Industry News

CAST Lighting announced today the introduction of a new generation of LED outdoor lights. The LED landscape lighting fixtures incorporate a revolutionary LED module designed for the specific rigors of outdoor lighting. This LED module was recently recognized by the Illumination Engineering Society (IES) in their 2011 Progress Report. This report cites lighting products on the basis of their uniqueness, innovation, and significance to the lighing industry.

The report identifies the module as the first LED module to be suitable for enclosed luminaires. The report also cites many of the module's unique features - high/low brightness switch, high energy efficiency, dimmability, and long life (60,000 hrs.). Other features not mentioned include changeable optics, LEDSense circuitry to control heat, automatic transformer recognition, and filtering to prevent electromagnetic interference (EMI). CAST Lighting utilizes this module in two LED outdoor lights, the CAST Lighting LED Bullet (CBLED141) and the CAST Lighting LED Tree Light (CTLED141). Both lights, cast from solid bronze, were designed to mate with the module ensuring optimal thermal transfer and optical integrity. These two lights are the most recent additions to CAST Lighting's other LED lights - all designed with replaceable LED boards and many of the same features as the module.

Describing CAST Lighting's approach to LED development, David Beausoleil, president and founder, said, "Many lighting manufacturers rushed LED products into the outdoor lighting market. This resulted in many early failures due to excessive heat-build-up and electrical problems. We took a different approach and spent three years working with engineers to design LED lights that hold up to the aggressive outdoor environment and that serve the needs of professional landscape lighting designers."

CAST Lighting, founded 10 years ago as a high-quality alternative to the abundance of lower-quality outdoor lights, is well known for their use of solid sand-cast bronze and corrosion-resistant components. The success of the company, whose products are now distributed worldwide, is largely due to a growing number of loyal professional landscape lighting designers who solely specify CAST Lighting. A recent project saw over 1,000 CAST landscape lights installed at the St. Regis Bahia Beach seaside resort in Puerto Rico. CAST Lights can also be found in numerous parks, hospitals, celebrity homes and high-end residences. Company spokepeople are, however, quick to point out that while the products do find their way to many high-end resorts and estates, they are affordable to the general public and provide cost-effective value for modest lighting projects as well.

Steve Parrott, CAST Lighting's Communication and Marketing Director, comments further on LED development, "It's astonishing to see the number of LED outdoor lights that put 20-year LED circuits in aluminum, cheap brass, or thin copper housings. These housings are lucky to survive 5 years in an outdoor environment, and yet the manufacturer claims 15 or 20 years. In addition, many put replacement LED lamps in enclosed fixtures that act as ovens reaching temperatures that cook the LED circuits and reduce their lives drastically. CAST LED lights are 20-year LED circuits housed in lifetime solid bronze. It's not a stretch to say that CAST is the only company that makes light housings that outlive a 20-year LED."

Another feature that distinguishes CAST Lighting LED outdoor luminaires, is the lean nature of the LED offerings. While the leading outdoor LED manufacturer offers 36 models of LED directional lights, CAST Lighting offers only one (with changeable optics and brightness). That same manufacturer offers 40 models of LED path lights, CAST Lighting offers two modules that convert its path lights to LED. The simplicity of the CAST Lighting offerings is designed to help both the distributor and lighting designer.

Commenting on the strategy, Beausoleil says, "LED lights are more expensive than incandescent types; distributors can't afford to stock dozens of models. And, professional landscape lighting designers don't want dozens of choices; they want a few high-quality lighting tools - that's what we provide."

About CAST Lighting

CAST Lighting, based in Hawthorne, NJ, is a manufacturer of solid bronze incandescent and LED outdoor lighting products and systems. Dedicated to professional quality lighting and sustainable manufacturing, the company owns and operates its own foundry in Colombia, South America. www.cast-lighting.com