There are many unexpected ways to cut down expenses around your home and office, but is switching to LED lighting one of them? We certainly think so.

Not only are LED lights significantly more cost-effective than traditional CFLs, but they also improve productivity through better light quality, reducing eye strain and providing you with a more unobstructed view. Also, there are government incentives to reducing your environmental impact and carbon footprint. CFL light bulbs contain mercury – a highly toxic metal that poses serious health risks, while LED lights contain no such toxic chemicals or metals. Studies performed by the United States Department of Energy and scientists from Carnegie Mellon both found that LED lights are as efficient to manufacture as CFL lights and LEDs will become even more efficient in the future. With a market that’s rewarding businesses for going green by offering incentives for energy-saving methods, LED lighting could benefit your business in more ways than one!

While the upfront purchase price of an LED light bulb is higher than that of traditional CFLs, this cost pays for itself over the life of the LED bulb. According to one study done by the environmental website Eartheasy, an LED light would cost $95.95 to run for 50,000 hours while a CFL bulb would cost $159.75 to run for the same period and would have to be replaced about five times during the process. Recognizing these cost savings for your home and business could make a real dent in your bottom line.

If you are a homeowner or a business owner or facilities manager and you are looking to go green and save some green, that reaches out the LED lighting installers of choice serving the Nashville, Tennessee, Victory Lights!

The new decade is upon us, and things are changing fast. Lighting trends are no different. With new, energy-efficient LEDs, the entire lighting industry has gone through some radical changes in just the past few years. As LED lighting technology continues to mature and getter better and cheaper, we anticipate considerable differences in the design of the light fixtures themselves. So what can we expect in lightning? Here are some things to come:

Better Light Quality

Lighting options have gotten super efficient recently, but the new focus is expected to be the quality of light. Reduced flickering may reduce headaches and fatigue, so expect to see more of those. Technology exsists out there in LED grow lights that require full-spectrum lighting, so expect regular lights to continue with that trend.

Refined Retro & Industrial Styles

More elegant metals, varied tones, and unique designs. All based on the retro and industrial styles, but they look for the elegance of them, not the one that remains vastly.

Dark Skys

In an ever Eco-conscious world, we must now be heedful of light pollution and look for dark sky lighting.  Light pollution is light that goes up into the sky instead of towards the ground. Sometimes it’s unavoidable, but in good outdoor lighting design, it can be avoided.

More Retro Bulbs

Incandescent light bulbs are no longer sold in stores. However, they were a trend for 2019 and will be in 2020 because the look is so cool.  Expect more retro and “flame” LEDs to be common.

Accent Lighting

We talk a lot about the dramatic drop in cost in LED lighting, but there is also a size drop as well. Fixtures have gotten smaller and are able to fit into tiny places. Neon LEDs are, becoming popular and hidden fixtures are now the norm and expect even more of them in 2020.  

Nashville and Raleigh are two of the fastest-growing cities in the country. Existing in both incredible metropolitan areas, our company has been serving the Triangle and Music City with LED lighting solutions for half a decade. We get a lot of questions about who we are and what we do, so in this article, we want to reintroduce ourselves and answer: Who is Victory Lights?

Who Is Victory Lights?

Victory Lights was started by Chad Reynolds in 2014. With over ten years of lighting experience, Chad wanted to help businesses save money by installing or retrofitting their spaces with high-efficiency LED lighting. Since we began, Victory Lights has performed over 6,000 lighting transactions and over 1,000 lighting projects. There is no one with as much expertise and experience in LED lighting as us. 

How Does Victory Lights Help Businesses?

Whether you are in an office or retail space, the right lighting can improve your productivity and sales. Effective LED lighting makes parking lots and garages safer and helps property managers showcase apartments for renters. We specialize in commercial lighting supply and projects. We serve all industries with a variety of lighting needs. Some of the projects we do include:

Parking Lot Lighting: The parking lot is the most dangerous place in your commercial property for customers and employees. We help property owners install the safest and most efficient lighting for parking lots and garages. 

Office Lighting: Lighting affects your office’s productivity and can be a deal-breaker for your clients. We help offices install efficient lighting that can ultimately impact your bottom line. 

Retail Lighting; Retail owners know the importance of properly displaying their products. The right LED lighting improves sales while often reducing energy costs. 

Church Sanctuaries: We help churches determine the right lighting for church sanctuaries and other campus buildings. 

