Lamps that save

During the energy summit last February 2008 President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo expressed her desire to duplicate Australia’s move in banning incandescent bulbs. Her target: 2010.

“Our entry into the market is just right,” declared Monika Mang, Marketing Manager of Megaman Lamps. She said that based on their experience in the Australia market majority of the people who used to use incandescent bulbs opted to shift to compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) when the Australian government started banning incandescent bulbs.

Hoping the trend would be similar here in the Philippines, Mang said that the Megaman difference would help them sell the product. “The main difference with Megaman from low-end CFLs is that Megaman values quality assurance, safety, technology and our environment and social responsibility,” she said, adding that most companies in China do not look after the welfare of their workers, however she revealed that Megaman ensures that the welfare of their workers, which number to around 10,000, are looked after.

Being one of the core values of Megaman, technology has become an essential part of the product. Who would have thought that a CFL can be dimmed? The DorS (Dimming on random switches) Dimming Technology of Megaman lamps allow for the lamps to be dimmed to as low as 5 percent with the use of a regular switch and without the need of special fittings and installations. The feature creates various lighting atmospheres for each mood that the user wants to elicit.

Megaman also uses the patented Ingenium Technology to give the lamps a longer operation time of up to 15,000 burning hours and 600,000 switching cycle or a product life of up to five years. “The initial investment would be higher than with regular lamps but they would have more savings since they would not need to buy new bulbs more often,” Mang declared. “And this would also decrease the volume of garbage with less broken lamps thrown away.”

The Megaman’s ability to save electricity rests on the fact that Megaman lamps are 7 percent brighter than regular lamps and emit less heat. This would also mean less emission of carbon dioxide. “It consumes 80 percent less electricity, which also means 80 percent less carbon dioxide emissions,” Mang declared.

At present Megaman lamps in the Philippines are used in hotels and commercial centers, however, Mang said that they are optimistic that their residential market would also increase with the partnership that they have forged with the Megaman Lighting Philippines, a joint-venture company between Megaman and Cebu Home and Builders.

“We are a young company,” Mang said. ”But our company has been making CFLs from the beginning. That is all we make,” she said. Mang added that with over 400 products in their portfolio, they are able to meet every lighting solution.

Megaman, a Chinese company, was established in 1992 and is the top selling brand of CFL in Germany and France.