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

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.

Lighting During Power Outages in the Holiday Blizzard of 2010

My brother just emailed me a photo of his car buried in snow in Maplewood, NJ. His house got about 20 inches of snow. He was dreading having to dig out his car, which would take more than an hour. But at least he did not have a power outage caused by the blizzard. More than 2 million people lost power at some point during the blizzard. What did they have prepared for the power outage? Here is our estimate of how unprepared people were for a power outage:

Candles Only – 14%
Flashlights Without Working Batteries – 17%
Flashlights / Lanterns Only – 21%
Nothing – 22%
Flashlights / Lanterns and Candles – 26%

Having flashlights without batteries is a big mistake – by our estimates around 350,000 homes found themselves without working flashlights during the blizzard. More than 450,000 people had no emergency light source ready. Remember the sinking feeling you get when the power goes out and you realize that you are not prepared with any emergency lights? The people living in these 800,000 homes all had that feeling during this recent blizzard.

The solution to lighting your home during a power outage is wireless lighting. We recommend that every home has at least one flashlight for these power outages, but an even better solution is wireless lighting like the LED lights from Mr. Beams. Wireless lighting is a category of lights that use batteries instead of direct wiring to electricity. Mr. Beams has perfected this type of lighting by using the brightest LEDs, the best motion sensors, the most efficient components to extend battery life, and simple ways to attach the wireless lights to any surface.

The leading solution to light your home during a power outage is the Mr. Beams LED Ceiling Light. The Mr. Beams LED Ceiling Light can attach to any wall, ceiling, closet or porch in minutes. This wireless light will only activate when it is dark (it has a light sensor) and only activate when it detects motion (motion sensor). It is so bright that it can light up an entire hallway, yet so efficient that it gets more than 2,400 activations on one set of batteries.

A complete line of lighting solutions for power outages and blackouts are available from Mr. Beams at www.mrbeams.com.

Light Up Your Garage with Wireless Lights from Mr. Beams

We have 6 light bulbs in our garage. 2 each on the garage door openers and two exposed bulbs in the ceiling. When these light bulbs are working we have a brightly lit garage. However, they are never working. The vibration of the garage opening combined with the cold winter in Northeast Ohio and our tendency to forget to turn the garage light off at night limits the life of these bulbs to less than 3 months. I got tired of moving the cars out, getting the ladders, cleaning off the dead bugs and stretching to reach the bulbs.

My solution to lighting up my garage is wireless LED lighting. Specifically the battery powered lights from Mr. Beams. In less time than it takes to change a light bulb, I easily installed the MB360 LED Security Spotlight on the wall. Once the large garage door opens, this battery operated LED motion sensor Spotlight turns on and lights up the entire garage. Even better, this wireless LED light also lights up when I open the garage door to take out the trash. And because it has auto shut-off, I never have to open the door to check if I left the light on.

My second solution to lighting up my garage is to install the MB980 Battery Operated Anywhere LED Ceiling Light from Mr. Beams. Again, this wireless LED light installs in minutes. The Mr. Beams Wireless LED Ceiling Light gives off bright LED light as soon as it detects motion. So when I open the door to go into my dark garage, the Wireless LED Ceiling Light detects my motion and turns on. The bright light is as useful as light from light bulbs. But it is more efficient, does not use energy (off the grid), and can last more than 2 years on one set of batteries. Once I leave the garage, this wireless auto shut-off LED light turns off and stays off.

More wireless LED lighting solutions are available at www.mrbeams.com

Cold Weather Operation of Mr Beams Wireless LED Lights

Every winter, we get a few questions about how well Mr Beams Wireless LED Lights will work in very cold environments. One attribute of LEDs that makes them ideal for outdoor applications is their extended temperature range. LED lights can be very durable in cold environments however every component that makes up the LED battery powered light needs to have an extended temperature range.

Taking this into consideration, Mr Beams Wireless LED lights have an operating temperature range of -4 degrees F to 140 degrees F at a relative humidity of 90% (-20 degrees C to 60 degrees C at a relative humidity of 90%). We do this by selecting every component in our products to meet or exceed this temperature range.

To make sure a product can operate over the extreme temperature range, only batteries with an extended temperature range can be used. Energizer, Duracell, Panasonic and other battery manufacturers offer an industrial temperature range battery. Let's take the example of an Energizer Industrial D Size Alkaline battery. The datasheet for this battery on the Energizer website is http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/EN95.pdf. It has a temperature range of 0 degrees F to 130 degrees F (-18 degrees C to 55 degrees C). The specification for the battery sets the operating temperature of the Mr Beams MB360 Battery Powered LED Security Spotlight with this battery installed. That is still a pretty good operating temperature.

