We carry multiple brands of all lighting products. Most traditional whole distributors sign exclusive agreements with one major brand in each category like Bulbs, ballasts and fixtures. By Not signing such an exclusive agreement this gives BulbGuy Lighting the ability to remain flexible as technology changes. All brands have certain products they excel at as well as a few they don’t. Being flexible also gives us the ability to sell the best in each category but most important we know which brand of certain products to Not sell.

Actually you will most likely save more money by having a lighting specialist assigned to your account. The price of the products you buy does Not go up by having a specialist assigned to your account. The reason you will most likely save money comes from the role our lighting specialists play in the relationship we have with our customers. A lighting specialist’s primary role is to help streamline your ordering process, standardize the products you use and most of all find ways for you to save money in your lighting system. Since you’re going to pay for lighting products anyway, having a specialist assigned to your account is basically free, or less...

All products we sell have a warranty that’s put in place by the manufacturer of that product. Most companies will honor that warranty by simply giving you a replacement for free or only directing you toward a manufacturer’s website for replacement. If any product we sell should ever fail during that manufacturer’s warranty period we won’t just give you another one for free, we will send someone to your facility and replace that product for you, for Free. If you have any concern or are unhappy with the performance of a product we sell you simply contact our office and we’ll take care of it.

If you’re looking to take on a project of any size with your lighting simply contact our office and we will send a lighting specialist out to visit with you and give some basic recommendations. If you are interested in more details we assign a Project Manager to your account who will get you all the details and oversee your project from start to finish.

The average payback on our proposals is 1.63 years which is an outstanding 89.26% rate of return on your investment.

The first question we ask in any lighting scenario is “What are you lighting up?” There is no single type of lighting that works in all situations. The most important thing to keep in mind is the fact that your lighting actually costs you more than just the bulbs you use. In fact, the cost of the bulbs or other materials only make up 3% of the total cost of your lighting. The cost of your time changing your bulbs or hiring a contractor to repair your lighting is still only 11%. The energy used in your lighting system represents 86% of your total cost wrapped up in your lighting. When choosing a light source to enhance your business keep all three aspects in mind.

There is a lot of misinformation out there about the recent changes to incandescent bulbs. What changed are the standards lighting manufacturers are held to in regards to efficiency. Just like a car manufacturer has a minimum Miles per Gallon (MPG) guideline when making new cars, lighting manufacturers have a minimum Lumens per Watt (LPW) they must meet in certain products they produce. The most common incandescent bulbs that didn’t make cut now have multiple new versions available as well as exemptions to these rulings. If you have an incandescent bulb you like, chances are you can find a suitable incandescent option and any true lighting professional will be able to help you find the right solution.

The short answer is no, T-12 Fluorescent bulbs have Not been banned. There are new efficiency standards that have been set and some of the most common T-12 bulbs did not meet those standards and have been discontinued. However most of those discontinued T-12 bulbs now have new versions that do pass or are exempt from the new rulings. Keep in mind most T-12 bulbs are Not very energy efficient and do not last as long as more current T-8 or even LED options. Most energy companies are paying rebate dollars for you to make a change away from T-12 products. If you have T-12 products in your facility it would be a good idea to have a lighting professional get involved and guide you through some options.

Most Energy companies are offering rebate incentives for Commercial customers to change to more efficient lighting systems. There are some rural cooperatives and city municipal utilities that also offer some incentives. There are always strict requirements that energy saving products must meet and at times can be a bit confusing which products qualify. Most rebate programs have a percentage ranging from 60 to 75% of your installed cost as a maximum regardless of the amount listed in the brochure. It is always best to involve a lighting company that is very familiar with the details. Residential customers are most likely directed to box stores where these products are already marked down by rebates which are applied as an instant markdown.

Most energy companies that offer rebate incentives for commercial customers have a process that requires filing some paperwork after you’ve installed your energy saving products and a check is sent to you in a number of weeks. Most lighting upgrades take little time to install and if done right, you could have your rebate filed as your project is wrapping up. Most energy companies will require an installation inspection / verification on larger rebates which may slow the process slightly. If a large portion of your project is dependent on rebate dollars to fund the project it is always a good idea to verify in advance with your energy company that your rebate amount and the specific products being used qualify for these rebates.

All light bulbs are measured in 8th inch increments. For the example in the question T = “Tubular Shaped” and the 12, 8 or 5 equls how many 8th inch increments the bulb is in diameter. So, T-12 means Tubular shaped and 12, 8th inch increments which is an inch and a half in diameter. T-8 would be 8, 8th inch increments or 1 inch in diameter. Other bulbs like an A-19 is 19, 8th inch increments and a BR-30 is 30, 8th in increments and so on...

