LED Streetlights

holly_johnson

Hi! I’m just wondering has anyone else had their old yellow toned streetlights replaced with bright white LED lights recently? They are so much brighter & harsher that I can’t sleep anymore! I have blackout curtains but the bright white glow is awful. Any ideas about what I can do or am I resigned to this? It’s so bright it’s really bad.

L1011

Happening everywhere in the country. They aren't going to be changed back, basically.

ArmaniJeanss

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058206970/led-streetlights

My street had the yellow replaced with the whites about a year ago (Mulhuddart area). Have to say I find them much better, always found the yellow very intrusive - there's one basically outside my bedroom window which seemed to shine in on me all the time. The white is, to my eyes, much less harsh and everything seems a bit darker at top floor level as the whites point down rather than out.

But I guess it's one of those things whereby not everyone is sensitive to the same things. Which maybe worth bearing in mind if you try to get the council to change as your neighbours may have a different opinion.

dhaughton99

I used a paint roller on a long pole and some black paint to take some of the brightness out of the one outside the front of my house.

Oafley Jones

They’re also worse for insects apparently.

Larbre34

Delighted with them, much better light from a security point of view and as someone who pays a proportion of energy consumption for lighting in a private estate, it has dropped our costs by 40%.

Our bedroom has an ordinary fabric blind with long drapes on top and I have to say I haven't noticed any major difference. The nearest lamp to us is directly across the street on the opposite footpath.

In terms of Council lighting, all will be replaced anyway over the next couple of years, so whether it's now, by request, or later, everyone will have them shortly.

Gaspode

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117836094#Comment_117836094

This is a massive issue with the LEDS. Insect life around white LED street lights is 50% lower than in areas with sodium lamps and up to 85% than areas with no lamps resp. We depend on insect life to survive on this planet, and we are systematically wiping it out.

IMO all street lights should dim to 50% around midnight and go off altogether around 3 or 4 am. The amount of pointless lighting on this planet is just mind-numbingly insane. I dont know if there is a whole lot of hard evidence that street lighting prevents crime.

Caranica

Street lights are for safety first, crime prevention comes down the list. No way should lights dim or switch off just because most people are home by midnight and don't go out until it's light. Plenty of people don't.

Our local and national authorities need to find a solution that is both low energy and wildlife friendly.

Larbre34

So what if insect life is lower around the LED lamps?

Street lights aren't life sustaining for them. Just because less insects swarm around LED than sodium lights in the hours of darkness, doesn't mean the insects aren't still out there. Are people suggesting that the LEDs harm them in some fashion?

There are tens of thousands of kilometres of roads on this island alone. What percentage is urban and lit? 5,10%? Just look at this nighttime satellite image of Ireland to see the percentage of the land unlit and where insects are unaffected one way or the other by artificial lighting.

c0477374-800px-wm.jpg

josip

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058206970/led-streetlights

Ask the council responsible to fit baffles to them if they are shining in your windows. We did this and are happy with the outcome.

ongarboy

I find the LEDs cast more of a spotlight effect. The area where my car is parked is now much brighter (and hopefully makes it more secure) and the amount of light shining into my upper floor bedroom is much less which I'm happier about.

Gaspode

Predators can kill more insects around LED lights because they are so attracted to the white light.

Saying 'so what' is incredibly short-sighted and the sort of thinking that is leading to the demise of insects. We depend on these creatures for our long term survival, we have to think of the planet as a whole not just ourselves. Saying sure there's loads of places without streetlights is nonsense, the pace of lighting is increasing at a massive rate in Ireland and across the world, there are really very few dark places left. Sue, lights can make places safer for people but so much of the lights on at night are unnecessary.