Click on Above Images for LED Street Lights!
Skyrocketing energy costs, increasing labor costs, hazardous material disposal costs & the need to go green are all reasons many municipalities are switching to LED street lights or engaged in a pilot program to test the efficacy of replacing low pressure sodium (LPS), high pressure sodium (HPS) or other street lamps. Los Angeles, California is currently engaged in changing over 140,000 street lights to LED street lights. Ann Arbor, Michigan has already switched to LED street lights and New York City has begun a pilot program to test LED street lights.
What follows is a brief overview of many reasons to consider using LED street lights in your next project or as a means to save money and have a smaller environmental impact or carbon footprint as a result.
Cost Savings
Directionality
The initial cost of switching to LED street lights can look prohibitive, but when the costs of operating the lamps and the length of service an LED lamp provides making the change looks more attractive.
A straight up comparison of luminous efficacy tends to make one think that low pressure sodium street lamps are the most cost effective street light available. However, there are reasons why this may not be the case.
LED street lights with a lower lumen output can replace conventional lamps with a higher output. For example, a 30 Watt LED streetlight can often replace an 80 Watt HPS lamp. The reason for this is directionality.
An HPS lamp typically has to throw a lot more light than an LED street lamp to sufficiently brighten an area. The HPS and other lights will have a hot spot at the center of their beam's focus and in order to get enough light beyond this small area a much larger light output is required.
LED street lamps are very directional and the light output is much more even than other street lamps. Thus, there is little or no hotspot under the LED lamp. The light emitted from the LED lamp is spread throughtout the entire area it covers. This means that a lower amount of light is needed to properly illuminate an area.
Longevity
LED street lights last much longer than conventional street lights. To say that an LED lamp needs to be replaced less often than a LPS or other street lamp is accurate, but it doesn't tell the entire story.
LED street lights do last much longer than conventional lamps. Typically 3 to 5 times longer. This results in less expense in replacing the lights themselves, but also the labor to replace a lamp is needed less often. This provides a great cost savings by itself.
In addition to this, LED street lamps have many integral features which make them the better solution in terms of length of service. The loss of brightness or lumen depreciation is slower over the life of an LED lamp than that of a sodium or other lamp. So not only does the LED have a longer lifespan than the conventional lamp, but it stays brighter longer than other lamps.
Since an LED lamp is actually made up of many individual LEDs, it is difficult to damage a fixture to the point where it casts little or no light. Whereas, other street lamps have a single glass bulb and any damage to this results in complete failure of the luminaire. And the low operating temperature of the LED lights means that the problem of lens yellowing often seen on other street lights is eliminated.
Environmental
Low Impact In Use
Since a lower wattage LED street light can replace most standard lamps at higher wattages, the carbon footprint is smaller than other lights due to lower energy usage. However, there are other benefits these LED luminaires provide.
As has been previously stated, LEDs by nature are highly directional which results in the ability to use a lower power LED light compared to another lamp for the same job. This has an additional benfit. Light goes where it is meant to go. Thus, there is little light which is wasted illuminating the night sky. A considerable plus if the local municipality has a Darksky Initiative.
Not only is it easy to direct LED light, but they can be manufactured to produce light which renders more natural light than the yellow of sodium lamps or green of flourescent streetlights and no UV or IR radiation is emitted from the LED street lamps. No hot spots and a comfortable and accurate color rendering is safer and more pleasant for those who use the lights... the public.
Lower Impact When Used Up
When it finally comes time to replace an LED street light the cost for doing so is less than that of other lamps. Spent LEDs can be tossed without any special handling or disposal requirement.
Other lights often have hazardous materials such as lead and mercury which require special handling and waste management procedures which have both economic and environmental costs.
In addition to this, the polycarbonate case enclosing the LEDs will not present a handling problem. Unlike glass lights which are fragile and must be protected from injuring those working with them and from breaking and contaminating the environment with hazardous waste.
