How long before all streetlights in most areas are LED?

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Northern Lights
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Re: How long before all streetlights in most areas are LED?

Post by Northern Lights »

Highland Council are well over 2/3rds the way through converting all their lighting to LED, & yes they too are ripping out "young" other lighting to make way, so not getting the full cost benefits of it!

Also drove through Achnasheen, & other villages that way at dusk recently, all new LED lights, causing huge glare in your eyes as get to a certain angle point in relation to the light. So glare, no glare, glare, no glare ,as you drive past each light!! Had to put the sun visor down!! I was in a new Golf, so a typical car, not a truck or big SUV.

I also noticed that you could see quite clearly the individual LED units as there were definite multiple hotspots.

Highland Council are still of the opinion that their 4000K LED lights are all ok as they meet the standards.

What I find funny is that recent research proves that mass worldwide conversion to 4000K LED lighting will DOUBLE the amount of sky glow (because of the increased blue wavelength which scatters more) & thus we will see less of the stars!

How long before the authorities admit this & have to rip out said LED lights & replace with lower CCT's, & at how much cost etc!
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Patrick Harper
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Re: How long before all streetlights in most areas are LED?

Post by Patrick Harper »

In order to achieve a switch away from 4000K LEDs you have to go after the British Standards and central government legal papers, these are what influence council decisions the most. Attacking councils achieves nothing because they are limited by the aforementioned variables.
Fenlander
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Re: How long before all streetlights in most areas are LED?

Post by Fenlander »

I have no doubt that in a few years this will rear its head like the VW emissions 'scandal', if you set particular targets and go after those targets ignoring everything else then yes you can sit there and keep saying "we meet or exceed current standards".
scott125
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Re: How long before all streetlights in most areas are LED?

Post by scott125 »

Glasgow has been installing LED s . But only on main roads , SOX still rules elsewhere . Different story in South Lanarkshire.
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KeithW
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Re: How long before all streetlights in most areas are LED?

Post by KeithW »

In the last month in Marton Cleveland we have had our old sodium streetlights replaced by new LED units. I have to say I consider it a success as the new lanterns are much more directional and my house is no longer bathed in a rather disturbing orange glow all night. The light seems to be focused where its needed on the footpath and road. I actually noticed it going to bed one night and thought that the lamp had failed because the hallway was so dark. The posts were modern steel units and they have just replaced the lanterns.
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Re: How long before all streetlights in most areas are LED?

Post by brummie_rob »

KeithW wrote:In the last month in Marton Cleveland we have had our old sodium streetlights replaced by new LED units. I have to say I consider it a success as the new lanterns are much more directional and my house is no longer bathed in a rather disturbing orange glow all night. The light seems to be focused where its needed on the footpath and road. I actually noticed it going to bed one night and thought that the lamp had failed because the hallway was so dark. The posts were modern steel units and they have just replaced the lanterns.
Isn't it the case that some people have moaned that the new lighting doesn't light there path/driveway up anymore and say they are rubbish because of it :roll:

Stoke have finally started the rollout of LED properly, there are three or four areas getting the treatment first. I noticed in Trentham that both main and side streets have been converted. Not seen them at night though to see how the light looks.
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KeithW
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Re: How long before all streetlights in most areas are LED?

Post by KeithW »

brummie_rob wrote:
Isn't it the case that some people have moaned that the new lighting doesn't light there path/driveway up anymore and say they are rubbish because of it :roll:

Stoke have finally started the rollout of LED properly, there are three or four areas getting the treatment first. I noticed in Trentham that both main and side streets have been converted. Not seen them at night though to see how the light looks.
Well I have a light outside the house if I want to illuminate it and discovered this new invention called the torch or flashlight :)

These things are always personal and frankly I wish they would just shut off all the lights after midnight as happened where I used to live.
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Chris5156
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Re: How long before all streetlights in most areas are LED?

Post by Chris5156 »

Lambeth have a lighting PFI so virtually all their lighting stock is less than a decade old. Lanterns across the borough are now rapidly changing to LED. I assume the borough council has coughed up some extra funding for this.

There must be a lot of perfectly good, nearly new lighting going in the recycling bin these days.
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trencheel303
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Re: How long before all streetlights in most areas are LED?

Post by trencheel303 »

Northern Lights wrote:Highland Council are well over 2/3rds the way through converting all their lighting to LED, & yes they too are ripping out "young" other lighting to make way, so not getting the full cost benefits of it!

Also drove through Achnasheen, & other villages that way at dusk recently, all new LED lights, causing huge glare in your eyes as get to a certain angle point in relation to the light. So glare, no glare, glare, no glare ,as you drive past each light!! Had to put the sun visor down!! I was in a new Golf, so a typical car, not a truck or big SUV.

I also noticed that you could see quite clearly the individual LED units as there were definite multiple hotspots.

Highland Council are still of the opinion that their 4000K LED lights are all ok as they meet the standards.

What I find funny is that recent research proves that mass worldwide conversion to 4000K LED lighting will DOUBLE the amount of sky glow (because of the increased blue wavelength which scatters more) & thus we will see less of the stars!

How long before the authorities admit this & have to rip out said LED lights & replace with lower CCT's, & at how much cost etc!
You'd love the Netherlands approach. Various types of lighting - some LED, some ceramic metal halide, lots of compact and PL fluoro and some old linear fluoro. But the best bit - almost all of it 3000K warm white, slightly less for the CMH. I'm also told that prior to 830 lamps being the current standard, that they used colour 29 fluorescents as well!