Manufacturing: In large warehouses, lighting is vital to getting the job done. However, it is important for manufacturers to reduce energy consumption and costs any way they can. Proper LED lights can make all the difference for a company’s bottom line. 

Restaurants and Coffee Shops: Nashville and Raleigh are known for being cities rich in excellent restaurants and coffee. From displaying items for sale to protecting customers and employees outdoors, Victory Lights can help provide restaurant and coffee shop owners with efficient lighting solutions. 

Hospitals and Doctor’s Offices: Having the correct lighting can be a matter of life and death in a hospital medical facility. 

As a commercial lighting supply and installation company, we will provide lighting solutions for your business’ needs. 

We Provide Free Lighting Consultation for Companies

Many business owners do not know where to start or who to ask when it comes to lighting. Victory Lights is proud to provide free professional lighting consultations for companies in North Carolina and Tennessee. If you would like to know more, fill out this short form and we will be in touch to schedule your LED lighting consultation. 

Victory Lights is here to provide commercial lighting solutions to businesses in Raleigh, Nashville, and surrounding areas. Contact us for more information about LED lighting for your business. 

Vanderbilt University will be partnering with Nashville Electric Service and the Tennessee Valley Authority to produce clean energy on a large scale to mitigate Vanderbilt’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The 20-year agreement was signed to help reach the goal of having the West End campus be powered and carbon neutral by the middle of the century. The energy will be produced by a solar farm in Bedford County run by Nashville based solar company Silicon Ranch.

The university is the first large customer to partner with the TVA on this type of green energy production and is the first agreement to come under the TVA’s new Green Invest program.

The solar farm is slated to come online in late 2022. It will supply up to 35 megawatts of clean, renewable energy, offsetting close to 70% of the university’s greenhouse gas emissions from purchased power. This same amount of electricity could power up to 5,000 homes in the Nashville area for one year, so this is a significant amount of energy.

The Nashville Area is going green, and if you want to get on the bandwagon, start with a complete LED lighting retrofit and be ready for the solar revolution. This is a cost-effective way to begin cutting your power usage and lowering your electric bills as well as contributing to a cleaner and greener environment and will help achieve goals of Net Zero and Net Positive carbon goals for the Tennessee area.

Source: 1

If you own a business, you want the best curb appeal possible, day or night. When your business hours extend after dark, you want your customers to be able to navigate to the door and in the parking areas safely. There are more choices today for outdoor lighting than in the past.

You don’t have to rely on overpowering bright street lights to light your business at night. There are many choices when it comes to illuminating your storefront after the sunsets.

Many businesses are now utilizing LED lighting in many different ways. There are innovative ways to install lights on the ground for pathways and sidewalks. This lights up the areas where people need to see without impeding on their night vision. The sky is the limit with the color combinations and designs that can be created with LED lighting.

There are innovative changes to the way businesses are using street lamps and parking lot lights. In conventional fluorescent street lights, a considerable percentage of light is wasted and shined into the sky instead of the ground where it is needed. In dark sky lighting, the light is directed downward like putting a lampshade on a desk lamp. This design on top of sustainable LED lighting can save energy and prevent light pollution.

Our team at Victory Lights can help you design the perfect outdoor lighting for your business to help improve curb appeal, safety and save on energy cost. Contact our office today.

Tennessee has relied on power generated by burning coal for decades, but it seems like that’s finally going to be coming to an end in the not so distant future. Solar power hasn’t been ingrained into Tennessee yet, but the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) has big plans to change that in the next couple of decades.

Several proposals have been drafted in regards to the state’s source of energy and what impact it’s making on the environment and the earth as a whole. These proposals are pushing that by the year 2022, solar power in Tennessee will be working with a developed 200 megawatts of energy, which will also cut the use of burning coal and cutting back on the carbon footprint. The ultimate goal is to have a long-lasting, renewable, and natural source of energy be used and coal-burning becoming obsolete as it decreases significantly in the next couple of decades.

The main reason Tennessee is choosing now to make the proposed switch is simply that the sources to have solar power have become more affordable. At one time, solar paneling was merely a pipe dream for anyone with an average income, and only the very wealthy could have these panels on their homes. In 2019 it’s much different since we see the benefits of having solar-powered items in our lives and how much it cuts back on wasting energy and saving money in the long run (even if the initial price tag is a bit steep).

The steps that TVA is taking toward a reliance on solar power are big ones in changing how the state gets its energy. If all proposals go through as intended, this could also mean the end of any coal ash or nuclear waste left behind from other power sources. As states like Tennessee adapt to solar power, more may soon follow suit. The affordability and ease of obtaining the solar panels make a huge difference to many businesses and families across the great state of Tennessee. Keep our state bright with natural light; solar power is on its way!

