Domino's Pizza (another Michigan-based company) who really sprang to fame by offering a 30-minute delivery guarantee (discontinued in the early 1990s) has gotten attention once more for pizza delivery. This time it's because they're delivering pizza by canoe on a river in England.

That may not be what's growing their brand so quickly these days, but it's nice to see that they're still innovating, even if it's just a test and even if it doesn't last.

So what does this have to do with light bulbs? Simple: at Lighting Supply, it's one of our points of pride that we're fast on delivery. Because we know that often, with the commercial lighting products we sell, a project may need new ballasts, lamps, or fixtures ASAP to keep to a deadline.

We don't promise 30-minute delivery, but we do deliver locally the next business day when an in-stock order is placed by 5 p.m. EST (business days). Nationally, that same order would be packaged and shipped the same day. Because when we say "fast shipping," we don't mean it'll go out in 2-3 days.

We know that sometimes price is the deciding factor in a purchase. But when you take pizza as an example, most pizza joints have similar prices for their products. So other factors help you determine the restaurant that gives you the most overall value. Factors like quality of the food, location convenience (if it's not being delivered), friendliness of the staff, and even things like a quality website or app for placing orders.

In a similar way, we work hard to distinguish ourselves for you by carrying reliable brands (rather than every import available) and offering some of the best prices you can find on those trusted brands. Then going beyond that with things like fast delivery, customer-friendly policies, and a customer service team that wants to go above and beyond for you.

Because lighting is central to our lives. And in the business world, you have better things to do than spend the day looking for lighting products that you could easily find at Lighting Supply; or wondering when your lighting products will be shipped; or getting upset that someone sent you a brand you didn't order.

So you won't find us delivering your light bulbs by river. But you'll find us doing many other things to make lighting supplies an easy part of your day.

Electrician's / electrical contractor's everywhere, rejoice: there's a new Halloween tradition just for you, this electrician's Halloween poem.

Oh, we hope English teachers and Edgar Allan Poe fans and Halloween enthusiasts everywhere will love it. But we think those who work with light bulbs will have a unique appreciation for the lighting references.

Written in the style of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" (a parody of "The Raven"), we no longer have a raven antagonizing the narrator, but a T12 fluorescent bulb. And we no longer hear the familiar refrain, "Nevermore." Instead, the T12 taunts the narrator with its single word: "T4."

For those who are unfamiliar, T12 bulbs are older, larger fluorescent bulbs, largely replaced today by narrower and more efficient T8 and T5 bulbs as well as linear LEDs. A T4 bulb is even narrower than these, but is not used as a T12 replacement.

​Without further ado, here is our electrician's Halloween video, followed by the transcript of the poem. Please share with those you think will love it!
​

​Once upon a midnight dreary, while I wandered, weak and weary,
Down many an unlit hallway and across the creaking floor --
While I looked for bulb replacements that I'd put into the basement,
Suddenly there came a tapping, a rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered. And here I opened up my door.
Darkness there, and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there asking, fearing
That I'd put a new lamp on my porch, and not so long before.
Yet now that lamp was broken, and the stillness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, "T4."
And I whispered back to know for sure; the darkness said "T4."
Merely this and nothing more.

Back into my chamber turning, wondering why the lights weren't burning,
Soon again I heard a rapping somewhat louder than before.
And determined to know who could be there tapping on my door,
I flung back the cursed thing again, this mystery to explore.
And in there stepped a light bulb from the saintly days of yore,
A T12 tube to be precise; a fluorescent to be sure.

Then this inefficient light entered in while glowing white,
Dimly white and awful with a buzzing to abhor.
"But you're dreadful," said I to the lamp, "and your kind has been revamped,
and it's like you're but a remnant that's been washed up on the shore.
Tell me now why you've thus washed up on my shore."
Quoth the light bulb, "T4."

Much I marveled that this ancient light should face now such an awful plight,
Speaking words with little meaning while standing dim upon my floor.
"Not at all," I told it plainly to the words it spoke insanely.
"It's the T8 that's replaced you as you stand there on my floor.
Or T5 lamps and LEDs, for these we can't ignore. But never that which you have named."
Yet the light bulb said, "T4."

Startled that the light bulb would so wrongly answer as it stood,
I countered with a calmness that I'd never felt before.
A calmness as a silence mastered just ahead some dark disaster
Spoken slow and then much faster to drown the message that it bore.
"T8s," I said so surely, "and not a miniscule T4."
But the light bulb said again, "T4."

"It makes no sense!" I stuttered as I shifted, all a-flutter,
"That you'd talk about a light bulb so small as a T4."
I stood a moment blinking as my spirits started sinking,
Then I spoke more fervently to this T12 on my floor.
"Tell me why my lights have failed. Tell me, I implore."
But the T12 only answered, "T4."

"Just look!" I yelled quite madly at the lamp that spoke so badly,
"My house is dark because the lights are out on every floor.
Surely you must see this and you surely must agree this
Is a thing that cannot be what the evening has in store.
I need the lights for reading and here you are unheeding;
My impatience is exceeding all the vex I've felt before."
Quoth the light bulb: "T4."

"T4," I said. "I know, I know. With your buzzing and your awful glow,
It's the only hint that you will show. But it tells me nothing more.
My lights are out and you know why, but you will hardly even try
Expressing what I must apply to light my home once more.
Begone then bulb, you wretched light; begone into this cursed night,
And let me face the silent fright of dark on every floor."
Quoth the light bulb, "T4."

And here I stared most grimly at the T12 glowing dimly,
My patience wearing thinly and my heart prepared for war.
"Incandescent light bulbs are all I have in store.
These and LEDs, and not a singular T4.
So out with all your taunting which has left my lights still wanting;
And stop with all this haunting of a man with lights no more."
But the light bulb said, "T4."

