Up to 75% of councils are dimming the lights to save money


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ave-money.html

Using a dimmer switch on your lights at home doesn't save very much in
electricity AFAIK, e.g. dimming to half the light doesn't reduce the
power consumption by 50% - is it different on street lights?


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

The Medway Handyman wrote:

Up to 75% of councils are dimming the lights to save money


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ave-money.html


Using a dimmer switch on your lights at home doesn't save very much in
electricity AFAIK, e.g. dimming to half the light doesn't reduce the
power consumption by 50% - is it different on street lights?


Depends how they do it. They could just replace the bulbs with lower
power ones, for instance, or remove a couple of bulbs from multi-bulb
fittings. Or turn off half the lights in a street.

Then use the savings to pay the extra hospital costs due to the increase
in road accidents. Householders will also notice an increase in
insurance premiums in unlit areas to pay for the increase in burglaries.....

Inserts tongue in cheek Then again, the story *is* in the Daily Mail.

--
Tciao for Now!

John.

The Medway Handyman wrote:

Up to 75% of councils are dimming the lights

Only dimming? Round here whole swathes of them have been "unplugged",
some have even had their heads removed and most of the rest go off after
00:15 (or rather after 01:15 now the clocks have changed) leaving one
light per street in residential areas.

On 18/04/2011 09:04, Andy Burns wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:

Up to 75% of councils are dimming the lights

Only dimming? Round here whole swathes of them have been "unplugged",
some have even had their heads removed and most of the rest go off after
00:15 (or rather after 01:15 now the clocks have changed) leaving one
light per street in residential areas.


Perhaps they could send out heavily subsidised LED torches, one per
household, so that local residents can venture out in safety...

--
Adrian C

On Mon, 18 Apr 2011 08:30:16 +0100, The Medway Handyman wrote:

Up to 75% of councils are dimming the lights to save money

What are street lights? Oh those 'orrible orange things that screw up
the night sky in towns and cities...

--
Cheers
Dave.

"Adrian C" wrote in message
...
On 18/04/2011 09:04, Andy Burns wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:

Up to 75% of councils are dimming the lights

Only dimming? Round here whole swathes of them have been "unplugged",
some have even had their heads removed and most of the rest go off after
00:15 (or rather after 01:15 now the clocks have changed) leaving one
light per street in residential areas.


Perhaps they could send out heavily subsidised LED torches, one per
household, so that local residents can venture out in safety...

Vulnerable people don't venture out anyway, even with the street lights on.

Just fit a PIR flood at the front if you think its a problem, the the police
helicopter can watch the people go down the road by following the flood
lights.

I wish they would turn the street lights off around here save me having to
use a filter on the scope.

Andy Burns wrote:

The Medway Handyman wrote:

Up to 75% of councils are dimming the lights

Only dimming? Round here whole swathes of them have been "unplugged",
some have even had their heads removed and most of the rest go off after
00:15 (or rather after 01:15 now the clocks have changed) leaving one
light per street in residential areas.

They've been considering that round here. It's already pretty black at night
(village). Certainly seems to be a retrograde step WRT accidents and
crime...

--
Tim Watts

Tim Watts wrote:
Andy Burns wrote:

The Medway Handyman wrote:

Up to 75% of councils are dimming the lights

Only dimming? Round here whole swathes of them have been "unplugged",
some have even had their heads removed and most of the rest go off after
00:15 (or rather after 01:15 now the clocks have changed) leaving one
light per street in residential areas.

They've been considering that round here. It's already pretty black at night
(village). Certainly seems to be a retrograde step WRT accidents and
crime...

I think its actually good for crime.

First of all, in terms of straight mugging, a victim can hide in the dark.

Having played hide and seek in the dark as a child, one of the most
successful ploys was to lie down in the middle of the garden. They
always looked in bushes

likewise you then need to carry a torch as a crim on B&E jobs. This
makes you a bit obvious.
..

AS far as accidents go, all vehicles have lights - except cyclists of
course. You can see a light in a pitch black place easily.

If you are a cyclist with no lights, you deserve what you get anyway.

Tim Watts wrote:

Andy Burns wrote:

Round here whole swathes of them have been "unplugged",

They've been considering that round here. It's already pretty black at night
(village). Certainly seems to be a retrograde step WRT accidents and
crime...

I was actually going to report a few hundred yard stretch of lights as
faulty when I first noticed they were all off for several evenings, it
was then that I realised that burying a small article on the council
website a couple of months prior to switching them off counts as
"consultation".

"Tim Watts" wrote in message
...
Andy Burns wrote:

The Medway Handyman wrote:

Up to 75% of councils are dimming the lights

Only dimming? Round here whole swathes of them have been "unplugged",
some have even had their heads removed and most of the rest go off after
00:15 (or rather after 01:15 now the clocks have changed) leaving one
light per street in residential areas.

