LED Streetlights Line The Road To An Efficient Future

From streetlights to floor lamps, artificial light helps to constitute our very reality, and though most of us are unaware, it is immensely expensive. More than any other type of lighting, however, street lighting is especially costly due to its vast quantity and immense wattage. What makes this cost worse, however, is the fact that the technologies in place are completely outdated and are easily upgradable to a fixture that will use a fraction of the energy and last five to ten times longer.

For the sake of argument, let’s say that a given load on a given grid (attributable to street lighting) is 1,000,000 kWhs. If every fixture were switched to an LED, not only would that load be reduced to around 500,000 kWhs, but the replacement and maintenance costs would be zero over the given life of the lamp, which if used 10 hours per day, is up to 13 years. Over a period of thirteen years, hundreds upon hundreds of conventional replacement lamps (sodium, mercury, etc.), not to mention man hours, are expended, thus adding a large cost to the already immense energy cost.

We currently offer two models of streetlight head, a 56-168W variable Street Light and a 28W E40 replacement Street Light. Both heads are available with Cree® LEDs and have the following features:

• LEDs are directional, thus no lost light and no need for reflection or redirection
• Extra wide 120° beam spread
• Highly efficient color temperature that allows the use of less lumens to create a brighter and more humane environment than the traditional dull amber of standard street lights
• Designed using a quick-change modular system for easy replacement in case of damage
• Possess an easy-to-calculate step-up system so that you can easily determine the proper illumination for an area
• Available at competitive prices so that you can start saving now before increased electricity costs bankrupt your local government

Last year, Ann Arbor, MI launched an initiative to switch their entire public lighting scheme over to LEDs. According to their research, this switch will cut the town’s lighting-related energy consumption in half. Similar initiatives are cropping up around the US, from San Francisco, California to Raleigh, North Carolina.

Next time you go downtown, take a good look at your traffic lights. Chances are they are already LEDs. Indeed, it’s only a matter of time before LED streetlights are as common as evening strolls. Talk to your local representatives today about how your town can start saving money by drastically reducing its carbon footprint.

LED*Waves – Saving the world, one bulb at a time.