On-Demand Street Lights Save Tons Of Energy

digg Share this on Facebook Huffpost - On-Demand Street Lights Save Tons Of Energy stumble reddit del.ico.us RSS


First Posted: 12-24-08 09:01 AM   |   Updated: 01-24-09 05:12 AM

I Like ItI Don’t Like It
Streetlight

blogs.discovery.com:

One town in northwest Germany is turning off its street lights at 9 pm to save electricity and money. Rather than imposing an unintentional curfew, the move is giving residents on-demand lighting.

The BBC reported this morning that in Doerentrup, a local engineer came up with a system so that anyone wanting see the way registers for free online, dials a central number, punches in a street code, and the lights they need will come on for several minutes. Although residents pay for the calls, the town collectively saves money on electricity.

Read the whole story: blogs.discovery.com

One town in northwest Germany is turning off its street lights at 9 pm to save electricity and money. Rather than imposing an unintentional curfew, the move is giving residents on-demand lighting. Th...
One town in northwest Germany is turning off its street lights at 9 pm to save electricity and money. Rather than imposing an unintentional curfew, the move is giving residents on-demand lighting. Th...
Filed by Dave Burdick  |  Report Corrections
 
Comments
26
Pending Comments
0
iPhone App Promo

Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to

View Comments:

I never saw the point of street lights anyway. If we all still drove horse and buggies then yes, but we don't. My bike even has a light, so what is the point?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 07:47 AM on 12/25/2008
- research I'm a Fan of research 251 fans permalink

Motion Sensing lights would solve the problem.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 08:44 PM on 12/24/2008
- sloreader I'm a Fan of sloreader 17 fans permalink

So long as they wouldn't trigger for anything under 20 lbs or so, seems like a no brainer. Lots of $$ and energy savings. GREAT IDEA! Why not?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 08:44 PM on 12/26/2008
- research I'm a Fan of research 251 fans permalink

They would need to go to LED lighting at the same time, the on off cycling of the sodium and the Metal Halide/mercury lights would wear them out very quickly.

They should of course do that anyway, but it will take time.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:58 PM on 12/27/2008
photo

what about the tourists that are lost at night? They won't have registered online, they won't know the number to call and they won't know the street code to turn the lights on.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:54 PM on 12/24/2008
- ibsteve2u I'm a Fan of ibsteve2u 134 fans permalink
photo

GPS and flashlights.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:06 PM on 12/24/2008
- Myshkin57 I'm a Fan of Myshkin57 16 fans permalink

Yeah. A flashlight will deter muggers.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:54 PM on 12/25/2008
- sloreader I'm a Fan of sloreader 17 fans permalink

Cumbersome to be sure. Motion detectors should work though.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 08:45 PM on 12/26/2008
photo

I wonder if criminals would rather strike in an area that the lights default to off or if they stay on all the time.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:05 PM on 12/24/2008
- newshawk14 I'm a Fan of newshawk14 8 fans permalink

For many years power companies in the US sold ratepayers on the idea of street lights
helping to prevent crime, all it did was make the streets safe for criminals at night.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:34 PM on 12/24/2008
- Myshkin57 I'm a Fan of Myshkin57 16 fans permalink

There's no reason they can't have motion detector lights.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:55 PM on 12/25/2008
- frantaylor I'm a Fan of frantaylor 22 fans permalink

Mummy can leave the night light on if you are afraid of the dark.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:37 PM on 12/24/2008
photo

I'm not afraid, in my country I'm allowed to own a gun.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:48 PM on 12/24/2008
- ibsteve2u I'm a Fan of ibsteve2u 134 fans permalink
photo

There ya go again, making a mess of my keyboard by causing me to spit coffee...

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:07 PM on 12/24/2008
- Wilburrr I'm a Fan of Wilburrr 16 fans permalink
photo

Las Vegas needs a cell phone system that would allow anyone to turn the lights OFF.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:41 PM on 12/24/2008
- wdw505 I'm a Fan of wdw505 68 fans permalink

cause they just want to feel good that's all

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:17 PM on 12/24/2008
- Tom95134 I'm a Fan of Tom95134 52 fans permalink
photo

Nice idea but what is the hidden cost of doing this? Is bulb replacement happening more often? What about the cost of the start up (which usually takes a lot of current to get high intensity lamps fires).

ANd finally, if you are going to be turning lights on and off, then why aren't you replacing these with high intensity LEDs and using solar power to charge a supply battery?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:29 AM on 12/24/2008

"Is bulb replacement happening more often? What about the cost of the start up (which usually takes a lot of current to get high intensity lamps fires)."

No and no. Both are myths that have nothing to do with the engineering reality of street lighting.

"then why aren't you replacing these with high intensity LEDs and using solar power to charge a supply battery?"

Because that is a lot more expensive. But LEDs will indeed be the next logical step. I don't think that local battery storage is ever going to be competitive against power grid based solutions.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:37 PM on 12/24/2008
- Wilburrr I'm a Fan of Wilburrr 16 fans permalink
photo

Do you think that LED's would enable capacitors to replace batteries?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:44 PM on 12/24/2008
Comments are closed for this entry

 You must be logged in to comment. Log in  or connect with 

Connect