One important point though is that light output will decrease at the very low temperatures. Why? The efficiency of the LED actually improves at colder temperatures (ie more light is generated for the amount of power consumed from the battery) so that cannot be the reason. It turns out that the battery performance is considerably reduced at the lower temperatures. Looking at this technical bulletin on the Energizer website at http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/BatteryIR.pdf, you can see in Figure 2 that the internal resistance of the battery increases at the lower temperature. The higher internal resistance of the battery hurts the battery performance. It impacts the performance of the light to more than offset the increase in LED performance therefore overall the light output is decreased. We estimate that the lumen output of any wireless LED light at lower temperatures may drop as much as 20% based on the degradation in performance of the battery in cold weather.

The bottom line is that Mr Beams Wireless LED lights have been installed and working at low temperatures for years. They are a great solution for outdoor lighting in cold weather environments. If you have a cold weather lighting application, we hope you will consider the Mr Beams LED lights. For more information on why Mr Beams Wireless LED lights are well designed for outdoor lighting applications, please visit our blog entry "How to Choose the Best Outdoor Lighting" or visit our website at www.mrbeams.com.

Mr. Beams Wireless Battery LED Lights for Porch Light

Mr Beams has taken a lot of pictures of our wireless LED lighting products as they provide important lighting solutions. We have found that pictures of the lighting applications that show the best solutions solved by our wireless lights is very helpful when looking to light different spots: Garages; Sheds; Doorways; Bathrooms; Showers; and many others. How better to show the best uses of our wireless battery powered lights than to take a lot of pictures? We have hired a photographer or two but have taken a lot of amateur photographs too (really amateur in my case).

One of my favorite pictures is of our MB980 Anywhere Ceiling Light used as a porch light. An LED porch light with motion sensor is a great application for the MB980. You can use it to add light to a dim porch or garage and the fact that it is battery powered and has a motion sensor eliminates the need for a light switch. When motion is detected, the battery powered light turns on and stays illuminated until no motion is detected for 30 seconds. During daytime, a photo cell detects that it is light out and prevents the light from activating. The MB980 is weatherproof and wireless - all the mounting hardware needed for easy installation comes with the unit.

We have also seen people use the MB360 Security Light as a porch light. This is a great LED porch light for larger porches because you can mount it at one end of the porch pointed towards the entry way, stairs and door. It operates exactly like the MB980 but is designed to be more of a flood light or spotlight. It is small enough to be unobtrusive in the corner of a porch. The other thing we have seen people do is to use the MB371 Remote Control Spotlight as a porch light. This is a unique product because it operates exactly as the MB360 in that it has a motion sensor and turns on when it detects motion however it also comes with a remote control such that if you are inside your house and you want to turn the light on for someone coming home or coming to visit, you can turn the light on with a remote. This is the only bright porch light available with a remote control for turning the light on and off.

So maybe our photography isn't always the best but in the case of a battery powered LED porch light like the one shown in this picture, I think we got it right. The Mr Beams LED lighting products are great as a porch light, garage light or for a number of other outdoor lighting applications where a completely wireless light is the best light to solve the problem.

Light Up Your Basketball Court with Mr. Beams Wireless Spotlights

December is basketball season. I am reminded of shoveling the snow and chipping the ice off my driveway in Longmeadow, Massachusetts so we could play 2-on-2 in the winter. Unfortunately, the games were always cut short by 4:30 pm darkness. That is if they were not already cut short by a fight after Sam Radner called a foul after barely being touched.

At Mr. Beams, we have a product that is the perfect solution to light up outdoor basketball courts. The Mr. Beams Wireless LED Spotlight should be renamed the “wireless outdoor basketball court light.” The Mr. Beams Wireless LED Spotlight can attach to any backboard, tree, pole or anywhere on your house in minute. A wireless light means no electrician, no wires and do-it-yourself installation. You can also move the Wireless Spotlight whenever you need to. At $40 it is a much cheaper light that installing a wired light to light your outdoor basketball court. This is why we claim to have the best light for an outdoor basketball court. Simply install batteries to power this light, drive one screw to attach the base and you can play basketball well into the night. This LED Spotlight is also available with a remote control to turn the wireless lights on and off from inside your house.

I think that our next Mr. Beams battery powered wireless LED light will have a camera in it so you can replay that weak foul call made by your friend.

Battery Powered Lighting Improvements from Advances in Battery Technology

More wireless lighting solutions are now available - made possible by advances in LED technology and advances in battery technology. The two areas are converging to allow battery powered LED lights to find their way into applications where they have previously not been able to provide enough light or provide enough lighting solutions.