I don't actually mind 4000K in the right settings, but I think in almost all cases high quality 3000K is never a worse option and often looks nicer. It's slightly more versatile and "cleaner" light than 2700K, but still without the cold and uninviting feeling of higher CCTs which just aren't necessary in what is largely a cool, damp country.
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Re: How long before all streetlights in most areas are LED?

Post by Sulzer:1999 »

Northern Lights wrote:Highland Council are well over 2/3rds the way through converting all their lighting to LED, & yes they too are ripping out "young" other lighting to make way, so not getting the full cost benefits of it!

Also drove through Achnasheen, & other villages that way at dusk recently, all new LED lights, causing huge glare in your eyes as get to a certain angle point in relation to the light. So glare, no glare, glare, no glare ,as you drive past each light!! Had to put the sun visor down!! I was in a new Golf, so a typical car, not a truck or big SUV.

I also noticed that you could see quite clearly the individual LED units as there were definite multiple hotspots.

Highland Council are still of the opinion that their 4000K LED lights are all ok as they meet the standards.

What I find funny is that recent research proves that mass worldwide conversion to 4000K LED lighting will DOUBLE the amount of sky glow (because of the increased blue wavelength which scatters more) & thus we will see less of the stars!

How long before the authorities admit this & have to rip out said LED lights & replace with lower CCT's, & at how much cost etc!
I've been driving through Tomintoul at night quite a lot recently, complete replacement of sodium lights with LED's in the village, can't believe the difference, so much softer on my eyes.
Aberdeenshire doing piecemeal replacement along Deeside too.

Murray Duncan.
martinyoung91
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Re: How long before all streetlights in most areas are LED?

Post by martinyoung91 »

Jonathan24 wrote:
martinyoung91 wrote:
Jonathan24 wrote:
I had also previously noticed that casual replacements were like for like however, just in the last couple of days, the light below was replaced with a LED lantern, but the rest of the street are still sodium lanterns:

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@54.55511 ... 56!6m1!1e1

I had also previously noticed that where mainline SOX lanterns failed, they were replaced with SON (even for lamp failures) however a new batch of lamps now seems to have been sourced and SOX failures are now being relamped. Accordingly, the street linked below is now a whole mixture of SOX and SON!

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@54.55483 ... 56!6m1!1e1
Interesting, I walked past the one in Windermere on Sunday and it wasn't done then. Post tops are a certainly rareity in South Belfast. And the Cairnshill Road is just a mess, as is the Saintfield Road, with a mish-mash of SOX and SON.

I was astonished to see a complete new installation of SOX lanterns as late as November 2015 here:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@54.43655 ... 312!8i6656
Interestingly, the Cairnshill road is now even more of a mess as, not content with randomly replacing SOX with SON (but relamping other SOX), some SOX is now being replaced with LED (but not consistently, as SON is still being fitted too!)

So it's now SOX, SON and LED all on the same short stretch of road...it's quite distracting seeing all the different colours.
The mish-mash of SOX, SON & LED at Cairnshill Roundabout.
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A4174_Guy
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Re: How long before all streetlights in most areas are LED?

Post by A4174_Guy »

East Riding of Yorkshire council are properly going for it. Having replaced SOX with fluorescent only around 4-5 years back, they are already swapping these for LED in many places.
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Goldberg
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Re: How long before all streetlights in most areas are LED?

Post by Goldberg »

A4174_Guy wrote:East Riding of Yorkshire council are properly going for it. Having replaced SOX with fluorescent only around 4-5 years back, they are already swapping these for LED in many places.
They're swapping them fast in Sunderland, too. Since about late October, Sunderland City Council have been in the process of replacing over 23,000 of the standard SOX lights with LEDs.
Reading
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Re: How long before all streetlights in most areas are LED?

Post by Reading »

Problems starting to arise ? - article in local paper after firebrigade had to attend a fire in a new LED lampost, as the fire was at the top they struggled to get to the seat of the flames quickly. No extra info as to reason for the fire

Not an issue I ever remember with old lights, any issues tended to be in the bit at the bottom with the timer etc
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Re: How long before all streetlights in most areas are LED?

Post by Fenlander »

One off or a design problem? Either way a fire at the top of a lamppost is unlikely to cause much damage other than to the fitting and probably post itself so wouldn't be too much of a big deal to let it burn out itself anyway.
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trencheel303
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Re: How long before all streetlights in most areas are LED?

Post by trencheel303 »

Can happen to regular fixtures too if the ballast goes nuclear for whatever reason. I remember one report so well because it was referred to as ... "the top bulb bit" :laugh:
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Re: How long before all streetlights in most areas are LED?

Post by Reading »

Fenlander wrote:One off or a design problem? Either way a fire at the top of a lamppost is unlikely to cause much damage other than to the fitting and probably post itself so wouldn't be too much of a big deal to let it burn out itself anyway.
Unless it is in / close to a tree
Reading
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Re: How long before all streetlights in most areas are LED?

Post by Reading »

converted gas lanterns to be ripped out in Reading due to LED rollout - http://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/ ... f=mrb&lp=3
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DavidB
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Re: How long before all streetlights in most areas are LED?

Post by DavidB »

Reading wrote:converted gas lanterns to be ripped out in Reading due to LED rollout - http://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/ ... f=mrb&lp=3
Fate of Reading's cast iron lamp-posts goes to public consultation - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-40262541
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Gareth
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Re: How long before all streetlights in most areas are LED?

Post by Gareth »

Those columns could take LED lanterns just as well as the SOX ones they currently have. If the council is removing the columns because they're structural unsound, then they should say so.
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