SOURCES: 1, 2

There are many different factors that the ADA affects. The ADA, known as the Americans with Disabilities Act, is set in place to make sure that people with disabilities are given equal access and proper accommodations are set in place. It can get precise with specific regulations to make sure spaces are safe for all walks of life, and lighting is no different. 

ADA regulations state that lighting fixtures must be no more than 4-inches from the wall and be mounted between 2-feet 4-inches to 6-feet 8-inches above the floor. Many fixtures now are being sold with ADA approval, and when paired with these specific guidelines, it gives the maximum amount of room for those with disabilities. This bit of information is highly crucial for the installation of lighting fixtures in public and commercial places. It allows any person(s) with or without disabilities to easily access essential parts of the building without coming into a roadblock of sorts. 

Universal Design principles also have a huge helping hand in making sure ADA light fixtures can be used by all, no matter what their background may be. It also accommodates well with narrow passageways in homes like hallways or bathrooms. Bathroom space is especially important in cases of handicapable stalls that need bars installed. 

The installation of ADA compliant lighting ensures that everyone can access certain areas and not be stopped by a lighting fixture, as well as have the ability to control said lighting. It’s vital that people, no matter if they are disabled, are not, can move around freely and comfortably without worrying about becoming stuck or breaking a fixture thanks to poor installation and improper fixtures. 

SOURCES: 1

Nashville is a scenic country wonderland, especially during the summer. But boy, can it get hot! One of the first things most people want to do in the summertime is to escape the heat and crank up the a/c, but that can waste a lot of energy. There’s got to be a way to enjoy the summer days and nights here in Nashville and still conserve energy while being comfortable. We figure out the top 3 ways to save energy this summer while still enjoying all that your backyard of Tennessee has to offer. 

1. Close the curtain on the sun! When the sun is peeking outside your window, closing the curtains or shutting the blinds can block out a lot of unwanted heat from entering your home. This also has a reverse advantage in the winter by opening the window during the sun’s peak hours to let in the warmth and then closing them to keep the heat inside. 
2. Upgrade your thermostat! Get a programmable thermostat (preferably one with an Energy Star rating) that regulates the temperature in your home and doesn’t use excessive amounts of energy. It works all day and night; whether you’re home, asleep, or away for a couple of days. It’s even possible to get a smart thermostat that does all this as well as lets you control it from a remote location. 
3. Shut off the lights! Take advantage of a summer breeze and natural light and shut off your interior lighting while opening windows and, if possible, a door opening to outside. Let your home soak up natural lightning, making artificial light unnecessary and saves you little bits of energy here and there. 

Get the most out of your summer in Nashville and enjoy what nature has to offer. Open a window, pour a glass of sweet tea, put on some music, and take in that warm summer breeze all while saving on your energy bill and saving the earth a little at a time. 

SOURCES: 1

Becoming a new homeowner is exciting. You get to have your own dream house to do whatever you want with. This is especially exciting for those homeowners who love a little DIY and don’t mind getting their hands dirty if they have to. It’s also a great idea to be prepared in your new home for any minor fixes. So what kind of tools should a new homeowner have on hand that can benefit their desire to DIY and also keeps everything in working order? Here you will find the answer in the top 3 tools every new home should have!

1. A hammer. It’s a classic and straightforward tool, one end makes things go in, and the other can pull them out. It is especially important to have on hand in your new home. A hammer can be used to add flair to a room by just using it to nail spots to hang decor and art. It can also be used to fix some places maybe missed by previous repairs. A loose nail sticking out from a corner or an uneven picture that can be set by merely adjusting the position of the nail. 
2. A screwdriver. Preferably one of those with interchangeable heads to go between a Phillips and flat head. This will come in handy when it comes to getting into those hard to open spots. A small screwdriver set would be a good idea to have around as well, making sure you have the right tools to open up even the smallest of screws. 
3. Lastly, we have a tape measure. This gives new homeowners accuracy down to the centimeter and can help provide the right dimensions for new additions in the home. An even better option would be a tape measure with a level attached. That way you can make sure your projects are even before using any of the other-other tools listed here.

Of course, there are many other tools that it would be a good idea to have tucked away for a new homeowner. Whatever choice of tools you decide on, make sure to have these three essentials, and you’ll be prepared for almost anything!