LEDs are inherently DC powered devices. Batteries for wireless lights provide DC power. As of just a three years ago, white LEDs were not efficient enough to provide enough light to be considered good off-grid lighting. By efficiency, I mean the lumens of light generated per watt of power consumed was not good enough to build a quality battery light. Over the last few years, advances in LED technology have found their way onto the market. These are not gimmicks - the light output, light color and usefulness of LED products meets or exceeds what incandescent or fluorescent / cfl lights can achieve. LEDs that can exceed 200 lumens per watt are finding their way into the R&D laboratories of the better LED component manufacturers. By comparison, incandescent lights provide just 10 lumens per watt and fluorescent bulbs provide just 45 lumens per watt.

Battery technology is advancing rapidly also. Electric cars, cell phones, smart phones, laptops, portable electronics and other battery powered devices are forcing battery companies to produce higher capacity, better performing batteries. Whether they are non-rechargeable alkaline batteries, rechargeable Li-Ion, NiMH or even more advanced battery chemistries that are finding their way into products and into the R&D laboratories of the better battery manufacturers, you can be pretty sure that the impact will be seen over the coming years.

So combine LED lighting and batteries two years from now with the type of intelligent functions that Mr Beams is integrating into its products. What kinds of products do you think will result from these two rapidly progressing technologies? We think there will be some amazing off grid lighting products, LED lighting products, intelligent LED lights, wireless lights and solar powered LED lights (yes, solar powered lights with rechargeable batteries will only get better as solar cell technology is also advancing rapidly) that are coming. We want to be the company providing the best battery LED lights on the market. Stay tuned.

The Best Wireless Lighting Solutions

Wireless Lighting. Sounds like a dream. The idea of sticking a light wherever you need it and having light for closets, showers, driveways, hallways, bathrooms, sheds and garages is a fantasy. No more electricians. Because they are wireless, you take them with you when you move and can move them anywhere you need.

Now Wireless Lighting is available from Mr. Beams. We had the dream of lights that can be attached anywhere without electricians back in 2003. Not junky tap lights, that give off a light glow and burn out in a few hours. That's not the wireless lighting solution that we wanted. We wanted wireless lighting solutions that gave bright light, turned on and off automatically, was hands-free, and provided this wireless light for more than one year on a set of batteries.

The solution required a combination of many technologies to create the best wireless lighting solutions. LEDs are used to maximize the battery power. Motion Sensors are used for hands-free automatic lighting. Auto shut-off is programmed to conserve the battery life. And battery power is used to make the Mr. Beams lights wireless.

The Mr. Beams products provide the best Wireless Lighting solutions in four different shapes and brightnesses. The Stick Anywhere Night Light is the wireless LED light that attaches to a wall or stands up on its own. It is a great wireless solution to light a path to your bathroom and prevent falls. The Stair Light is an indoor / outdoor light that mounts to a deck post or stairway wall. It lights up stairs without wires, using a motion sensor to activate. It has a glow feature so you always know where the light is. This battery-operated wireless light will last at least one year on one set of batteries. The Mr. Beams Ceiling Light is the best solution for a closet light anywhere. Because it is wireless It mounts in minutes in your closet, attic or shed. Because the Mr. Beams Ceiling Light is weatherproof, it is the best wireless lighting solution for a shower, porch or gazebo. The Mr. Beams Spotlight is the best wireless light solution for all of your outdoor areas. Stick it to a tree for lighting up a backyard, driveway or basketball court. Light up doorways, garages and barns. Because it is wireless you can install it yourself in minutes and move it whenever you need to.

So wireless lights are now a reality at Mr. Beams. We exist to create the best wireless lighting solutions to eliminate darkness. We welcome your ideas for battery-powered light designs. Please let us know how we can help you create better wireless lights by writing us at info@mrbeams.com.

Proof We Make the Best Closet Light

In September I wrote about why our Mr. Beams Battery-Powered LED Ceiling Light is the best wireless closet light available. I pointed out that it provides more than 80 lumens of light on battery power. It can be installed anywhere in minutes. It is motion sensor activated and turns off automatically when you shut the closet door. The Mr. Beams Closet Light is weatherproof and can light up showers, gazebos, porches and sheds.

Since September we have received some great reviews from hundreds of people who have installed the Mr. Beams Ceiling Light. The Handyman Club of America had its members test our wireless LED Ceiling Light and loved it. 26 out of 27 hardcore handy men and women would recommend this product, and they graded it 8.6 points out of 10. Their comments were so positive that is reinforced our belief that the Mr. Beams Ceiling Light is the very best closet light available, and the best utility light to light up attics, sheds, hallways, porches and storage areas. Here are some of the comments from serious handymen and women:

"As a firefighter, I often have to quickly get dressed for emergencies while in a dark dorm. I realized that I can place this light under my bed and as soon as my feet hit the floor, my entire area lights up. I've never been able to find my black socks so quickly."

"A much brighter light than I thought. It easily lights a fair sized closet."