They've been considering that round here. It's already pretty black at
night
(village). Certainly seems to be a retrograde step WRT accidents

Cars should be more easily visible.
Only pedestrians that wear camouflage clothing will, probably, be more
difficult to see.
Cars would also travel more slowly as nobody drives beyond the limits of
visibility (do they!).

and
crime...

Urban areas have more crime now and they have street lighting, maybe its the
fact the crims can see that causes the extra crime.
If they had to carry torches to see and houses had PIR lights that came on
when people were about crime would go down?
Its a lot easier to see someone climbing over fences if they need a torch
than it is when they can put on camouflage clothing and see what they are
doing without a torch.

Andy Burns wrote:
Tim Watts wrote:

Andy Burns wrote:

Round here whole swathes of them have been "unplugged",
They've been considering that round here. It's already pretty black at night
(village). Certainly seems to be a retrograde step WRT accidents and
crime...

I was actually going to report a few hundred yard stretch of lights as
faulty when I first noticed they were all off for several evenings, it
was then that I realised that burying a small article on the council
website a couple of months prior to switching them off counts as
"consultation".


twas ever thus.

On Mon, 18 Apr 2011 08:57:47 +0100, John Williamson
wrote:

The Medway Handyman wrote:

Up to 75% of councils are dimming the lights to save money


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ave-money.html


Using a dimmer switch on your lights at home doesn't save very much in
electricity AFAIK, e.g. dimming to half the light doesn't reduce the
power consumption by 50% - is it different on street lights?


Depends how they do it. They could just replace the bulbs with lower
power ones, for instance, or remove a couple of bulbs from multi-bulb
fittings. Or turn off half the lights in a street.

Then use the savings to pay the extra hospital costs due to the increase
in road accidents. Householders will also notice an increase in
insurance premiums in unlit areas to pay for the increase in burglaries.....

Inserts tongue in cheek Then again, the story *is* in the Daily Mail.

Even though this story is in the Daily Mail it really is being
proposed in some districts near me.

Of course the council won't have to bear the costs of increased road
collisions and crime so they would probably save a little bit of
money.
--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Due to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking some articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.

In message , Andy
Burns writes
Tim Watts wrote:

Andy Burns wrote:

Round here whole swathes of them have been "unplugged",

They've been considering that round here. It's already pretty black at night
(village). Certainly seems to be a retrograde step WRT accidents and
crime...

I was actually going to report a few hundred yard stretch of lights as
faulty when I first noticed they were all off for several evenings, it
was then that I realised that burying a small article on the council
website a couple of months prior to switching them off counts as
"consultation".

Agh Ha, the Vogon style of consultation, works every time. You really
should have read all the planning notices, they were there for you if
you had bothered to look.

:-)


--
Bill

In message , Tim
Streater writes
In article o.uk,
"Dave Liquorice" wrote:

On Mon, 18 Apr 2011 08:30:16 +0100, The Medway Handyman wrote:

Up to 75% of councils are dimming the lights to save money
What are street lights? Oh those 'orrible orange things that screw
up
the night sky in towns and cities...

Yes. Fortunately we don't have them here or in our last village.

Our local council had a public consultation, complete with postal vote
over whether or not they should be fitted in our village, I voted No my
wife voted Yes, good thing democracy. The Nos had it though and I can
still see the night sky.


--
Bill

On 18/04/2011 08:30, The Medway Handyman wrote:

Using a dimmer switch on your lights at home doesn't save very much in
electricity AFAIK, e.g. dimming to half the light doesn't reduce the
power consumption by 50% - is it different on street lights?

Yes, because you're dimming a sodium discharge lamp, not a tungsten
filament. With tungsten the lumens per watt efficacy drops dramatically
when you under-run the lamp. With a discharge lamp it may still fall
off, but to a much lesser extent.

Dimming is not new. The street lights in the road where I live were
replaced a couple of years ago. After midnight they dim to 75% output,
or so the letter from the council said.

'Intelligent' street light control seems to be becoming a large
industry, e.g. http://www.e-streetlight.com/

--
Andy

In article ,
Bill wrote:
In message , Andy
Burns writes

I was actually going to report a few hundred yard stretch of lights as
faulty when I first noticed they were all off for several evenings, it
was then that I realised that burying a small article on the council
website a couple of months prior to switching them off counts as
"consultation".

Agh Ha, the Vogon style of consultation, works every time. You really
should have read all the planning notices, they were there for you if
you had bothered to look.

I couldn't find the way to Alpha Centauri because all the street lights
were turned off !

Nick
--
Serendipity: http://www.leverton.org/blosxom (last update 29th March 2010)
"The Internet, a sort of ersatz counterfeit of real life"
-- Janet Street-Porter, BBC2, 19th March 1996

Mark wrote:

Even though this story is in the Daily Mail it really is being
proposed in some districts near me.

Of course the council won't have to bear the costs of increased road
collisions and crime so they would probably save a little bit of
money.

