Upgrading street lights to LED Roadway Light scan be one of the easier wins for councils to reduce operational costs, as a number of examples have shown in the past year.
Big financial savings – plus added value
Premium Light Pro recently showcased Torbay Council’s 2016 upgrade of their street lighting, featuring a control system, and altering the colour temperature of some road lights to improve driver facial recognition, while reducing energy consumption and making cost savings of over £100,000.
More recently, Islington Council, as part of a pledge to 10:10’s Lighten Up campaign, put the wheels in motion to upgrade 11,350 street lights to LED – which is estimated to save the council £400,000 per year.
Beyond energy savings, best practice projects have also increased controllability, safety, reduced light pollution and improved aesthetics.
Islington, for example, will see 4,025 ‘heritage style’ lanterns that are vital to the area’s look and identity preserved – simply retrofitted to contain LED Decorative lamps. Here, too, the safety aspect is a big motivation. The council expects that the ‘cooler’ colour temperature of the LED lighting will make the streets safer, by aiding facial recognition via CCTV cameras.
No need to turn off the Street lighting Products
This is Britain, so it’s sensible to start planning for when it’s cold and dark even when the weather’s starting to look up. And one far from positive development when considering how to light up the gloom is that in the current public sector funding climate, many councils have been forced to dim or turn off street lights.
It was reported in 2017 that this equated to around 42% of lights from 104 UK councils. It’s no surprise, then, that this causes concern about road safety and crime.
But here’s where energy efficient bulbs like LEDs can make a big difference. Lights with a lower operating cost can be left on for longer, with added controllability which enables dimming on roads and outdoor spaces to be smarter, providing more light when it’s needed.
Kick-starting a mass upgrade
Whilst LED upgrades sound like a no-brainer, in reality there is a long way to go before they become the norm on the UK’s thoroughfares.
Street lighting accounts for around 4% of the UK lighting electricity bill, but only about 1 in 5 lamps are currently LED. The energy saving per street light is estimated at around 35%; if this could be realised across the entire UK stock, cost savings could be in the region of £77 million. So, light’s been shed on the situation, Now is the time to take action.