"I would recommend the Anywhere Ceiling Light due to the simple fact that it can be moved all over.I put it our downstairs hall so when our youngest son woke at night to use the bathroom he had plenty of light. Thus eliminating the need to wake my wife or me."

"i would greatly recommend this for closets and other small storage areas where it is not feasible to do a lot of wiring."

"This product is perfect for that one spot that you really need a light,but don't want the hassle of hard wiring."

"It provides a nice handy light for dark places. This is very usefull when your hands are full and you can't carry a flashlight. It's also just nice to have a light come on automatically when it senses movement."

The entire line of wireless battery-powered LED lights from Mr. Beams provide the brightest light available without wires. Our LED lights are all indoor / outdoor lights, motion sensor with auto shut-off, wireless and come with a 1-year warranty. They come in different form factors based on your lighting need: Spotlights; Path Lights' and Wall Lights. Users provide rave reviews about all of our LED battery-operated lights, and we will post more of them in future entries.

How to Choose the Best Outdoor Lighting

What kinds of things are important to consider when you are thinking about adding outdoor lighting at your house? Here is a list of things we think are important:

1. Weatherproofing - Wherever you live, a good outdoor light has to withstand the rain, snow, temperature, humidity etc. You want to put the light up and not worry that rain will leak in or that it will stop working when it gets really hot or cold outside.

2. Ease of Installation - Most of the places you need more outdoor lighting are not easy to wire AC power to. A completely wireless light would allow the light to be installed anywhere. This flexibility gives you some options on adding light to the places you really need it.

3. Controls - How do you turn the light on and off? This is a very important consideration because a wall switch in a convenient place might not be an option.

4. Application - Do you need a spotlight or flood light focused on a particular spot? Do you need a patio light or porch light that provides lighting for steps or near a door way? A lot of times, people notice a place where they just don't have enough light before they think about the first 3 items on this list.

5. Budget - Many people over-pay for their outdoor lighting by installing more light than they need and by not installing controls to prevent the lights from being on all day. Determine how much light you need in lumens (total light output) and lux (how illuminated an object is). Also determine when you want you lights to be off. If you want to save on an electrician then look at battery-powered LED lights.

Mr Beams put a lot of thought into the design of its lights for outdoor lighting. We are making the best battery powered LED lighting solutions by making LEd lights that solve each of issue on the list that are most important when choosing outdoor lighting. So here is how we have addressed these important outdoor lighting issues:

1. IP44 rating - This addresses the weatherproofing issue. You cannot get a solid IP rating without building a robust, sealed housing for the outdoor light and we feel that an IP44 rating is a solid rating for our lighting applications.

2. Battery Powered Lights - Our lights are powered off of batteries. This allows lights to be wireless: installed anywhere without needing wires to AC power. The light output and wireless controls allow the batteries in our products to last more than a year and in some applications several years.

3. Motion detector outdoor lights, outdoor lights sensors, outdoor light remote control - This gives you a convenient way to turn on and off the your outdoor lighting. Intelligence built into our battery powered lights will automatically shut the lights off after some time of no use. .

4. Spotlights, stair lights, ceiling lights - We created different types of bright LED lights to solve the outdoor lighting problems people are telling us about. We have designed our outdoor light fixtures to be outdoor wall lights, outdoor spotlights, outdoor path lights, outdoor stair lights, for landscape lighting etc. Many times we hear from customers about ways they have used our lights that we had not even thought about.

Hopefully Mr Beams LED lighting solutions can provide you with the outdoor lighting options to add outside lights where you need them.

Great Holiday Gifts for your Clients and Customers

Holiday Gift Guide for Your Clients and Customers

If you have clients and customers that you want to give them a holiday thank you gift for their support over the past year, there are many options. I know this because my wife always gets anxious about what she will give her clients and I can either help her or live with her stress. So here is my 2010 Gift Guide for your clients and customers. All gifts are unique and thoughtful - mostly new electronic gadgets that use advanced technology and will have your client or customer thinking about you all year.

Really Big Thank You Gift:
I consider a really big thank you to be in the range of $150-$300. (Any higher starts to look like bribery). There are a few cool electronic gifts that I recommend in the gadget and fun living categories:
Flip Camera – Everyone can use a convenient, small video camera. Even better, the Flip connects to your computer by a built-in USB adaptor so you can upload instantly. In 2 hours you can learn any video editing program and create fun and memorable movies. The Flip is a great electronic gift for the geek and novice. http://www.theflip.com/en-us/

Wine of the Month / Beer of the Month – I like a gift that repeats itself throughout the year. When people have sent me the Wine of the Month and Beer of the Month, I found myself looking forward to the delivery. Thoughtful gift that seems bigger than it costs. http://www.goldmedalwineclub.com/