There are a lot of companies out there that make a lot of claims about the products they sell or manufacturer. Truth is, no manufacturer makes everything you see on the shelf. Just because it has that brand’s label doesn’t mean that product wasn’t made in the same factory as the brand sitting next to it. In all honesty many times the brands that don’t make anything are some of the best as they choose the companies that do the best job to make it for them. The question to ask yourself: Was this product made to operate in the environment you’re going to put it in? If you’re looking for a bulb to put in the light on the front of your house that’s only on a few hours a week you’re pretty safe with most all you’ll see in a store. If you’re going to put that same bulb in a commercial building where it will never turn off, you’re probably not going to get good results with a residential product from the box store that was on clearance. The easy answer is to call BulbGuy Lighting and let us use our experience of what works and what doesn’t. it is our job to know all the brands because we stand behind everything we sell.

If you’re going to make a change in your lighting system it is always a good idea to consider if it might be time for new fixtures. If you are going to light the space in the same manner and you’ll be performing the same tasks and your light fixtures are still in good shape with no yellow lenses, you probably don’t need new fixtures making you a good candidate for a simple retrofit to make your existing fixtures more efficient. If you’re going to change the tasks performed in the space or you’re reconfiguring the room completely then you may need to consider a new layout or new fixtures. Most light fixtures are going to perform well for over 10 years but if you’re looking at 20+ year old fixtures it might be time to upgrade a bit.

We certainly have many of the same products you will find at your local hardware or box store. The main thing to consider is the fact that we deal in commercial buildings and the box stores are much more residential based where lighting is not used as heavily as it might be in a commercial setting. If you’re looking for an inexpensive bulb to put in your table lamp you’ll most likely find good deals at the store. You can also find the commercial grade bulbs at the store but you will probably pay a lot more than you will at a wholesale distributor like BulbGuy Lighting because that’s primarily what we sell.

Yes. This is best answered by asking a question: If you were going to pick an area to do something you shouldn’t be doing, would you pick an area that’s dark or an area that’s bright and well lit? Odds are those individuals that are out looking to cause problems are specifically targeting areas where the likelihood of being identified properly is reduced because of bad lighting. Trees and shrubs are the number one enemy of good lighting when it comes to security. Too many times people install great lighting on a building even though it is covered by a large tree. Trimming trees may sometimes be all that’s required instead of new lights.

There have been many studies on this subject and for the most part it seems the results typically say yes. By how much really depends on what task is being performed under the lighting you have. If you’re in a manufacturing facility that makes really small precise products, the lighting can be very important. Installing a system that raises the light level and eliminates shadows without creating a lot of glare will certainly help your employees manufacture a better product. In an office environment the number one mistake seems to be too much light. If you reduce the overall light level and add the option of bi-level switching or task lighting like a desk lamp you may give your office employees the flexibility to customize the light in their office to a level each person prefers.

There are a number of reason the products in a store fade. The first thing to consider is how often do you move your displays or change the item on display? The 2nd thing to look at is the window and natural light coming through it. Is there more light coming through windows at a time of day you’re not considering? If you can eliminate those two issues as a possible cause then consider using a light source that uses less energy than the light source you have now. You will need to make sure you don't accidentally do the opposite of what you’re trying to accomplish when making a change. If you’re using a halogen spot on a display that’s 10ft away, you’re not going to be able to light that display as well with a fluorescent bulb. LED has made wonderful progress in recent years and produces little to no UV making it a number one option in most cases.

If you have a lighting system that’s making a Humming sound you most likely are using a system that incorporates a ballast inside a fixture that’s actually running the bulbs in that fixture. When certain ballast types get old they can start to hum as they age and the materials inside the ballast housing meant to keep the noise down start to degrade. It would be advisable to call a professional to make sure a simple ballast change is the fix and more importantly to assure you don’t have a bigger problem. Some of the humming ballasts can actually start to produce too much heat and ultimately cause more expensive issues the longer the problem exists.

Seasonal Affective Disorder or S.A.D. is a type of depression related to the change in seasons. Most commonly the depression is noticed during the winter months however some people will also experience this depression during summer months as well. There are many symptoms related to this disorder including anxiety, decreased appetite, weight gain or loss, irritability and changes in sleep patterns. Lighting can sometimes be helpful by subjecting the person to a “Daylight” type of light or even a special light fixture programmed to simulate the sun rising in the morning. This type of treatment is meant to restore a circadian rhythm and increase levels of Melatonin.

