Out door lighting too bright?

Liberty1

My neighbour is a school and following some vandalism last winter they put all-night lighting up for security/insurance reasons. I understand where they're coming from but the lights are up high on their wall and beam into all of the rooms in my flat all night (yes, through curtains). I can't sleep. Neither can the people I have spoken with in the other flats facing the school. Neighbourly discussions have not given any results i.e. lighting is still as gulag-like as ever. Does anyone know whether there is some sort of limit to the brightness level allowed for the external lighting on buildings in urban areas? I live in Dublin. Have been looking by myself but haven't turned up anything. Thanks.

M cebee

prob metal halide-can they face them down a bit?

indie armada

if its an oranage coloured light its sodium and if its a white light its metal halide or mercury. it doesnt matter which bulb is in the fitting they are all very bright. depending on the fitting they might be persueded to fit diffusers to block the light source from your point of view. i dont think there is a quick cheap solution to this problem unless like mcebee says they are wall or post mounted floods and can be angled down. is it posible to post a pic of the fitting during the day when they are off?

Liberty1

Thanks to both, these are bright white lights, a bit like what you would see at a football stadium. They are wall mounted, looking down into the school yard. When we started talking with the school previously, they said they couldn't take them down - cost, needed for insurance, presumably meeting their security requirement - but would change their angle, put on "blinkers" to keep them from shining into the flats and so on. The say they have done this but I don't see any difference. I think they now feel the matter is closed. I can't post a pic because I would have to trespass to take one! As a school, I think they would respond to regulations, if regulations exist, so I am looking to find out whether there is any regulatory limit on the brightness of the lights that can be put on the outsides of buildings, especially in urban areas, where they are likely to affect neighbours. Thanks again!

Buford T Justice

If they are causing nuisance to the neighbourhood then report them to the council, and see how that goes.

Red Alert

The bizarre thing is that very bright floodlighting doesn't necessarily make anywhere more secure. Because it creates shadows that people (and CCTV cameras) can't see as easily. Much better if they had installed plenty of low-level lights.