Sansa Clip with a 1 Year Subscription to Rhapsody – It was hard for me to give up my iPod, but the Sansa Clip combined with Rhapsody is the greatest music gift around. The Sansa Clip is a small, unpretentious MP3 player. Instead of it relying on purchased music, it synchs with your Rhapsody account. Rhapsody gives you access to millions of songs – the difference is that you rent instead of buy. For $10.99 per month, you are giving people the ability to listen to any song out there (with some exceptions) and then to fill up their MP3 player with any song or playlist imaginable. Never get tired of your music – change out regularly at no cost. Fantastic gadget. http://www.sandisk.com/products/sansa-music-and-video-players/sandisk-sansa-clipplus-mp3-player


Super Nice Thank You Gift:
The very nice thank you is in the range of $100-$150. Still much bigger than your clients and customers are used to receiving as gifts. Here are some ideas:
Spa Package – Buy a treatment at a local spa. Get your client or customer a holiday thank you gift in the form of a massage or facial.

Apple TV - Apple TV has been redesigned to be small yet big on entertainment. Apple TV allows you to rent from a large selection of HD movies — many available the same day they come out on DVD. Buy Apple TV for your client or customer as a holiday gift and they can watch Netflix titles instantly. Apple TV also allows your holiday gift receiver to rent TV shows, commercial free in HD. Apple TV also lets you stream photos and music from your computer to your widescreen TV. http://www.apple.com/appletv/

Very Thoughtful Thank You Gifts:
These gifts are under $100. Very thoughtful and useful holiday gifts that seem much more expensive than they are and provide great convenience.
Mr. Beams LED Lights – We give these battery-powered LED lights to people as gifts all the time and they love them. Every one of your clients and customers has dark spaces in their home that need lighting. The Mr. Beams LED motion sensor lights can attach anywhere in minutes because they are battery operated. They will go on whenever they detect motion and your client or customer will thank you every time the Mr. Beams light turns on. These lights come in many different forms and are weatherproof for wireless outdoor lighting. Available in Spotlight; Ceiling Light; Wall Light. www.mrbeams.com

Duracell myGrid – Clever product that allows you to charge many electronic devices simply by laying the device on the myGrid pad. Duracell has been launching a number of products that provide a charge to a variety of electronic devices. The myGrid is a great holiday gift because it will allow your clients and customers to charge electronic devices without directly plugging in. http://www.duracell.com/en-US/category/mygrid.jspx

What is Your Home Security Worth?

What is your home security worth? Most of us have made that decision by how much we invested in alarm systems and lighting around our house. I have the conversation with customers every day. They want lighting around their home – maybe it’s an under-lit back door or a dark corner of the house or a backyard where the dog disappears into the night. I ask them if the problem is worth $300 to solve – the cost of getting an electrician to install a new light fixture on their house. Often times the answer is no - $300 is too much to pay to add a light.

At Mr. Beams we also believe that $300 is too much to solve this problem. So we designed our Mr. Beams battery powered lights to solve this problem for under $40. In fact, for $300 we can brightly light up 2 doorways, 2 corners on your house, your shed, your walkway and the edge of your backyard! And we can do it without using any electricity, with motion sensors to turn the lights on when needed and off when not needed, and with the flexibility so you can move the lights whenever you need to.

So here is our list for brightly lighting up the outside of your house for less than the cost of installing one light with an electrician:
1. Mr. Beams Ceiling Light to light up your front porch and your back door. You stopped lighting up your porch and doorway because of the cost of electricity. In fact, leaving a 75W bulb on all night will cost you $35.50 each year at $0.13 per kWh! In addition, your bulbs burn out every 3 months (another $24 for a total of $59.50 a year per door - $119.00 total for two doorways). The battery powered Mr. Beams Ceiling Light will use less than $1 per year to operate. It will turn on whenever someone approaches because it has a motion sensor. It is a bright LED light that will light up your porch and front entrance. Total cost: $79.98 for 2 Mr. Beams lights.
2. Mr. Beams battery-operated LED Motion Sensor Security Spotlights on the corners of your house. We all have dark corners on the lesser-used sides of our house. The Mr. Beams LED Motion Sensor Security Spotlights will detect for motion all night. When an animal or a person is detected, the bright LED will turn on until the motion goes away. Because they are battery powered, they need no wires and you can install them anywhere in 5 minutes or less. 2 Mr. Beams lights for $79.98.
3. Your shed is dark. It creates a big hazard for you when you run in to grab a tool. Put a Mr. Beams battery powered LED Ceiling Light in the shed and never have to worry about darkness, spiders, sharp objects or rakes on the ground. The Mr. Beams Motion Sensor LED Ceiling Light installs in minutes. It will stay off until it detects the door opening. Then it will shine its bright LED to light up your shed. Once you leave, the Mr. Beams LED Ceiling Light’s motion sensor will tell the battery-powered light to shut off. $39.99.
4. Walkways are tripping hazards – especially in the winter. The Mr. Beams Path Lights are bright LED lights on stakes. They have motion sensors to light up brightly when they detect motion, then auto shut-off after 60 seconds. They are much brighter than solar path lights. And because they are battery powered, they don’t need access to the sun to work. They also have a unique remote control to turn them on and off. 2 for $59.99.
5. Light up the back of your backyard with the Mr. Beams LED Motion Sensor Security Spotlight. We attached a Mr. Beams battery powered LED Spotlight to a tree out back in one minute using one screw. When our dog goes out at night we worry about coyotes and skunks. Once she got skunked and it was a 3-day nightmare. The Mr. Beams Spotlight detects motion and shines a bright LED light to show us if any animals are around. It also lights up when our dog passes it and we can see where she is. The batteries power the LED motion sensor security Spotlight for more than 18 months and survive the northern winters. $39.99.

