From Then to Now: A History of Super Bright LEDs
Since its creation in 2002, Super Bright LEDs has grown from having a small site with a few LED lights to being an industry leader that offers thousands of LED lighting products. These products are available for any application or industry from home, vehicle, and landscape lighting to commercial and industrial lighting. Our constantly growing product line includes a wide variety of LED light fixtures and bulbs, LED strip lights, work lights, parking lot lights, power supplies, and LED accessories—to name a few. For a more detailed list of products, browse our website or visit the bottom of this post.
Super Bright LEDs is located in Earth City, MO. Because our warehouse is fully stocked and centrally located, we can offer quick shipping to any U.S. state, and we also ship products internationally. We’re not just an online LED retailer; we’re also a wholesaler for our commercial customers.
As the saying goes: “It takes a village to raise a child,” and superbrightleds.com wouldn’t have developed into what it is today without its owners, Greg and Carol Henderson and their dedicated employees. Teams consist of engineers who thoroughly test all products, trained customer service and experienced technical support representatives, sales employees, business account managers, warehouse workers, web designers, coders, content specialists, photographers, and videographers.
Now that you have a taste of what SBL is today, some history is in order. Before developing superbrightleds.com, Greg Henderson (who has an electrical engineering background) and his wife Carol owned a company called Red Line Inc. They designed and manufactured laser projectors for the entertainment industry, and they also designed and manufactured programmable automatic wire cutting machines. The idea for a company centered around LEDs came after visiting lighting shows for LEDs to use in their laser projectors. Greg had an urge to create more products that used LEDs. He started with an LED flame lamp. This hanging bowl fixture used an LED that illuminated blowing fabric in such a way that it looked like a real flame.
Superbrightleds.com made its debut in 2002 and was based in the Henderson’s basement. LED flame lamps and the LEDs used to make them were the first products offered on the site. Soon SBL changed roles from primarily manufacturing to distributing LED products and added a selection of LED car bulbs. The selection started with just an 1157 bulb, and a variety of other vehicle bulb types followed. During the same time, we introduced our first home lighting product—an under-cabinet LED light bar. Shortly after, we added a screw-base LED bulb for general home lighting and were among the first to do so.
Landscape LED lights stemmed from home lighting, and commercial LED truck lights stemmed from car bulbs. By 2007, our product line had grown so much that we had individual categories filled with LED products. Before 2012, the site consisted primarily of individual LEDs and LED bulbs. That year, our line of complete LED fixtures expanded from flame lamps, utility lights, and landscape spotlights to high-bay lights, flood lights, and work lights. Today we offer hundreds of LED light fixtures.
The company quickly outgrew Greg and Carol’s basement and was moved to a 4,400-square-foot building in Florissant, MO. After three years, the Hendersons purchased a 25,000-square-foot building in Earth City, MO. We’ve continued to grow, and in 2015, the Hendersons purchased a nearby building previously owned by Forest Pharmaceuticals and connected it to the existing building. This gave SBL a total of 80,000 square feet, which was expanded to 100,000 square feet by 2018.
A Look Inside:
In-House Test Lab
We have an in-house test lab where our engineers ensure that all products meet expected requirements and quality standards. They perform durability and burn-in tests and use several pieces of equipment to test for brightness, color temperature (CCT), color-rendering index (CRI), and operating temperature. These devices are also used to generate LM-79, LM-80, and Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) reports.
- Spectrometers
- Variety of instruments ranging from rack-mount units to handheld units that are used for measuring lumens, peak wavelength, CCT, and CRI
- Integrating Spheres
- Various sizes used for measuring lumens, peak wavelength, CCT, and CRI
- Environmental Chamber
- The 30-cubic-foot enclosure reproduces temperatures and relative humidity found within commercial and industrial LED lighting applications. Photometric and electrical data collection occurs while the chamber cycles through temperatures ranging from negative 35° C (negative 31° F) to 200° C (392° F). Humidity ranges from 10 to 95 percent.
- FLIR Camera
- Used for measuring internal and external product temperatures from LEDs, drivers, and components
- Durability Tests
- Products are time tested in applicable environments. Vibration, temperature, impact, and water tests ensure that products will perform under normal and extreme conditions.
For more information about the testing equipment and procedures we use, click here.
Photography and Videography Studios
Our photographers and videographers have everything they need to provide you with high-quality product visuals. To help you feel confident in what you’d be purchasing, photographers work to capture every shot and show our products being used in their intended environments. Videographers create content for our website and for Youtube. These videos range from product highlights to installations and creative DIY projects using our products.
Site Features:
Illuminated Environment Simulator
This interactive tool uses IES data to show LED light output in certain environments. The photometric data on the IES file makes it possible to show accurate fixture intensity and beam spread relative to ceiling height, room size, and other factors. You can choose from a list of LED lights on the site and see them installed in a given environment. Using this tool, you can also change environments and compare products side by side.
Vehicle Bulb Finder
Our Vehicle Bulb Finder pinpoints exactly which bulbs will work with your vehicle. Simply select your year, make, and model, and the VBF shows you bulb options that are separated by their location on your vehicle. In the VBF, you will also find helpful articles and frequently asked questions about car bulbs. If you know the exact bulb you’re looking for, there’s also an option to select it from a list by its cross reference number. When you’re done shopping, the VBF will save your vehicle for the next time you visit the site.