And the T12 with its glowing is not going, is not going,
But is standing with its buzzing just inside my chamber door.
And its flicker has the seeming of a demon that is dreaming,
For its lamp-light o'er me streaming throws a shadow on my floor;
And it's the only light I have now throwing shadows on the floor,
From a T12 saying only this -- "T4."

We've talked before about replacing linear fluorescent lamps with LED lamps. This is a simple swap process, as today's LED retrofits are designed to run on the same ballasts that fluorescent systems already run on. (These need to be electronic ballasts, and you should check for compatibility before purchasing LED lamps.)

Many businesses, though, will upgrade the entire fixture and direct wire a new LED fixture (which will have its own built in driver rather than needing a ballast). While costing more up front than LED T8 retrofits, you don't have to worry about ballast replacements during its 50,000 hour rated life span.

Philips' Fluxstream LED strip fixture is a great option for replacing one of the most common fluorescent fixtures in America, the 2-lamp F32T8 fixture. Optionally, for those who have upgraded to T5 lamps, it would replace a 2-lamp F28T5 fixture. In either case, this fixture offers around 33% in energy savings when compared to fluorescents, in addition to less frequent maintenance (roughly twice the rated life of fluorescent lamps).

With a frosted lens, this fixture disperses the light from the diodes evenly. And importantly, for lighting control requirements, it offers 0 to 10V dimming.

And if you're looking at the Fluxstream as a lighting option for your business, then you'll like to know that Lighting Supply not only offers same day shipping of in-stock orders (placed by 5 pm EST on business days), but that we offer one of the lowest prices you'll find on this product.

Need help with your order? We're here to help by chat or phone during the business day. Please get in touch!

It's nearly Halloween and, for those who celebrate it, that means orange light bulb time. These bulbs definitely become popular at this time of year, and you've probably noticed a number of homes lit up in orange at night. So while you're carving those pumpkins or spreading those spider webs, you may need to check your light strings and see if you need any orange replacement bulbs.

If so, we've got them. And the closer Halloween comes, the more you'll appreciate that we offer same day shipping for in-stock orders placed by 5 pm EST Monday through Friday.

Not using a string of lights? You can use these orange bulbs in your porch light too, as a simple way to add a little spook to October nights.
​

We've talked in other articles about the importance of buying name brand LEDs if quality and longevity of the light are important to you. Not that known brands never manufacture a bad bulb, but they have a brand to protect and can stand behind a warranty in a way that generic LED manufacturers may not.

Since we want to minimize the problems customers have with products we sell, we're careful about the LEDs we carry. Either we stick with a trusted brand, or we make sure quality components are used in our own Standard brand, as in these low-cost yet quality-built LED floodlights.

So while others have raced to the bottom on price with unknown imports, we continue to find ways to bring you the best value possible on quality bulbs. This is why we didn't rush on rock-bottom A19 LED prices, but recently spoke about breaking the $3 barrier on those (in a 4-pack). And why today we're announcing that we've broken the $5 mark on BR30 LEDs ... by Sylvania! This low price is available in a 2-pack of the bulbs and is comparable to the lowest prices you'll find on generic brands! (The single bulb is available for a little more.)

It's worth noting a few specs, since many inexpensive LEDs have drawbacks like shorter lives or the inability to dim. The Sylvania BR30 LED we're selling:

• Uses just 9 watts to replace a 65 watt incandescent
• Dims (on compatible dinners)
• Has a 25,000 hour rated life
• Is 2700K (the warm look of an incandescent)

And to do a little simple math for you ... replace an incandescent BR30 with this bulb and, if you use it just 3 hours a day, it should pay for itself in energy savings in about 6 months. If you use a lot of downlights with BR30s, it's hard not to justify that cost, because you will see the results on your energy bill!

We hope you'll brighten your life with quality light bulbs ... and that you'll look to us for answers, ordering help, reliability, and fast shipping when you need lighting supplies for your home or business!

LED wall packs offer a simple, efficient, and long-lasting option for lighting the outdoors near a building. They are especially useful to brighten walkways or parking spaces alongside the building, although depending on the beam angle, a wall pack can send light further out from the wall, potentially to supplement overhead parking lot lighting.

Regardless of how close the beam keeps the light to the building, there is one important term to know. A wall pack labeled as a "cutoff wall pack" (like this one) is one that keeps light at or below the level of the fixture, and this is done to help prevent light pollution.

While there are some locations where more general lighting is needed from a wall pack, so cutoffs are not used, light pollution is becoming a more widely recognized problem, spurring some legislation on the topic. Light pollution doesn't just keep us from seeing most of the stars at night; it can also disturb insect and other animal populations, which means it effects our ecosystem. It can also directly impact human health. Here's an article on the topic.

Cutoff or not, LED wall packs in general are good for the overall environment because they require so much less energy to operate when compared to older lamp technologies. This isn't only because LEDs are more efficient than many technologies, but also because LED light is directional, sending its light only where it's needed rather than relying on reflective fixtures to aim the light.

The LED wall pack pictured here, for instance, uses only 20 watts and is designed to replace a 100 watt metal halide wall pack. You'll also notice that it has a photocell (or photosensor) in the upper left corner. This is another feature you can look for on wall packs to automate your outdoor lighting and make sure the lights are only used when needed. This helps to further reduce energy usage and save you money.

Other points to remember with LED wall packs is that LED technology lasts much longer than metal halide and other lighting technologies, which lowers maintenance costs as well as the effective cost of the fixture itself. On top of that, LEDs provide a better quality of light as measured on the CRI scale.

We offer a wide selection of LED wall packs that you can purchase on our website. But if you're not sure which model is right for your needs, we hope you'll give us a call to find a good match and place your order. We're available at 877.231.2582.