Light Up Dark Stairs with the Mr. Beams Ceiling Light

We make a great Stair Light, but sometimes people need to light an entire stairway without wires. Such was the case with Vivian who called me today.

Vivian is the funny aunt that everyone wishes they had. She can make anything sound funny, especially with her classic New York accent. She called because she has a dark staircase leading down to her cellar. She is a big fan of Costco and BJ's Warehouse Clubs, and loves to cook, so when she goes to the warehouse clubs she loads up on canned foods, spices, olive oil and other ingredients. Her husband added storage by installing shelves on the dark stairs down to the basement. But the stairs are too dark for her to see what items are on the shelves. So Vivian called us looking for a solution to light up her dark stairs.

Our solution for dark stairs is the wireless Mr. Beams Anywhere Ceiling Light. The wireless Mr Beams Anywhere Ceiling Light uses a bright LED from Nichia that provides 80 lumens of light. This is significantly brighter than the tap lights from years ago, and so much brighter than the LED puck lights that are sold in places like Bed, Bath & Beyond. Better yet, the Mr Beams Anywhere Ceiling Light has a motion detector, so whenever Vivian opens her cellar door, the bright LED goes on. It also has an auto shut off, so after Vivan closes the basement door, the Ceiling Light counts down 30 seconds and then automatically shuts off. One Mr Beams battery-powered LED Ceiling Light should last more than 3,200 activations on one set of C batteries - which is 3 years of wireless lighting on one set of batteries under normal use.

Vivian had called an electrician, who quoted her $240 to install a basic ceiling light to light her cellar steps. Then he didn't show up. So Vivian called Mr. Beams. We sent her the the wireless Mr. Beams Ceiling Light, the brightest and best wireless light for lighting up stairways, closets, pantries, basements attics and garages. Vivian will be able to install the Ceiling Light by herself in minutes, and whenever she opens her cellar door, the motion sensor LED light will light up the stairs so she can tell her tomato paste from her tomato sauce.

More ideas to light up the dark areas of your home are available at www.mrbeams.com

Southeast Winter Storms Cause Power Outages - Here is a Wireless Lighting Solution

Many people in the Southeast are experiencing power outages today due to the severe winter storm. Our thoughts are with everyone who is in the dark. If you are reading this on your laptop using battery power, we want to show you our battery powered lights. They could be keeping you house lit right now while the power is out.

At Mr. Beams, we have four different types of wireless lights that work during blackouts. Our Wireless Battery Powered Motion Sensor Ceiling Light can light up hallways, closets, porches, bathrooms and large stair cases. Our Wireless Motion Sensor Security Spotlight can light up your garage and all around your house even during power outages. Our MB530 Wireless Motion Sensor Stair Light can light the stairs before you get to them, helping to prevent falls on the stairs and steps. Our MB723 Stick Anywhere Night Lights can light an entire hallway during a power outage and prevent falls and bumps.

More information is available at www.mrbeams.com . All Mr. Beams products have the brightest available LEDs for their solutions. All Mr. Beams wireless LED lights have motion sensors and automatic shut-off. And all Mr. Beams wireless LED lights are weatherproof to light up brightly outside in all types of weather conditions.

Good luck and stay warm!

Reduce Winter Falls on Ice, Steps and Stairs with Wireless Lighting

The need for adequate lighting to prevent falls is a topic we have written about many times. This is especially true in the winter months when it gets dark earlier and there may be ice or snow on the steps outside. The statistics on falls and serious injuries due to inadequate lighting are astounding. So just a reminder, if you notice dark spots on your stairs, steps, deck stairs, stairwells that might be hiding ice, you could possibly reduce the chances of falling with a wireless motion sensor LED light that can provide extra light in those spots.

Mr. Beams offers wireless LED lighting solutions to light your steps and stairs and help show where ice might be waiting to trip someone. The battery powered MB530 Motion Sensing Stair Light is pictured above. It provides more than 20 lumens of light to light up 6 steps and is weather resistant. This wireless LED motion sensor light also has a patented glow feature that will stay lighted all night to show where the steps are, and then it lights the stairs brightly when it detects motion. The MB723 Stick Anywhere Nightlights can attach anywhere without wires. These wireless LED motion sensor lights are weatherproof and can be placed anywhere inside or outside for lighting stairs and steps. More information on the Mr. Beams wireless LED Motion Sensing Stair Light and Stick Anywhere Night Light is available at www.mrbeams.com

How Bright are LED Lights vs. Incandescent Bulbs and CFLs?

