Some people ask why we specialize in night sky friendly outdoor lighting. My response is, ‘Why would anybody want to install anything else?’ The truth is, the majority of outdoor lights currently offered for sale should not even be manufactured.

Why would anyone want to install an outdoor light fixture that put more light wastefully up into the night sky than usable light onto the ground beneath it? Why would anybody want to install a light fixture that would shine rudely into neighboring windows night after night?

Night sky friendly outdoor lights are the most efficient and environmentally responsible way to illuminate. Night sky friendly outdoor lights put all the light they produce onto the ground beneath them, where people are walking or driving. They prevent light from shining wastefully up into the night sky, reducing the damaging effects of light pollution in our communities. They also prevent light from trespassing onto neighboring properties.

So, the next time you’re in the market for outdoor lighting, be sure to consider the effects that your decision will have on your neighbors and the environment. Starry Night Lights offers the widest selection of night sky friendly outdoor lights anywhere.

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Yesterday, Republicans and Democrats within the house of representatives passed a newly drafted bipartisan Climate Bill (a.k.a The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009) 219-212 tackling pollution, global warming and climate change. Surprisingly enough Democratic Representative Jim Matheson of Utah voted “No,” amongst the three other Republican Representatives Rob Bishop and Jason Chaffetz. Representative Matheson represents one of the only three Democrats who voted “No.” Representative Matheson purports that the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 requires restructuring and would negatively impact Utah.

“We’ve got to address climate change, and we’ve got to address energy independence; I hope we continue to work on those two issues. [Although] there’s a real regional income transfer that’s not fair to some regions of the country and in this case, it’s not fair to Utah.” – Representative Jim Matheson.

As most Utah residents know, Utah still utilizes several coal powered plants. Yes, the coal industry would hurt in Utah but what about the opportunity to create cleaner and more sustainable energy? As a resident in Salt Lake City, I can’t tell you how awful the inversions in the surrounding Utah valleys can truly be year round – it’s quite horrible. Granted, its certainly not just coal plants, for cars contribute to the problem; if more funds were directed toward cleaner energy, overall air and quality of life would improve. Even though the the climate bill passed in the House of Representatives, it still needs to pass through Congress. Perhaps an oversight on Matheson’s part, but bills can be restructured through the different mediums of our governmental system. Nonetheless, the bill was passed without the help of Matheson, Bishop and Chaffetz and hopefully the Senate will deliberate, put aside ideological partisan apprehension and jointly agree upon the importance of our environment.

As a website dedicated to eradicating light pollution once and for all, Starry Night Lights supports The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 bill. Light pollution affects all of us. As further evidence unveils itself regarding the impact of light pollution on creatures (including humans), inform your congressmen of the importance of light pollution. Light pollution is 100% irreversible.

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Exposure to light can disrupt sleep, making it difficult to fall asleep or even stay asleep. Lack of sleep has been linked to obesity, diabetes, immune system dysfunction, impaired judgment, disorientation and irritability.

Therefore investing in blinds and shades as means of controlling light may help provide the recipient achieve greater rest. Unfortunately as population increases within cities, power demand increases. Whilst shopping for blinds and shades may send the message of ‘ignorance is bliss’ to light pollution (buy shades to forget about how much light pollution exists rather than help eradicate it), for some it’s a necessity of life. And for good reason: who wouldn’t want to have a better night sleep? David P. White, McGinness professor of sleep medicine and director of the sleep disorders program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, knows that “The immune system doesn’t work well if we don’t sleep; most think sleep serves some neurological process to maintain homeostasis in the brain.” Dr. White further suggests that “some people most affected by light are those who work during the night or those suffering from jet lag; however, streetlights and light pollution, especially in major cities, can affect one’s ability to rest well.” Taking this information into account, Dr. White first instructs recipients to re-establish a nocturnal habitat by eliminating all indoor and outdoor lighting. Secondly, if technologically inclined, set your blinds to a time to release in day light. When your body identifies darkness with sleep and light with active, the human body can start to feel more on track with the natural cycle of a day.

‘Tis a sorry state of affairs if modernity or progress if you will requires us to shut out the light from night (oxymoron intentional) with blinds. If blinds were originally created to block out light during the day time, how does the body adjust to that ritual of closing the blinds in the daytime with closing them during both the day and night – day and night begin to blur. By doing so, you further escape from reality (although comfortable in your in house). The truth is you can’t shut out light pollution by forgetting about it.

