Benefits of LED Lights

The City of Memphis and MLGW contracted with Ameresco Inc. last year to replace the city’s 77,000 streetlights. Crews started converting lights in late January and have since replaced about 3% of the city’s bulbs. We’re on track to replace every streetlight by the end of the year.

We're excited about this project for many reasons. Here are ten!

 

LEDs use less power and can save money on electrical bills

• LEDs use substantially less power than HID lights. This is a big plus for the environment. Many countries such as the EU and USA also offer special rates for LED Street lighting – ones that are based on equivalent wattages. This was done to help offset the higher price of LEDs. This can allow businesses to save money on their energy bill while simultaneously protecting the environment.

LEDs operate better in the cold

• High Pressure Sodium lights require a higher voltage to start in cold temperatures and the intensity of their light diminishes.  LED lights perform better, by up to 5%, and require less voltage. 

Longer lifespan

• LEDs lower maintenance costs, which results in a healthier environment for you, your employees, and the planet. An LED streetlight product, for example, has a lifespan of 100,000 hours. This is far superior to the lifespan of a HID light source (usually 20,000 hours or less). LEDs are also more resistant to the inevitable vibrations and impacts that come with being on a pole. Labor savings alone over 5 years are usually enough to justify the cost of installation. 

Better lighting quality

• LEDs provide a better option for eye-friendly illumination. LEDs also offer greater color options and can provide a whiter light with better color rendering. When it’s properly designed, the fixtures will drastically improve how clearly you see by displaying the light spectrums most used by people. Furthermore, unlike HID lights, LED street lighting can provide a more uniform light distribution that improves visibility.

Directional light sources

• LED street lighting inherently has a “directional” light. This means that they can place the light where it is most needed and reduce the amount of light that goes in unwanted directions (such as into homes through windows).  This reduces glare, which is both courteous to your neighborhoods and helps improves both road safety, especially during raining and snow/ice conditions. 

Enhanced Contrability

• LED street lighting can be controlled instantaneously. Unlike HID lights, they can be turned on and off easily. LED lights are also more suitable for advanced lighting control systems due to this contrability. With these systems, retailers can create smarter lighting that saves energy. For example, in an emergency, controllable lighting can be used by first responders to turn on the lights or turn them down.

Reduced Emissions

• Fighting climate change is a cause every business can get behind. When you upgrade your technology to reduce emissions, you’re not only fighting climate change, but you’re also supporting the efforts to combat it. By upgrading 80,000 streetlights in the Memphis Area, which would result in 45,000 metric tons of avoided CO2 emissions over five years. This is the equivalent to taking nearly 10,000 cars off the road. Isn’t it amazing what a little light can do?

Potential to Reduce Crime

• After implementation in Los Angeles, officials saw a 10% across the board drop in crime? Los Angeles officials believe the improved light quality deterred criminals thanks to a reduction in crime rates, such as burglary, theft and vandalism. You see, LED streetlights emit better lighting and colder temperatures to eliminate “dark spots” which have a higher crime rate.

Reduction in Light Pollution After Hours      

• After implementation in Los Angeles, officials saw large reduction in reflective light in the atmosphere leading to a substantial drop of light pollution. Night skies were able to be seen from the City and the Griffith Observatory noticed a drastic reduction in light pollution and refraction.                 
  

Ease of Maintenance 

• LED lights are typically simpler and easier to install than High Pressure Sodium or Metal Halide bulbs.  The are smaller and easy to work with.  This allows for a quicker maintenance turn around time.

LEDs reach full power and brightness instantaneously

• This brightness, or more specifically their immediate brightness, is one of the biggest benefits of LED street lighting. Since LED light is effectively generated by an electric current rather than heating a filament with an incandescent or HID lamp, the light comes to full brightness instantly. This is beneficial for street light fixtures as there is no warm-up time where they might not be generating enough light to safely cover an area, and it also allows the fixtures to be controlled by occupancy sensors where the lights can come on completely as soon as a person enters the area.