Universal Bulb Finder
In the Universal Bulb Finder, bulbs are categorized by type, such as globe, PAR and BR, MR, tube, vintage, decorative, automotive, and more. There are photos and clickable links for each bulb type. A filter on the side of the UBF page allows you to narrow down results based on exact bulb shape, base type, brightness, color, wattage, dimmability, voltage, and water resistance
roducts:
Car, Boat, Motorcycle, RV and Golf Cart LED Bulbs and Fixtures
We sell LED vehicle bulbs in many styles, shapes, and with a variety of base types, such as bayonet, miniature wedge, and festoon. Choose from various color temperatures and intensities. Other vehicle lighting products include LED tailgate light bars, rooftop light bars, work lights, accent, engine, and truck bed LED strip lights, and complete sealed-beam headlight, license plate, fog light, and daytime running light fixtures. Vehicle bulb installation supplies, such as flashers, load resistors, sockets, and strobe modules, are also available.
Applications:
tail lights, brake lights, turn signal lights, headlights, map lights, trunk lights, footwell lights, courtesy lights, gauge lights, instrument panel lights, dome lights, glove box lights, daytime running lights, fog lights, license plate lights, engine lights
LED light fixtures are available for semi trucks, dump trucks, trash trucks, commercial delivery trucks, box trucks, buses, and trailers. We have a large selection of DOT- and SAE-approved fixtures in many shapes and styles. Truck and trailer installation accessories, such as plugs, sockets, connectors, grommets, flanges, and reflex reflectors, are also available.
LED truck and trailer fixtures include tail lights, brake lights, parking lights, turn signal lights, reverse lights, marker lights, clearance lights, dome lights, license plate lights, ID lights, and pedestal lights.
LED home lighting products are available for indoor or outdoor applications, such as living rooms, bedrooms, basements, garages, kitchens, bathrooms, and landscape lighting. Products include common Edison screw base bulbs and bi-pin bulbs as well as complete LED ceiling, garage, under-cabinet, motion, and can light fixtures.
Popular commercial and residential landscape products include spotlights, flood lights, deck lights, path lights, well lights, pond/fountain lights, and hardscape lights. In addition to LED fixtures, we also have LED landscape replacement bulbs.
Products are available for many industrial environments, including warehouses, parking lots/garages, tunnels, gymnasiums, factories, and gas stations. LED products in this category include parking lot lights, wall packs, canopy lights, linear lights/strip light fixtures, industrial retrofit bulbs and kits, vapor-proof lights, and explosion-proof LED lights.
Applications include retail lighting, offices, classrooms, supermarkets, and lighting for other businesses or commercial establishments. LED products range from LED panel lights, skylight panels, and can lights to LED sign modules, trade show lights, and T8 LED tube light bulbs.
Flexible LED strip lights and rigid LED bars are offered for numerous applications, including under-cabinet lights, above-cabinet lights, toe-kick lighting, shelf lighting, step lights, cove lighting, landscape lighting, showcase lighting, and vehicle lighting. Strips are available in a variety of colors or in color-changing RGB, RGBW, and tunable white versions. Control options include remotes, smartphones, Alexa, or Google Assistant.
We offer LED light box panels for anything from retail signage and advertisements to photos and artwork. You can upload your own images or choose from a variety of stock images to be printed directly on panel diffusers. These LED light box panels use Even-Glow® technology to emit smooth lighting without visible bulbs. A variety of types are available, such as easy snap-open, double sided, flush mount or stand alone for 120-volt or 12-volt applications.
RV Interior and Off-Grid LED Bulbs and Fixtures
These 12-volt LED bulbs can be used for RV interior lighting, tiny house trailers, mobile trailer shops, food trucks, or boat cabins. The low-voltage LED lights can also be used for off-grid living and renewable energy applications. Bulb types include A19, A21, A15, T14, and ST18 Edison screw base bulbs as well as bayonet, miniature wedge, and festoon bulbs for interior lighting applications.
LED strobe lights are available for use on police vehicles, search-and-rescue vehicles, fire trucks, roadside assistance trucks, and other emergency vehicles. You can choose from a wide variety of colors and dual-color combinations. Products include LED strobe light beacons, surface-mount strobe light heads, mini light bars, strobe light bulbs, safety flares, and strobe modules.
Styles include straight and curved light bars with single-, dual-, and quad-row LED configurations. These LED light bars are available in varying lengths for compatibility with a range of vehicles, such as trucks, ATVs, UTVs, Jeeps, and SUVs. Light bars are also available with red/white, infrared, and amber/white LEDs. All of our off-road light bars come with a lifetime warranty.
Our work lights come in many shapes, sizes, intensities, LED colors, and with spot or flood beam patterns. Most have adjustable mounting options. Applications range from trucks, ATVs, and UTVs to boats. Rechargeable handheld work lights are also available.
LED Flashlights, Flashlight Bulbs, Bicycle Lights, and Novelty Lights
We offer a variety of portable and hands-free LED lighting options. Products include portable work lights, puck lights, bicycle lights, LED flashlight bulbs, LED tea lights, vase lights, LED fairy lights, and more.
Installation and Power Supplies
Products include LED drivers/power supplies, rocker switches, motion switches, power wire and cables for LED strip lights and other LED products, fuses, wire connectors, wire mounting and organizing supplies, empty bases and sockets, electrical tape, and other installation materials.