Spring is just around the corner and with it, the need to brighten up ones wardrobe and home. As things become green once again and the flowers begin to bloom, there are far more reasons to spend more time outdoors. One of the greatest ways to utilize the beauty of this season around ones home is to install landscape lighting. By doing so, the excitement of the season is not limited merely to the hours of daylight. Spring into action and make your garden and outdoor areas more people friendly!

Starry Night Lights has recently expanded its product line to include Volt Landscape Lighting, the ideal night-sky friendly lighting fixtures, perfect for any outdoor lighting need.Volt fixtures come in brass or aluminum in a wide variety of finishes and work wonderfully for both lighting needs and decorative purpose. The items are designed to be sturdy, but yet are not overly large or bulky. Together with their appearance and environmentally conscious design, these fixtures should be strongly considered when creating ones outdoor paradise.

Selecting the lighting of ones home can be daunting, but it should not be. It should be an exciting time, full of promise for a fresher and more pleasant living experience. Luckily, even if one decides in a later period to change or update ones outdoor fixtures, Volt fixtures are in-stock for immediate shipment (24-48 hours). Checkout our landscape lighting tips for a few things to keep in mind as you expand your living spaces into the outdoors.

Starry Night Lights is dedicated to providing individuals with the necessary tools to improve their lives and homes in an environmentally fashion, by providing customers with the newest lighting innovations in environmentally mindful designs. Through taking small steps toward a better environmental future, the possibilities for larger and grander steps will become available. Put your trust in Starry Night Lights and be kind to both the environment and your wallet! Checkout these landscape lighting tips for a few ideas to keep in mind as you expand your living space.

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In a town meeting, Highland Park residents of Michigan proposed for their municipality to turn off every other streetlight, requiring local businesses to share lighting costs or invest in wind or solar power as alternatives to simply shutting all of its alleyway lights completely off. The majority of the 150 attendees oppose this cost-cutting proposal on the grounds of safety and illegal dumping. Arthur Blackwell, financial manager of the Highland Park municipality, stated of their 12 million dollar budget, 1 million dollars goes towards paying the electric bill. Furthermore, Mr. Blackwell stated,

“We have more lights per capita than any community in the state; the problem is the lights were built for 50,000 and we have about a third of that.”

By cutting its current lighting usage, Mr. Blackwell purports the municipality will save 15% if the cuts pass. If passed, the act would shutdown 451 alley lights – 20% of which are currently broken.

Perhaps a third solution would prove successful in the interest of both parties: Starry Night Light’s  Motion Controlled Lighting. These lights would shine light in the alleyways when needed, cutting both eletricial costs as well as providing safe and adequate lighting.

Turn out. Take action.

Be part of this historic event.
March 28, 2009, 8:30 pm local time

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is asking individuals, businesses, governments and organizations around the world to turn off their lights for one hour – Earth Hour – to make a global statement of concern about climate change and to demonstrate commitment to finding solutions.

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On March 31st, 2007 the city of Sydney, Australia in conjunction with the WWF took a stand against climate change. At 8pm, 2.2 million residents turned off their power for one hour. Their single stand against climate change has led to a global stand. In 2008, 50 million people from around the globe participated (36 million Americans). Whilst an hour may not seem significant, it symbolizes an idea: take a global stand on climate change. In this special hour, residents within major metropolitan cities may perhaps see the night sky unpolluted with light.

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In an effort to cope with tightening budgets, small towns across Germany have decided to turn off all public lighting at night. The people on the town councils deduced if no one is on the streets at night anyway, why pay for the electricity to run the street lights? Yet in light of this (no pun intended), citizens within these towns feel concerned about their safety,  whether stumbling through the dark streets to walk the dog or return from a late night out. This particular instance has let out a call for human ingenuity to rise and solve this concern.

In the small town of Döblitz, a German inventor by the name Heinrich Frühauf has answered that call. By installing a modified mobile telephone in the electrical box controlling the street lamps, citizens can enjoy walking their dog once again at night. Inspired by falling over things during the evening hours, Mr. Frühauf created his mobile telephone invention with the aims of allowing all citizens of Döblitz to call the particular number so that the lights come on; a timer shuts the lights off again in 15 minutes.

Similarly a resident in Dörentrup by the name Dieter Grote came up with his own dial-in system. Whilst a bit more complicated than the aforementioned system, Grote’s system requires the recipient to register with the service and the recipient must enter a 6-digit number to identify the area which they want lit: “Users must know the number of the area where they want light–either by looking the numbers up in an on-line database, or finding the numbers posted on the nearby streetlamp, probably a difficult task given that the streetlamps are not yet lit.”

