Gallery of Lights
Lanterns/Fixtures => News about Lanterns/Fixtures => Topic started by: mercuryvaporrocks on July 18, 2012, 02:23:25 PM
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LED streetlight venture promises more illumination, lower cost
About Tom Yerace
Valley News Dispatch Staff reporter Tom Yerace can be reached via e-mail or at 724-226-4675. TribLIVE Mobile | Contact us
More Valley News Dispatch
By Tom Yerace
Published: Sunday, May 6, 2012, 10:52 p.m.
Updated: Monday, May 7, 2012
Borough officials have hit upon a bright idea — literally — that should save thousands of dollars.
Actually, the idea is a joint venture borough council has approved with General Electric Lighting Systems, which is providing 431 low-energy using LED (light emitting diode) street light fixtures on a lease-to-own basis.
It's a program for municipalities that GE is just starting.
Tarentum is the first to use the program.
"We'll be the first town in Pennsylvania, I guess, that will have all LED street lighting," said Borough Manager Bill Rossey.
"It's going to cost $248,000, and that's roughly including the cost of installation," he said.
The borough will start out leasing the fixtures from GE and then own them outright once the cost is paid off. "It will be over a 60 percent savings in our energy costs from what we're paying now, so we'll be paying less than half," Rossey said. "As for the maintenance costs, it will reduce our maintenance costs by 99 percent."
The lights the borough will put up will either be 250 watts or 100 watts in terms of light given off.
However, they will use only about 45 watts worth of electricity.
According to GE, the LED lights will last 15 years, Rossey said.
The high-pressure sodium-vapor lights the borough has been using last only three to four years. The borough uses a contractor to replace them at an annual cost of about $30,000.
"We're paying $16,000 to $18,000 a month for street lighting, and that will be cut by more than half," Rossey said. "And our maintenance costs will be eliminated," Rossey said.
Even using the lower figure, it amounts to an annual savings of $115,200 in electricity and another $30,000 in maintenance.
"The savings from the energy costs will pay for the lease, so there will be no cost to the borough," Rossey said.
Aside from the savings, he said the LED lights will provide a much brighter, clearer white light. The existing lights offer illumination with an orange cast to it, he said.
"Even photos taken with surveillance cameras are much clearer when they are taken under LED light," Rossey said.
Another feature of the LED lights is that their direction can be adjusted to place the light wherever it is needed. The current lights don't have that capability.
The units shed light for a little more than 50 feet, Rossey said. With the borough's poles located about 100 feet apart, the entire length of streets should be lit, as opposed to the individual pools of light given off by current fixtures, he said.
"The police will love it," Rossey said. As for council, he said, "They all pretty much said: 'This is a no-brainer.' "
He said the order for the new fixtures will be placed Monday and manufacturing should take 4 to 6 weeks.
Rossey said he thinks the new lights should all be installed and working by August.
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Hopefully the borough hate the LED lights and GE reimburses them with HPS fixtures or better yet CMH fixtures. 8)