The typical incandescent light – bulb or spotlight – uses between 40W and 100W. We always are asked how our Mr. Beams Wireless LED Lights compare to these incandescent bulbs and spotlights. My first response is that the Mr. Beams Wireless LED Lights don’t use any electricity. These motion sensor LED lights are battery operated, and completely off the grid. And they should make your batteries last at least a year under typical use.

But what people are really asking is this: “How bright are your wireless LED lights?” My old wired outside lights used to have 60W and 75W incandescent bulbs. These lights put out anywhere from 800 lumens to 1100 lumens. What is a lumen? Think of a lumen as a volume of light – similar to paint. If you have 128 ounces of yellow paint, you can cover one side of your house with a light coating of color or a smaller section of the side of your house with a darker coating of color. Light is similar, and lumens is a measure of the total output of light. If that amount of light is concentrated by using a lens (known as optics) then the light will cover less area but be more intense where the light is covering and thus appear brighter. That measurement is lux. What is lux? Lux is the intensity of the light on a surface. Of course, if you start with very little light in the first place, the idea of brightness (in this case light intensity, or lux) will never be achieved, no matter what optics are used to increase brightness.

Light bulbs are high on lumens but lower on lux. The light from a light bulb is emitted in every direction, so the intensity on any one surface (the lux) is never as high as a spotlight. A spotlight takes the same number of lumens (think how much total paint in the can) and concentrates it into an areas about one-third that of a light bulb. Therefore the lux of an incandescent spotlight can be three times greater than the lux of an incandescent light bulb. So how bright does a light need to be for it to be useful to you?

We will focus this blog entry on outdoor lighting. As mentioned before, my house had all 60W and 75W incandescent bulbs and incandescent spotlights to achieve what I thought was the right amount of light. I was wrong because I did not take into account the fact that the human eye adjusts to darkness. Once the human eye is adjusted to darkness, a very low light level is adequate. I’m saying that 100 lumens is more than adequate to light up an area effectively.

In five minutes you can install a battery powered Mr. Beams Motion Sensor Security LED Spotlight and have 140 lumens of light. The photo of our battery operated LED Motion Sensor Security Spotlight shows how much light 140 lumens provides. You can read by 100 lumens if it is concentrated with optics. You can choose clothes in a closet. You can scare someone or something away with the light provided by all Mr. Beams wireless LED lights.

So if you need light right now - for a quick solution for security lighting, as a lighting solution to prevent falls, or as a solution to light a closet - the light provided by Mr. Beams wireless motion sensor LED lights will give you enough lux to provide security lighting, safety lighting and convenience lighting. Mr. Beams battery powered lights will also provide the best wireless lighting for security, safety and convenience. Wireless lighting will save you money because you can install it yourself without an electrician and move the light exactly where you need it. For the best quick, wireless security lighting, look to Mr. Beams wireless LED lights and be confident that the light is bright enough for the security, safety and convenience that you require in your lighting.

LED Lighting is a Better Choice for a Motion Sensor Light than CFL Lighting

LED lighting is a better option for a motion sensor light than a compact fluorescent because the life of a CFL light could be greatly shortened by regular turning on and off. The Mr Beams Motion Sensor LED lights will trigger when motion is detected. When motion is no longer detected, a timer is started inside the light. Depending on the product, the light will turn off automatically within a minute or so.

For example, the Mr Beams MB980 Anywhere Ceiling Light will auto shutoff in 60 seconds after motion is no longer detected. Depending on the application, the light may turn on 10 to 20 times a day if not more. The normal life of a CFL bulb may be 6,000 hours however this can be reduced by up to 85 percent when turned on and off quickly and often. To meet the 6,000 hour life span, a CFL should be on three hours or more. Also, it takes more than three minutes for a CFL to begin working efficiently.

Another application where CFLs are not effective is in a car garage. Garages experience extremes in temperature and tend to go on and off frequently. CFLs will wear out quickly in a garage due to the constant on and off and high heat and low temperatures. We recommend a Mr. Beams Motion Sensor LED Spotlight to light a garage. Mr. Beams wireless lights install in minutes. The Mr. Beams Motion Sensor LED Spotlight is designed with a motion sensor to go on and off frequently. The durable LED holds up to all temperature extremes, is vibration resistant and can go on and off up to 3,200 times on one set of batteries.

CFLs are good for certain applications but when it comes to motion sensor lights similar to Mr Beams LED lights, it is best to look for a light source that is well made for the application. LEDs do not have the same limitations as CFLs and it makes them better suited to be controlled by a motion sensor. The best solution for a motion sensor light are LED lights. The best wireless LED lights are made by Mr. Beams and are far more durable than CFLs.