not include mercury and give off ultraviolet light rays. A less common but just as powerful environmental advantage is, LED bulbs aid the prevention of light pollution since they don’t distribute light out into the sky and everywhere else.

Because LED lights use power efficiently, very little heat is produced. This makes LEDs stay cool to the touch. While you’re readjusting your decorative lights, your fingers are unlikely to get burned. In addition, there’s less risk that your house will catch fire because the design of the diodes make the circuit less likely to overload.

Decorative LED lights are available for much less during the holiday season. Starting November, you can buy LED holiday lights for as low as $5. For that little a price tag, you can already snag models that carry UL certification and pass the Energy Star standard. Retailers and local governments typically launch promos for LED lights. You bring your old incandescent strands at kiosks and exchange them for new LED lights.

Even the cheap LED light bulbs you buy can last for years and are more durable. Unlike incandescents, LEDs aren’t made with a filament that break or burn out. The lenses fitted onto the bulb to protect the diodes and disperse light more effectively are made of epoxy. This renders the bulbs indestructible. You can drop them or even step on them and the diodes will continue to shine brightly. You can use your LED string lights for many, many holiday seasons.

With LED lights, you might also need more alternatives to get inventive. LED lights can be found in vibrant colors and in a richer selection of patterns and styles. They are presented in different hues without requiring very expensive filters.

As an impact, people are now wide open to the creative and pocket-friendly choices such as the LED Lighting systems. Nearly everybody today is aware of the benefits of these eco-friendly solutions that offer both proficiency and durability. Results from various researches have proved that with the use of these innovative options one can save up to 40% of the sum total spend on the electricity bills.

The most recent Energy Saving Lighting technology available in the market not only offer declining bills but they also assure consistent lighting solution both in terms of sturdiness over the time, and high performance and low energy usage. Although such an installation requires a higher initial outlay as compared to the ordinary bulbs these bulbs are free from any sensitive systems in them and therefore do not deteriorate easily in the long run. Hence, the same point of being economical is proved again as they last much longer than the traditional bulbs.

Because of these facts many businesses are switching over to Eco friendly Lighting Systems so they can utilize the monetary sources of the company for better necessities. In a way these organizations are also supporting the nation to utilize the reserved energy for other critical purposes. Following the trend even some of the museums have now fitted LED Lighting solutions in their display screen cases which illuminate the display areas with vivid and stunning light.

Another point to mention here, is the fact that these Lighting systems have some health benefits as well, because they emit far less carbon than their counterparts. They do not discharge UV rays. Also, they don’t hold any toxic substances, which is why they are preferred by the hospitals as well. They do not contain destructive elements like lead and mercury and therefore their disposal does not lead to deadly wastes. They are therefore eco-friendly. They are also used to create the green house effects for fast growing plants under non-natural circumstances. It is a very fashionable form for outside lighting like landscaping as it has helpful effect on the plants. They create much lesser heat when in use and hence they do not attract insects.

Drawing a comparison chart between the LED and other types of lighting it has been revealed that LED Lights are 1000% more energy efficient than incandescent or fluorescent lamps. On comparing them with the CFLs, they were determined to be 300% far more energy efficient. All these facts and findings bring about ones conclusion that the LED Lighting Systems are the most convenient, inexpensive, eco-friendly and healthy options for lighting, so a lot more individuals and organizations need to come forward for the installation to reap their benefits.

The light-bulb-specific activity comes just weeks before the first stage of the regulations would impact the manufacture of 100W incandescent lamps for sale in the US. The Democratic and Republican parties are using the so-called omnibus spending bill, passage of which is necessary to keep the US government funded and functioning into 2012, to advance partisan initiatives. Many Republicans, especially in the radical Tea Party faction, have previously sought and failed to overturn the light-bulb legislation despite the fact that it was enacted under Republican President George W. Bush.

The Republican-sought riders attacked a number of environmental initiatives, although President Obama and Democratic leaders have worked to limit the environmental impact. The rider eliminating lamp-efficiency regulations remains in the bill at this time. Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, said, “Unfortunately, the bill still contains some damaging riders, including one that will weaken air-pollution controls in the Arctic and another that will block funding to enforce new light-bulb-efficiency standards that were signed into law by George W. Bush.”

