November 17, 2011

An article in a national newspaper told the story of how a number of council across the UK are dimming the road lighting in order to cut costs. The Daily Telegraph reports that one in 10 street lights are being powered down through the night or stopped altogether in an attempt to save cash on energy bills. Numerous local authorities are getting their public spending budgets cut in an effort to decrease the country’s financial obligations and consequently, the councils are now trying to find ways to cut costs.

Cllr Peter Box, chairman of the Local Government Association’s Economy and Transport Board, says that at times of hard financial pressure, councils should look for options to cut costs and save taxpayers’ money but without minimizing public safety. He promises that by doing so, it doesn’t impact frontline providers like filling potholes, child protection and collecting bins. And if councils dimmed their own pendant lighting and bathroom wall lighting in buildings, they could reduce costs even more.

It is claimed that if UK authorities turn off just 9% of their LED lighting they can save a substantial £21.5 million per year but the schemes applied to reduce the street lighting is really priced at five times more than saving and is a staggering £106.3 million, so in the beginning it will be more expensive to save. The pricey schemes consist of technology to steadily decrease the amount of light given off being installed along with converting lights to part-night operations; however some councils won’t be able to imagine a return on investment or get any benefits for up to eight years. But if councils can spend less, so can homeowners too with their garden lighting and bathroom lighting.

Breakdown cover firm AA has issued a warning about the proposal, declaring that concerns need to be taken on-board as lucent places are frequently suggested as a preventative crime measure. But the head of road safety, Andrew Howard, has said that dampening the power usage of wall lighting and street lights for part of the night is a much better alternative than removing them completely. Councils have been advised by the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety that they have to keep an eye on traffic in the areas and have a clear reason for dimming or turning off the outdoor lighting.

The amount of councils across the UK thinking about the plan is growing as well as the number of homeowners with their garden lights or kitchen lighting. Bedford Borough Council is running a trial of turning off 83-lights between midnight and 5am to save £383 a year. And Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council has stated it expects to dim 4,500-lights from 10pm and 6am for one year too. What’s more, Derbyshire County Council is thinking about getting involved and switching off lights between the hours of midnight and 5:30am to conserve £400,000 a year; and Leeds City Council is also preparing to turn off 8,000 lights over the next three years. Moreover, Warwickshire County Council has said it will start to begin to shut down 80% of its 48,500 street lights at the beginning of next year.

Nonetheless, many authorities in cities have opted not to become immersed in the plan and plunge into dark with Birmingham, Manchester and almost all of London boroughs not changing off their tiffany lighting. Denbighshire Council in Wales has said that the payback period is too much and Croydon Council claim that they decided never to dim the street lights.

Just like the councils, you can save money on the energy bills too by dimming the chandeliers and wall lights. Try to turn the bathroom lights and kitchen lights off when no one is in the room to be eco-friendly and motivate the children to value how expensive modern lighting rates can be. Many bathroom spotlights can now be bought that are low energy rated.

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