So I just showed you how to add security and safety to your home by lighting up all of the dark spaces with the Mr. Beams battery powered LED lights with motion sensors. If you do the math, this entire package of lights will cost $299.93 – the same as hiring an electrician to install just one light. In addition, you can save more than $200 per year in electricity by using battery operated lights that are off the grid. For reading this blog I will offer another 20% off so this entire package of lights will cost just $239.94. Please enter the coupon code “20percent” at check-out to get 20% off any Mr. Beams battery operated LED lights at www.mrbeams.com.

Reclaim Your Upstairs: How To Fix Dark Attics

I tell my wife Lisa that she was never properly initiated into our family because she never had to spend a night at Grandma Isabel’s house. My Grandma Isabel lived in a post-WWII bungalow-style house on Long Island. Upstairs were two of the smallest bedrooms you ever saw. Each had cots on metal frames build into an alcove in the wall.

The most memorable part of the upstairs was the closets. I call them closets but they were actually full-sized doors leading into dark attic space. They were dim and smelly as only a grandmother’s attic can smell and took up most of the upstairs. One time when my brother and I were fighting I chased him into the dark attic and his leg fell through the floor and he was stuck. After I hit him with a few cheap shots I ran to get an adult to pull him out. We respected that dark attic from then on and mostly stayed out of it.

Many people have a lot of attic space. Most of the space is not easy to use due to poor lighting. The Mr. Beams battery operated LED motion sensor lights are perfect for attic spaces and can turn uncomfortable spaces into good storage spots. Start with the MB980 Ceiling Light. This bright battery-powered LED light goes on once motion is detected so there is no fumbling for the pull cord. It is bright and will light up about 15 square feet of attic space. It will stay on as long as it detects motion, and then automatically shut off 30 seconds after you leave. I have left our attic light on so many times – the cost of electricity wasted and the hassle of replacing bulbs is eliminated with the Mr. Beams lights because they have auto shut-off.

For larger attic spaces we make the MB360 Motion Sensor LED Spotlight. This bright battery operated LED spotlight floods light for a distance of 30 feet and can light up 400 square feet. It will illuminate all corners of an attic with bright white light that turns on when it detects motion and turns off automatically when you leave. These batteries will last five years under typical attic usage, and avoids burning through bulbs by leaving them on for weeks. Your typical operating cost is less than $1 per year!

A remote controlled version of the LED Motion Sensor Spotlight is also available. The MB371 Remote Controlled Security Spotlight has a remote control that can be mounted near the entrance to your attic. Before entering the attic press the On button and the Remote Controlled Spotlight will turn on and stay on until you leave. It will light up your attic with bright white light. It is also battery powered so no electrician is needed, no wires needed and no code issues. When you leave your attic just press Off on the remote, or let the LED Security Spotlight shut off automatically.

By installing Mr. Beams LED battery operated lights you save the $200 or more of hiring an electrician and never have to worry about building codes. The LED lights are bright and turn on when they detect your motion. They turn off automatically once you leave. No more burning out of light bulbs. Reclaim your upstairs space and install Mr. Beams lights yourself for a bright attic and prevent kids from falling through the floor.

Mr. Beams Lights Up During Power Outages

In July 2010, there was a power outage in the Washington DC area that left 280,000 customers in the dark. The electric company was able to restore power to some quickly but it took days to get everyone back on line.

Several years ago just before we first launched the Mr Beams products onto the market, we created a test program with more than 50 friends, family, people we worked with, potential customers etc to make sure that people we trusted to give us an honest review of our products were happy with our battery powered LED lights. They tested the MB360 spotlight and MB530 step light both battery power LED lights with motion sensors. We got very good reviews, fixed a few problems that had been caught and then launched the products as quickly after the test run as we could.