LED Lighting has made a lot or progress in recent years but we still have a long way to go before we reach the true potential of LED lighting. There are times where LED makes perfect sense and there are also times where it would be best to consider other options knowing that LED will be a great option later on after it has had a chance to advance further. If you’re considering LED keep in mind that no one lighting technology is the answer to every scenario including LED. It would be our advice to include a lighting professional who has multiple options with LED only being 1 of many options they have to choose from.

The true cost of LED cannot be judged only by the price of the LED product. 3% of your total cost in lighting is the materials you buy. The remaining 97% lies in the labor and time of maintaining your lighting and most of all the electricity being consumed. LED makes the most sense in areas where you have high energy usage combined with difficult fixtures to maintain. Most energy companies will also pay rebate incentives for changing to LED technology helping to lower that initial cost. The real trick with LED is not how much it costs to get it right but how much does it cost if you choose the wrong LED product.

Yes, when compared to a product of any other technology that produces the same amount of light, LED typically uses less energy. Keep in mind that LED products today are more efficient than the same LED products a year ago and LED products in the years to come will be better than the LED products we have today. When considering LED think about the future uses of your facility and know that you will someday upgrade once again with something that’s more efficient. Granted it may be a long time before you upgrade but don’t go into LED technology without considering the future use of dimmers or other controls that you may want to incorporate later.

There are a lot of LED options that cover most types of existing bulbs. This doesn’t necessarily mean they will work in your existing fixture and still light the area as well or in the same manner. When considering LED it is always best to consider first any options that include a new fixture that was built with the intent of being and “LED Fixture”. Any time you put a light bulb in a fixture that’s not the same technology the fixture was built for it can net you results other than you hoped for.

To over simplify LED technology there are two basic components of the LED product. There is the LED chip which never really “burns out” in a manner that we relate to with other technologies. The LED chip will however produce less and less light over a rather long time. Currently most LED chips will still produce 70% of the original light output over 50,000 hours with some reaching well over 100,000 hours at more than 70%. The 2nd component in an LED product is the “Driver”. The driver basically converts the electricity being supplied to the fixture or bulb to a low voltage type of current that the LED requires to run properly. Although the driver will last for many, many years it will fail just any other electrical component of this type eventually will. In most good commercial grade LED fixtures you can easily remove and replace the LED driver without replacing the whole fixture. When buying an LED fixture make sure to ask if the fixture is “Serviceable”.

LED products are currently rated on life by comparing the light output to how bright the LED product was when it was brand new. If you see a product rated at 50,000 hours that means when the LED product reaches 50,000 hours of run time it will produce at least 70% of the original light output, or more. There is a component in all LED products called a driver which will eventually fail and cause the LED product to no longer operate. If you see a rated life of an LED product of well over 100,000 hours I wouldn’t count on the LED product to actually operate that long. The LED chip will certainly be capable of producing light that long but most likely the driver will fail before you reach that amount of hours. Keep in mind when buying LED products that you will most likely replace it with something better before you ever have any significant issues for the same reasons we get new smart phones or computers. It may be a long time before you consider a replacement but you will eventually do so.

LED stands for Light Emitting Diode. Next question asked usually is “What does That mean?” A Light emitting diode is simply an electrical component that produces light without the use of high voltage. LED products have been commercially available since the 1970’s when they were most commonly red and found in digital clocks, radios, calculators and other electronics with displays.

An LED produces light through a diode that allows low voltage electricity to pass through it. The semiconductor in the Diode has both Positive and Negative types of Silicon and when combined cause a forward biased depletion zone. When the proper voltage is supplied to this in the right direction, there is a reaction between the electrons that causes photons (particles of light) to be released. Basically an LED is a semiconductor that’s designed to give off light without the use of a filament or arc of electricity the way other light sources do. Because of this “reaction” that creates light there is no component like a filament that will break down from factors like heat. This helps LED bulbs last a much longer time in comparison as they do not “burn out” the way other light sources do.

Once you look into how an LED actually produces light it will be easy to recognize that an LED product is quite a bit more sophisticated than a standard incandescent bulb or any other light source. The different technologies that need to be integrated to make an LED product work take a lot more time, labor and high tech materials. There is a trade off with all this up front cost which directly relates to a payback from reduced energy consumption and extremely long life. When LED lighting is judged by looking at the life of the product instead of just upfront cost, LED holds a clear advantage over other light sources.