The Hill website on its E2 Wire energy- and environment-focused blog reported Thursday night that both the US House of Representatives and Senate tentatively agreed to a $1 trillion spending bill that blocks the Energy Department light-bulb-efficiency standards.

In actuality, according to NEMA, it is only the funding for enforcement that is impacted. “Our view is that the standards are still in effect,” said Joseph Higbee, director of marketing communications at NEMA. “The standards are the law and the manufacturers will follow the law.”

The US House will vote on the bill on Friday, December 16. The US Senate will likely vote on the bill on either Saturday or Sunday. Ironically the more controversial part of the bill is an extension of middle- and lower-class tax benefits, but partisanship politics invariably intertwines unrelated measures that should ideally be handled independently. As mentioned earlier, the Republicans failed this past summer to explicitly repeal the 2007 bill.

The legislation will initially impact lamps with 1700-lm output (typical of 100W-incandescent lamps) beginning in January, requiring 30% more efficiency. Incandescent lamps would not likely meet those guidelines, making LED-based solid-state lighting (SSL) or compact-fluorescent lamps (CFLs) the primary consumer choice on store shelves.

It remains to be seen just what type of impact the rider may have. Even if the rider truly blocked the prior legislation, lighting manufacturers and retailers have been preparing for years for the change. Presumably the supply chain is poised to predominantly sell the more efficient lamps.

Indeed the Republican-led last-grasp effort to diminish the impact of the legislation could cost companies heavily. “Manufacturers have invested millions of dollars in meeting the regulations,” said NEMA’s Higbee.

Higbee correctly points out that the manufacturers have developed hybrid incandescent/halogen lamps that meet the new standards, as well as LED and CFL lamps. That is one reason that Higbee said, “We [NEMA] were opposed to the rider.”

Higbee also believes that any delay in enforcement is bad for the lighting industry. He said, “It brings regulatory uncertainty to the industry.”

One legitimate reason to choose on LED lights is that these kinds of bulbs won’t need replacement until your baby is practically a teen. One more advantage of LED light bulbs is its resilience. LEDs do not possess filaments or sensitive elements and so last a very long time in comparison to traditional fluorescent and incandescent lamps. LED bulbs are energy saving, making use of 1/10 of the electrical power used by CFLs (compact fluorescent lights).

Even with research previous to acquiring LED kids lights, perhaps you may still face some difficulties. But don’t fret. Here are several things to be cautious about:

Durability. LED light bulbs are designed to last a long time, and they should. But, you may run into some bulbs that burn out from excess heat. Night lights are low-voltage lights, so overheating should not happen at all. A LED bulb that burns out is most likely caused by a manufacturer’s defect. It’s tempting to grab deals on LEDs popping all over the internet, but make sure to get your LED bulbs only from a reputable dealer.

Extra Features. Don’t make the mistake of buying LED party night lights instead of LED sleep lights for your children’s bedroom. LED party lights often come with additional features and garnishing like laser and sound things that will only distract your child instead of allowing them to sleep. Leaver the color changing lights and strobe features for your teenager’s bedroom. Tip: Some LED night lights double as party lights. If you want to get these, make sure you can switch easily between the regular night light function and the party light function.

Bright Lights. Nighttime lights should of course be dimmer as compared to regular or work lights, but you still run the danger of getting LED bulbs that can be too brilliant for your kid. Your child may possibly be perfectly OK with a quantity of brightness that may really hurt the visual acuity. Know that LEDs give more lighting with lower electrical power. That is, a 12.5 Watt LED bulb is equal to a 60W incandescent bulb. A LED lamp that is 4-7W has a performance much less than the 4-7W efficiency of an incandescent bulb. Take your trusty ancient night light if you buy LEDs in order to test and compare several levels of wattage.

Color. Another problem with shopping from an unreliable provider is the superior feature of phosphor used to make blue LEDs which become white-colored. A night light is sold with a white LED unit. This indicates the LED is blue but the lamp layer is white phosphor. If you recognize that your LED night light transforms into a bluish color, the outside layer used was of substandard.

Use Ancient Lamps. If you happen to be on a budget, you can find a way to turn your present light fixture directly into a night light with no need of buying new LED light bulbs. This handy unit is a night light switch or control, a detector turns the light on quickly at dusk and even off at dawn.