Whilst this system may not effectively work in larger populated cities, Starry Night Lights has the next best thing: Motion Sensor lighting. Leaving your lights on from dusk to dawn won’t ensure your safety. It will, however, ensure that you’re spending far too much money on electricity. Motion sensors are a great way to have the lights on when you need them, and off when you don’t.Think about this. Your lights are much more likely to attract attention if they suddenly come on at 2:00am.

SOURCE: Tepako, New Zealand

“Where other places greet the night by lighting up their streets and tourist attractions, this one goes the other way — low-energy sodium lamps are shielded from above, and household lights must face down, not up.”

Enter the small town Tepako, home to 830 residents. Home to the University of Canterbury’s Mount John Observatory, citizens of Tepako have banded together to under one goal: “to bring out the stars.” Astro-tourists from around the globe have already begun to flock to Tepako’s pristine, light pollution free night skies. With intentions of becoming internationally recognized by United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) approval for the world’s first “starlight reserve” award, eager inhabitants challenge UNESCO’s criteria for world heritage sites. UNESCO world heritage sites do not include criteria for space around nor above heritage sites. Thus the question of how “to define a piece of open sky for conservation purposes” remains. If their challenge succeeds, Tepako would become the first starlight park in the world. Imagine a city night park for all its citizens to enjoy. Other countries such as La Palma, Hawaii, Easter Island, the Galapagos Islands, Portugal, Canada, Romania and Northern Chile.

One of the guides from the Mount John Observatory, a Arizona Native, closes the article with his sentiments regarding Tepako:

[Tepako] offers a chance to see something long lost to city-dwellers — such pristine, dark skies; back in cities like Phoenix, grandparents may have seen starlit skies, but now it’s just something we hear about. We don’t get to experience the stars and those constellations.

This statement maybe characteristic of a bright summer day but definitely should not be something heard during an outdoor evening occasion. To ensure that such an account is not descriptive of your outdoor lighting be sure to purchase appropriately directed lighting fixtures which guarantee the needed amount of projected light.

We at Starry Night Lights seek to provide individuals with these sorts of fixtures, much to the relief of both the environment and your neighbors. By choosing Starry Night Lights products one can be guaranteed both environmentally sky friendly and energy efficient products. We invite you to look through our merchandise and find the product that best suits your needs.

Allow us at this time to direct your attention to our outdoor Kichler Lighting products. Starry Night Lights is well equipped with Kichler Lighting fixtures and we plan to expand our Kichler product base further. Our Kichler fixtures are diverse and vary widely. Our Kichler outdoor lighting fixtures come in a variety of finishes, and shapes.

Kichler’s outdoor wall lighting is both night-sky friendly and also wildlife friendly. An excellent option for those who live along the coast would be Kichler’s seaside or wildlife lighting. By using such lighting one can be guaranteed that their lighting needs are fulfilled while also protecting the wildlife that live in the habitat.

Kichler’s outdoor lighting products also include outdoor pendant lighting. Pendant lighting is a more artistic option for outdoor lighting needs, though both Kichler outdoor wall and pendant lighting are night-sky and environmentally friendly. Both wall and pendant lighting are excellent lighting options for any outdoor lighting occassion, a choice between the two is largely dependent upon preferrence.

Starry Night Lights and Kichler lighting are happy to provide you with lighting options which are good for your wallet and the environment. By using Starry Night Lights products one is ensured energy efficiency and environmental safety. When selecting your outdoor lighting be sure to cater your tastes while also protecting the environment.

Today Starry Night Lights presents Sea Gull’s Ambiance Transition and Ambiance RX product lines.

Ambiance Transition boasts splashes of color, style and decorative pendant choices to fully accent your living space. Supporting light fixtures up to a combined 120v, the Ambiance Transition line caters to your specific lighting needs. Whether you aim to light large office or a family sized living room, the Ambiance Transition line allows up to three forty watt bulbs, all fully customizable. Fear not. Traditional 40 watt incandescent bulbs output a minimum of 450 Lumen. An equivalent 40 watt ENERGY STAR product utilizes 9-13 watts. Referring to the table below from the Energy Star website, one could safely use three 100 watt incandescent light bulbs rated at 23-30 watts; use varying 150 watt light bulbs.

Looking for a solution even more customizable yet still retaining the full feature set the aforementioned exhibited with reduced voltage? Then look no further than the Ambiance RX line. Designed to furnish any home in any set of conditions, the Ambiance RX line allows you to create an aesthetically pleasing effect by configuring lights into three options: rails, surface mounting or recessed.

Both systems offer either fully DIY customizable kits or preconfigured kits. We carry the materials, you have the creative control to select which style suits you.