It just so happens that a few of our test group lives in the Washington DC area and were hit by the power outage. One was hit for several days. It was nice to get calls from people using the lights for over 3 years that called to say how happy they were that they had battery powered lights installed on their stairs, in their hallways, outside of their houses and did not have to carry a flashlight around for the whole power outage.

We feel strongly that a small number of battery powered LED lights permanently installed will be there where you need them when that power outage inevitably rolls around.

Battery Powered Lights and the Chilean Miners

I was watching Anderson Cooper on CNN talk about the rescue of the Chilean miners and he mentioned several times that they were using battery powered LED lights as their source of light. They had a dark area for sleeping and an area that was illuminated by battery powered lights where they spent their time while awake. Someone was very smart in selecting LED lights because for battery operated lights, LEDs put out more light and last much, much longer on a set of batteries than flashlights, those old tap lights (that no one ever seemed happy with) and other types of battery powered lights.

Mr Beams LED lights are battery operated, wireless lights. Typically, we have a motion sensor or RF control. For example, I would have recommended our MB980 battery-powered motion sensor ceiling light or MB530 battery-powered motion sensor step light for the mine. They are bright LED lights that are motion sensor activated. Perhaps if they wanted a remote controlled product, I may have recommended the MB371 remote controlled spotlight that uses an RF remote control to operate the LED spotlight. On a set of batteries they would have lasted for more than 40 hours. I am sure that the last thing the rescuers wanted to do was lower batteries down to the miners. We feel the same about our customers - we do not want them buying and changing batteries more than they have to. That is why we use the more efficient LEDs and quality components that extend the life of the batteries.

Congratulations to everyone involved with the rescue. They truly are heroes. And thanks to Anderson Cooper for highlighting the role of battery powered LED lights in the mine.

What Is Off-Grid Lighting?

What Does Off-Grid Lighting Mean?

Wireless Environment has observed and classified three major reasons for taking lighting off-grid. Our vision is to become the leader in shifting lighting off-grid for maximum efficiency, utility and value.

The three reasons to go off the grid with you lighting are:
1. No Access to Electricity
2. Power Outage / Rolling Blackout
3. Economic Gain

Here is how we define the three categories of off-grid lighting:

1. No Access to Electricity
The majority of locations in the world are off-grid. In remote locations there are often no electrical wires. But even in your own home, there is are many areas where you want light and have no wires. Think about your driveway, your backyard, the corner of your house and many of your closets. For all of these areas that need light, battery-powered or solar-powered lighting is the best option. Battery-powered lights can provide brighter light without wires.

Products like the Mr. Beams Spotlight can attach to a tree anywhere. When it detects movement through its motion sensor, a powerful LED lights up a driveway, walkway, backyard, porch. There is also a remote control Spotlight that can be activated by the remote control or turn on with its motion sensor. For detached sheds and detached garages, the Mr. Beams Ceiling Light can provide bright light. It is weatherproof, like all Mr. Beams wireless lights, and has a sensitive motion detector. Once someone enters the garage, shed, gazebo or closet, the Mr. Beams Ceiling Light emits a bright white light until the auto shut-off turns it off. Other Mr. Beams lights include the Stick Anywhere Night Light and the Stair Light. Both lights have daylight sensors to keep the lights off during the day and conserve battery life. They also are weatherproof and have motion sensors. They provide lighting where there is no electricity, and can significantly help reduce the number of falls.

2. Power Outage / Rolling Blackout
I recently blogged about the increase in the number of blackouts in the U.S. As the grid becomes more strained, we will experience more power outages. For this reason Mr. Beams is developing a line of batteries that can be installed inside light fixtures. These batteries will detect a power outage and then provide enough back-up power to allow for safe exit. Technology will also help extend the battery life and thus the useful light for exit or other operation.

3. Economic Gain
In the future world of increased demand on the electrical grid, there will be a strong incentive to reduce electricity use during certain times. Currently the peak demand times are between 2pm and 5pm during the business week – especially during hot days. Electric companies are paying facilities to go off the grid at these times. With the Wireless Environment battery technology, a facility can transfer its lighting to battery power during these peak times. The facility can collect a fee for going off the electrical grid, and take advantage of lower electricity costs by re-charging the back-up batteries for the lighting during an off-peak time. In some areas of the country, the spread in the cost between peak-demand electricity and off-peak electricity can be significant. With LED light fixtures and the Wireless Environment battery technology, lights can shift off-grid and still operate at the same lumen level.

In our future, we will all face the need to go off-grid more often. Products are being developed to help manage lighting off of the grid. We will continue to update the progress of developing off-grid lighting products and components.

Mr. Beams: Your Defense Against Blackouts and Power Outages

A recent CNN story announced the startling fact on power outages: "U.S. Electricity Blackouts Skyrocketing". Those of us caught in the blackouts have known this for a long time - the electrical grid is strained more and more every year. Utilities can not keep up with demand. This strain leads to more and longer power outages. The reason they are also called "blackouts" is because the loss of lighting is the major inconvenience.

