Flat Lite Bulb
- Northern Colorado Business Report, Lighting Innovations gets ‘green’ light to shine
Date: November 23, 2007 - Best Western Thanks Its Contractors
Date: January 15, 2008 - TIME Magazine named CeeLite "Best Inventions of 2006"
Date: November 6, 2006
Press and News
Lighting Innovations gets ‘green’ light to shine
What would you do if you could let there be light anywhere without worrying about bulbs?
Illuminate a countertop from below? Light up the dance floor or the walls of your building? Surround your prized collection of (fill in the blank) in a soft glow? Put your company logo in eye-catching places where no light bulb has ever gone before, like on a pillar or the side of a moving bus?
Lighting Innovations, a CeeLite LEC reseller based in Loveland, can help make the impossible possible — if it has anything to do with illumination, that is.
Linda McKellar, president and CEO of the two-year-old business, has teamed up with Pennsylvania-based manufacturer CeeLite to market the revolutionary lighting source deemed one of the Best Inventions of 2006 by Time and the 2006 Product of the Year by Electronics Products magazines. And not only is CeeLite’s technology cutting edge — the name of the business’Web site, flatlitebulb.com, sums it all up — it’s energy-saving and easy on the environment.
But first, what is this new light source?
CeeLite’s shielded three-wire panels sandwich lightemitting capacitors and patented Sylvania phosphors between a series of electrodes and encase the entire LEC setup in screen-printable polymer thick-film compositions similar to shrink-wrapped laminates. Running an electrical current into the system through a flatline inverter generates a changing field within the phosphors that causes them to emit very white light.
The result: Panels that light up across their entire surface that are so thin they bend — one the size of this newspaper page weighs less than six ounces — and can be imprinted with logos or designs as easily as a T-shirt.
CeeLite’s fabrication process is proprietary, but the company claims it uses environmentally friendly and degradable chemicals, and that the LEC panels consume less energy than traditional fluorescent bulbs.
Because the panels are so thin, their uses are limited only by one’s imagination. “Pretty much if you can create it, I can light it,” said McKellar.
CooperSmith’s Pub and Brewing in Fort Collins uses CeeLite to illuminate its top-shelf liquors. Thunder Mountain Harley Davidson in Loveland uses it in signage. And a Loveland homeowner designed an elaborate sculpture/waterfall using the waterproof lights.
That project,McKellar said, is by far the most expensive one she’s helped put together. The lights cost about $114 per square foot, so that panel the size of this page would cost less than $200.
Signs of the times
Signage, however, is one of the primary uses of the panels. Best Western Hotel and Conference Center at Interstate 25 and U.S.Highway 34 tapped into the new technology when it underwent its recent renovation. General Manager Amanda West is glad she did.
West, tired of dust-collecting fluorescent signs, was attracted to the slim design of the CeeLites. She ordered three signs to promote the hotel’s Monroe’s Lounge, one exterior and two inside.
"They’re simple to take care of. There’s minimal maintenance and I don’t have to replace light bulbs," she said. How well lit they are was proven during a recent foggy morning,West said, when she could clearly see the outside Monroe’s sign from the highway.
Longevity is determined by how long the lights are lit. A CeeLite panel left on 24/7 will do its job for about four years, McKellar said, while those on a timer can last up to 15 years.
"But they last a lot longer than fluorescent light bulbs," McKellar points out, adding that hot spots common with fluorescents are a non-issue with the new panels. They’re also impact- and vibration-resistant and range in size from that of a small cell phone to a sheet of drywall. Panels can be connected to form an infinite array of sizes and configurations. They can even be cut.
"I love introducing this to new clients," said McKellar, who started Lighting Innovations after her previous position as an administrative assistant for a real estate company was eliminated when the company downsized.
"I didn’t want to work in another office setting," she said.
So she began investigating products she could sell that wouldn’t require a lot of setup and on-hand inventory. She started out selling carpet runners before she ran across CeeLite and looked into becoming a reseller.
She works with business owners, contractors and homeowners. Much of her job is to educate prospective clients about the new technology.
"Once they have hands on and actually see the light panel, then their brains take over and they start asking ‘Can we do this?’ or 'Can you help me with this?'"
The answer is "always," McKellar said.
The lights are currently manufactured in Taiwan, but a U.S.-based plant will open soon. Turnaround time is three to four weeks.
By: Luanne Kadlub
- Northern Colorado Business Report, Lighting Innovations gets ‘green’ light to shine
Date: November 23, 2007 - Best Western Thanks Its Contractors
Date: January 15, 2008 - TIME Magazine named CeeLite "Best Inventions of 2006"
Date: November 6, 2006
