After spending the past eight years building LED lighting systems independently, Justin Gray introduced a line of energy-efficient LED products Thursday, saying he has "reinvented the light bulb."

Gray's startup, Blue Phoenix Lites (BP Lites), wants to take the appeal and reliability of high-energy concert lights into homes and businesses. Gray, the company's president, has worked as a stagehand technician for major entertainment acts. This year, he is working with Northwest LoveFest, a summer musical festival.

"I want light to be accessible to everybody," said Gray. "I'm so sick of people saying LEDs are too expensive."

Northwest LoveFest founder Jeremy Westfall said he chose to work with BP Lites to reduce the festival's environmental impact. An LED light bulb can last 50,000 hours or almost six years of continuous use, compared with an incandescent bulb, which lasts 1,500 hours.

Edward Smalley, manager of street-lighting engineering at Seattle City Light, said that the cost of LED lighting is not inexpensive, and can be a "significant investment."

"You can buy a regular light bulb for 25 cents, but it can cost around $15 for an LED light fixture, which also lasts years more," he said. A 7-watt light bulb from BP Lites costs $29.

Gray's flashy line of products, two of which are Energy Star certified, includes posters and metal signs lit with LED lights. Currently, the company sells the products online and works out of a small office space in Seattle. The majority of BP Lites' products are manufactured in China. Gray shared his ideas with factories in China, which he said were using low-quality LEDs and in return had products created for him.

Joel Smith, a residential-lighting program manager at Puget Sound Energy, said LED lighting in the next 20 years will be used in "creative and imaginative ways" and will replace the traditional incandescent light bulb.

He said sales are still small compared with fluorescent lights but that most LED light products have been on the market only recently.

Atia Musazay: 206-464-2718 or amusazay@seattletimes.com