Mr. Beams lights are your best defense against blackouts. They are indoor / outdoor LED lights that are powered by batteries. You mount them anywhere in just a few minutes - no electrician, no wires. As soon as the space is dark and the light detects motion, it shines brightly, illuminating large areas with bright LED light.

Here is the installation locations we recommend for your home to provide safety and security lighting during a power outage:
1. Stairways - Most important lighting is on the stairways. Good stair lighting during a blackout will help prevent the most dangerous falls. Mount the MB980 Ceiling Light on the ceiling of the stairway. As soon as there is darkness, the Mr. Beams Ceiling Light detects for motion. If you are upstairs during the power outage and need to go downstairs, you will have a lighted path to safely guide you. We also recommend installing two Stair Lights, which will glow lightly as soon as it is dark to show you where the stairs are. Once they detect motion, they light up brightly.

2. Entrances - On your inside entrance we recommend the Mr. Beams Ceiling Light mounted near the entrance. As soon as the light go off, the Ceiling Light turns on its motion detector. If you need to exit your home, the Ceiling Light will detect you and light up the entire entrance way with a bright Nichia LED. Once there is no motion, the Ceiling Light will turn off to conserve its batteries for when it is needed. For outside entrances, we recommend the weatherproof MB360 Spotlight. This is our brightest light with the largest motion sensor diameter. If anyone approaches your home during the blackout - be they wanted or unwanted - the Motion Sensor Spotlight will turn on a bright light to scare them away or let them approach safely. You will be the only home in the neighborhood with lighting during a blackout. this will deter intruders from approaching your home.

3. Basements - If you have ever had a blackout when you are in your basement you know how difficult it can be to exit. Some basements are in total darkness, and there are many obstacles in your way. Imagine your kids yelling for you from upstairs during a power outage and you need to get out of your basement quickly. For the basement ceiling we recommend the Mr. Beams Ceiling Light mounted near the stairs and in the back area. As soon as the light go off and you move ever so slightly, the Ceiling Light turns on its bright light to light up enough of the basement with a bright Nichia LED. Once there is no motion, the Ceiling Light will turn off to conserve its batteries for when it is needed.

4. Hallways - Since many power outages occur at night, it is important to be able to exit your bedroom in safety. We recommend the MB723 Stick Anywhere Night Lights for this reason. The Stick Anywhere Night Lights mount anywhere with the adhesive tape provided. They are perfect to light the path between you and the bathroom, you and the kids room, or you and the exit. They are battery powered so no electrician is required. As soon as you approach these motion sensor lights, a bright LED will go on to light your way and help prevent falls. As soon as you pass, the lights have auto shut-off to conserve battery life.

So be prepared for the next blackout. Install Mr Beams wireless LED lights with motion sensors. They come in Spotlight, Stair Light, Ceiling Light and Stick Anywhere Night Light forms. Install them throughout your home to have emergency lighting for the next blackout. Prevent falls between blackouts. And experience battery-powered lighting that does not rely on your electric company.

Where Do You Need Light?

What is the value of light to you? Probably never gave it much thought - yet you used some method to evaluate whether or not to call you electrician in to light up that dark porch in your backyard, or the end of your hallway that is too dark. In my mind a light costs me $250. The light itself is $50 and the electrician will cost me $200.

This same evaluation led us to develop the Mr. Beams line of battery-powered lights. At $10-$60 per light, your cost of light is significantly lower. In many ways your annual operating cost will also be lower. Battery operated lights like the Mr. Beams Ceiling Light requires 4 C batteries at $1 each. The Mr. Beams Ceiling Light is designed to last 18 months on one set of batteries - so the annual operating cost is around $2.35. If you hire an electrician to install a ceiling light, this light requires a light bulb that will probably last just one year ($1.50) plus require electricity. Electricity can add up when the light is left on during the day or when not needed. All Mr. Beams battery operated lights have auto shut-off and motion detectors. The auto shut-off turns the light off after no motion is detected.

So the Mr. Beams line of motion sensor battery operated lights can save you money and get you off the electrical grid. When battery power is combined with motion sensors and LED's, it allows you to add light anywhere at a low initial cost and a low operating cost. So at $30 per light, where do you need light? The Mr. Beams Spotlight can light up your backyard and driveway. The Mr. Beams Stair Light can make you stairs safe and help prevent falls. The Mr. Beams Stick Anywhere Night Light can light up hallways and bathrooms and toilets to help prevent falls. The Mr. Beams Ceiling Light can light up your closets and attic so bright that you can choose the right color of your clothes. All are battery powered and use a motion sensor and auto shut-off to get you off the grid and save money in your lighting.