No, I am not announcing a film about vacuum cleaners or the British inventor Sir James Dyson but rather to the news that his son Jake Dyson has launched a range of LED lights that are said to have an expected life of more than 35 years.

We are seeing more and more homes, commercial and industrial buildings switch to LED lighting, even american airline Delta have announced that they are to spend 3 years refitting all of their planes with LED lighting. This could apparently save the airline $50,000.00 a year per plane which makes me think they would be stupid to not do it and why is every airline not doing it?

But LED’s are not without their problems. They are not the everlasting lamp that we have been led to believe by manufacturers. In fact depending on the fitting and how hot it gets, a lamp can severely discolour and grow dim within months. This is where Dyson’s design is somewhat unique.

“LEDs are semi conductors,” Dyson reasons aloud, “and semiconductors are used in computers. And the way they cooled semiconductors in computers was using heat pipes.” The solution it seems is in the cooling of the lamps. The way to do that? Heat pipes. Heat pipes are  copper tubes with a vacuum inside. Inside that vacuum is a single drop of moisture. The water evaporates at very low temperatures in a vacuum, so the internal build up of heat transforms this water into vapour, the vapour shoots from the hot end of the heat pipe to the cool end. The water then cools and condenses, making its way back to the hot end of the pipe. The cycle repeats to create an infinite loop of efficient, passive cooling.

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Introducing this idea into his latest lamps Jake Dyson thinks he has achieved the ability to make his lights last 30 years or more with no loss of colour or efficiency. So what are the plans for this technology and will we see it filter through to the commercial and industrial sector? Well perhaps, yes, soon with the suspended Ariel™ LED light, Jake Dyson has developed core lighting technology to overcome the problems presented by current LEDs.

Jake Dyson said, “We’ve been developing technology to harness the power of LEDs for over ten years, creating lights for the home which are long-lasting and produce a high quality of light. Our cooling technology sits at the core, and means we’re able to use a high density, high powered LED light source which our competitors can’t. We’ve already got an ambitious pipeline of technology and I will help drive the broader application of technology at Dyson.”

The CSYS™ task light uses heat pipe technology, which dissipates heat generated by the LEDs through an aluminium heat sink. Eight high power LEDs project warm, white light, which can be positioned exactly where you want it using 3 Axis Glide™ motion. Touch-sensitive continuous dimming means you can choose exactly the level of light you need. But I think the real breakthrough shall be  the Ariel™ light, compact and efficient, a ceiling mounted downlight which uses the latest LED technology to evenly illuminate a specific working area such as office desks, a boardroom table or kitchen island. Heat pipe technology ensures that heat is dissipated away from the LED to maintain performance. Following three years of research and development, it is expected to be available later this year. I am sure if this prooves a success it wont be long before more follow.

Fresh hope for prompt payment for contractors with fair payment charter.

After a meeting in May between members of the ECA and the construction minister, Michael Fallon MP prompt payment was declared a high priority in the Industrial Construction Strategy (ICS) released in July, with a commitment to the creation of a fair payment charter, solely for the construction industry, by the end of the year.

This is a welcome development after an ECA survey found that Main Contractors failed to pass on prompt payment terms. In the survey 30% of respondents reported that they have had to wait 60 days or more to be paid by Main Contractors when working on private sector projects.

Steve Bratt, ECA group CEO is quoted as saying that “Tackling late payment is about the future of our industry and economic growth. Companies that could grow are being stopped by late or non-payment. If businesses can’t grow, it’s not only bad for our industry but bad for Britains economy.”

The ECA seek to engage with the Institute of Credit Management, which has been tasked with developing the Fair Payment Charter. The aim is that the intent of the Late Payment of Commercial Debt regulations, which came into force in March 2013, is effectively applied. Watch this space.

The JTL has recently reported that it has seen an upsurge in apprenticeship recruitment.

The charitable company has figures showing an 11% increase in the recruitment of electrical apprentices over the previous year.

Industry professionals are claiming this shows growing confidence in the economy, but we ask if this is the case or if in fact, in these lean times are employers simply sourcing cheaper labor with the aim of encouraging staff loyalty by bringing up these apprentices through the ranks.

JTL also added that the number of apprenticeships completed within the planned time span has grown to 95%.

Denis Hird, chief executive of JTL says ” I am delighted in the rising demand for our professional development training programmes. This indicates that the electrical sector is increasingly valuing short courses that hep ensure that both knowledge and personal accreditation is kept up to date.”