With any product, especially electronic products like LED, you will find vast differences in price. The reason is rather obvious most of the time and can be explained with the classic “You get what you pay for” reasoning. As all of the components in LED lighting products continue to transition from less handmade to more automated manufacturing the prices will continue to come down. Most LED products that cost significantly less either have an energy incentive that’s been paid to a retailer to mark that product down or that manufacturer has cut some corners in the components in that product. The other thing to consider is that as LED technology advances the prices will continue to come down. If you’re on the fence about LED, and you’re not going to save significant dollars in energy, waiting will only net you a more efficient and more affordable product in the rather near future.

In the past making a change to your lighting would take things into consideration like “will the new bulbs use more or less energy” or “will the new bulbs last as long” but when it comes to LED the considerations have changed. Longer life and energy are a given with LED but making sure you have enough of the right light without getting too much are common problems. If you intend to dim your LED product make sure to test it on your dimmer first to make sure it is truly compatible. Keep in mind when it comes to light output that the lumens on the box are not an exact reflection compared to what you’re currently using. The lumens produced by LED are much more efficiently delivered than any other light source. It’s best to pay less attention to lumens and more to what the manufacturer suggests as the wattage equivalent.

The only true way of avoiding bugs are either the bulbs with that familiar yellow “Bug Light” color or give your neighbor a really bright light so the bugs will go to their place. It is true that LED produces little to none of the UV that attracts bugs. However, white light is still in the spectrum of light that will still attract some bugs. From personal experience you will attract far less bugs but there will still be a few here and there.

An LED driver is the component that takes the electricity supplied to the bulb or fixture and converts it to the low voltage the LED chip requires to run properly. Even though the LED chip will last a Very long time, the driver will eventually fail. Most driver companies currently have life ratings of over 50,000 hours with some stating 100,000 hours. The 5 year warranty on any LED product is really more related to the driver than any other part of that LED product.

There are some dimming fluorescent light bulbs that fit in a typical screw in socket. Most of these are much higher priced and don’t dim down the way a standard incandescent bulb can. Linear or pin based fluorescents that utilize a separate ballast are much more reliable. With the advancements of LED products the screw in based products are much more reliable than fluorescents.

Most commonly this problem is not a bulb problem as much as it is a ballast issue. The ballast is a separate component that controls the bulb and how it lights. If the ballast is getting old it may not have enough punch to properly run the bulb causing some strobe or blinking. The other possibility is you may have a bulb that’s not paired correctly with the ballast. If you have a compact fluorescent or LED bulb being run by a dimmer switch there may be a compatibility problem between the dimmer and the bulb.

Yes, most all LED bulbs and fixtures can dim. Dimming has been fairly standard for some time with LED. You will want to make sure your LED fixture or bulb states it can dim as well as what dimming devices are compatible. Typically older dimming switches are not going to work as well as more current products.

An LED bulb is still using some electricity. How many watts it consumes is directly relatable to how hot that bulb can get. Even though LED bulbs can get warm most should never get to a temperature that could be called “Hot”. If your LED bulb is hot enough to be uncomfortable to hold or too hot to hold, remove it from the fixture as you most likely have a defective product. The last thing to make sure of is that you’re not putting your LED bulb in an enclosed fixture that’s too confined and doesn’t have enough air flow to cool properly.


Lumens are a measure of how much light is being produced.

LED is a very directional light source that wastes very little light. More of the light being produced by an LED bulb or fixture is actually leaving that bulb or fixture into the room or toward an item you’re trying to light up. This can also be called “Delivered Lumens” which simply means an LED bulb can deliver as much into an area as well even though it’s producing less lumens since it wastes very little of that light.

Fluorescent bulbs have come a long way the last 10 years when it comes to mercury content. The amount of mercury in a fluorescent today is much less than it was years ago. A fluorescent bulb is most toxic when it is a new bulb and it breaks. The Mercury is in the bulb as a gas so when you break the bulb that gas is released into the room. Quickly airing out a room is the first step if you have a concern after breaking a bulb. Cleaning up should be done by simply scooping it up in a dust pan but not by using a vacuum which will only spread the gas mixture into the room even more. Dispose of the broken materials in a plastic bag so you can send it with your other burned out bulbs to a recycling company or bin provided at a local store for disposal.


The hours on any light bulb are based on averages. For an example let’s use a bulb that has a rated life of 1,000 hours. If you put in 10 of those bulbs the rated life means that at the 1,000 mark half of your bulbs will still be working and half will not. Most rated life hours are also based on a bulb being on for a certain amount of time each time you use it. For example, turning a fluorescent bulb on and off shortens the life. If you put that bulb in a bathroom or closet where you turn the lights on and off frequently that will shorten the overall life and cause that bulb to last less time than stated. The opposite of that example is a fluorescent bulb that is running 24 hours a day, that bulb will last well beyond the rated life stated on the box.