Fresh Bulb(TM) Eliminate Odors & Cut Lighting Costs 62 to 77%

Titanium dioxide-coated compact fluorescent bulbs last longer than incandescent and use one-fourth t

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. October 14, 2008

SAINT CHARLES, MO, January 31, 2006. Strong odors and weak lighting are two of the top complaints of hotel guests. Rising electricity costs and falling margins are two of the top complaints of hotel owner/operators. Now, thanks to Pineapple Hospitality, hotels can turn these long-standing complaints into opportunities - and it's as simple as replacing a few light bulbs.

Saint Charles-based Pineapple Hospitality is pleased to introduce the world's first Fresh BulbTM - compact fluorescent lighting (CFL) technology proven to help hospitality properties eliminate odors while decreasing related lighting costs 62 to 77 percent.

"Fresh BulbTM provides a complete payback in three months and a 20-fold overall return on investment in lighting cost-savings alone - and this doesn't factor in the significant benefits of improved guest satisfaction, repeat business and referrals that come from turning guests on to better-lit rooms that have no smoke, food or other odors," says Ray Burger, President of Pineapple Hospitality.

Odor Killer

Talk about a fresh idea: How about a light bulb that eliminates odors? We're not talking futuristic, 22nd-century technology. Pineapple's Fresh BulbTM is eliminating odors in hotel rooms as you read this.

Sharon Gallagher, CFL Product Manager for Technical Consumer Products - Pineapple Hospitality's energy-efficient lighting partner in Aurora, Ohio - says the bulbs have coats of armor to fight off odors.

"Each Fresh BulbTM is dipped three times in titanium dioxide and allowed to dry," Gallagher says. "The coatings react with the fluorescent lighting when the bulb is turned on and within 10 minutes the Fresh BulbTM begins eliminating odors ranging from tobacco to burned popcorn to you name it.

"It works like magic because you can't see it or smell it working," Gallagher adds. "It's all very quiet. Fresh BulbTM doesn't mask odors with a flowery scent. It eliminates them - quickly and completely."

"Pineapple's Fresh BulbTM creates fresh indoor air," beams Steve Barber, Chief Engineer at the 76-room Lexington Inn, part of Americas Best Value Inns' Lexington Collection, in Indian Harbour Beach, Fla.

The pet-friendly property had a guest with a dog - both displaced by Hurricane Katrina - stay in a room late last year for three months and the duo really put the Fresh BulbTM to the test.

"Initially, myself and my executive housekeeper were skeptical as to whether the Fresh BulbTM actually could eliminate odors, but we soon saw the light," Barber says. "That room had an awful dog smell, but when we changed out our lighting from 60-watt incandescents to Fresh BulbsTM after the two left, that room miraculously was fresh smelling in a matter of hours.

"We're not really sure how it works - but it does, thank God," Barber adds. "We tried virtually everything else to get rid of the odor. Who knew it was as easy as changing out a few bulbs?"

Cash Cow

Barber says the move to the 23-watt CFL Fresh BulbTM also has improved the property's guest satisfaction as lighting is enhanced approximately 40 percent because the CFLs are the illumination equivalent of a 100-watt incandescent.

"Better-lit properties mean more guests, which means a brighter bottom line," Barber says.

"We're also realizing a 62-percent decrease in energy consumption related to these lights," Barber adds. "With three bulbs per room, we'll save thousands of dollars every year."

Raj Vanmali, owner of the 36-room Americas Best Value Inn in Nashville, Tenn., concurs. The hotel recently replaced five 100-watt incandescent bulbs in each room with Fresh BulbsTM.

"We received a complete payback on the project in energy savings alone in about three months, and these Fresh BulbsTM can last up to five years - meaning a potential 20-fold return on investment in energy savings alone," Vanmali says.

"We upgraded each guestroom with four to six Fresh BulbsTM in December," says Mike Patel, owner of the 48-room Americas Best Value Inn in Middleton/Franklin, Ohio. "We had 75-watt incandescent bulbs before, so our guestroom lighting is significantly enhanced with these CFLs.

"Just as important, we're trimming our related lighting costs up to 70 percent," Patel adds. "Anytime you can save money while improving the guest experience, it's a good thing."

Minimal Maintenance

Burger says the average hotel guestroom bulb is "on" for 2,000 hours per year and the Fresh BulbTM is rated for 10,000 hours of use.

"The average incandescent is rated for 1,000 hours - one-tenth the work hours the Fresh BulbTM is," Burger says. "Who wants to have to change out three to five bulbs in every guestroom twice a year when with Fresh BulbTM it can be a twice-a-decade job?

"It's more than a maintenance issue. It's also a guest service issue," Burger adds, "Usually, the person who first finds out a guestroom lamp's bulb has died is the last person you'd want to find it - the guest. With Fresh BulbTM, you can keep your maintenance and engineering staff focusing on the bigger jobs and keep your guests in the light, and coming back."

Matthew Disheroon, GM of the LaQuinta Inn & Suites in Bentonville, Ark., said the property is testing Fresh BulbsTM in 10 of its 107 rooms and could go Fresh BulbTM all the way very shortly.

"It looks like it's going to do everything we were told it can do," Disheroon says. "If Fresh BulbTM does all of that, then it's kind of a no-brainer investment."

Gary Shah, GM of the 100-room Best Western Heritage Inn in Chattanooga, Tenn., says "Fresh BulbTM does it all - from cutting energy, storage and labor costs to bolstering room ambiance, guest safety and satisfaction, and repeat business and referrals."

Headquartered in Saint Charles, Missouri, Pineapple HospitalityTM is an EPA Energy StarTM partner bringing fresh ideas to hospitality guests' doors and owner/operators' bottom lines - including FreshStayTM, Environmentally Sensitive Amenities, the greenSPA luxury amenity and dispenser system, GE energy efficient lighting, Guestat programmable thermostats, Oxygenic water-efficient showerheads, the Nature's Mist deodorization system, and dozens of other products and programs. To get a taste of Pineapple's sweet solutions helping hundreds of hotels bolster business and cut costs, please visit www.pineapplehospitality.net, or call Ray Burger at 636-922-2285.