It's also not new, being dated November 2010. The midnight - 05:00 turn
off has been done already in a lot of areas, including a number of
motorways.

--
Tciao for Now!

John.

On Mon, 18 Apr 2011 09:30:47 +0100, Tim Watts wrote:

Andy Burns wrote:

The Medway Handyman wrote:

Up to 75% of councils are dimming the lights

Only dimming? Round here whole swathes of them have been "unplugged",
some have even had their heads removed and most of the rest go off after
00:15

They've been considering that round here. It's already pretty black at night
(village). Certainly seems to be a retrograde step WRT accidents and
crime...

Never had any in this village and I think it is better for it.
I like to walk down the road at night and be able to see a starry
sky. With modern LED torches giving a reasonnable light from a small
source it easy to have one on a key ring to alert approaching vehicles
to your presence . In most conditions after my eyes have adjusted I
can see well enough by ambient light some of which is coming from
house windows or a Porch lamp. Failed once on a really dark night with
thick cloud, I could hear steps coming close and turned to see a chap
walking up faster than me,stepped to one side to let him pass and trod
on his small dog which I had not seen. The Howling woke half the
street.

G.Harman

On Mon, 18 Apr 2011 09:35:06 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

They've been considering that round here. It's already pretty
black at
night (village). Certainly seems to be a retrograde step WRT
accidents
and crime...

I think its actually good for crime.

Aye, I don't think Andy has experienced a cloudy, moonless night.
It's unnervingly dark and you certainly can't move around as you just
can't see *anything*. A single street light 1/2 a mile away will ruin
that.

Even with a new moon starlight is ample to move around in.

First of all, in terms of straight mugging, a victim can hide in the
dark.

So can the mugger before they find their victim, but then anybody
sensible carries a 3D cell Maglite so they can see and a 3D cell
Maglight isn't a weapon is it...

Having played hide and seek in the dark as a child, one of the most
successful ploys was to lie down in the middle of the garden. They
always looked in bushes

Yep, used to be part of a capture team on night time orienteering
excercises. At night you can simply stand still and quiet in front of
a tree and people will just walk straight past within feet of you.

AS far as accidents go, all vehicles have lights - except cyclists of
course. You can see a light in a pitch black place easily.

If you are a cyclist with no lights, you deserve what you get anyway.

Same for pedestrians, what is it with people not carrying a torch or
wearing something light coloured or better retro-reflective on them?

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Mon, 18 Apr 2011 10:13:07 +0100, Bill wrote:

it was then that I realised that burying a small article on the
council
website a couple of months prior to switching them off counts as
"consultation".

Agh Ha, the Vogon style of consultation, works every time. You really
should have read all the planning notices, they were there for you if
you had bothered to look.

At least you can find them on a website now (if you can be bothered
to look). No more negotiation of missing stairs, signs saying "Beware
of the Tiger" and locked filing cabinets. B-)

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Mon, 18 Apr 2011 08:30:16 +0100, The Medway Handyman
wrote:


Up to 75% of councils are dimming the lights to save money


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ave-money.html


No problem at all, My Bicycle Lamp is a very powerful HID unit that
illuminates very well.




















Wonder if MHM is screaming from the ceiling yet.

I don't actually have a Bicycle, just the lamp.



G.Harman

Mark wrote:
[snip]

Of course the council won't have to bear the costs of increased road
collisions and crime so they would probably save a little bit of
money.

Oh FFS isn't it time you townies stopped being scared of the dark? It 's
bloody miles from my home to the nearest streetlight. Crime is low, vehicle
collisions at night are rare. The significant crash hazard is during
daylight hours.

In article ,
The Medway Handyman wrote:
Using a dimmer switch on your lights at home doesn't save very much in
electricity AFAIK, e.g. dimming to half the light doesn't reduce the
power consumption by 50% - is it different on street lights?

Street lighting is hardly ever tungsten - the home type where dimming
isn't very efficient. Dimming tungsten does save *some* energy - but not
as much as replacing the bulb with a smaller one of the 'dimmed' output.
This is because the efficiency of a dimmed tungsten goes down dramatically.

Street lighting is usually discharge. Similar to modern car headlights.

--
*I'm already visualizing the duct tape over your mouth

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Mon, 18 Apr 2011 10:35:49 +0100, Dave Liquorice wrote:

At least you can find them on a website now (if you can be bothered to
look). No more negotiation of missing stairs, signs saying "Beware of
the Tiger" and locked filing cabinets. B-)

It was a leopard wasn't it?

Steve Firth wrote:
Mark wrote:
[snip]
Of course the council won't have to bear the costs of increased road
collisions and crime so they would probably save a little bit of
money.

Oh FFS isn't it time you townies stopped being scared of the dark? It 's
bloody miles from my home to the nearest streetlight. Crime is low, vehicle
collisions at night are rare. The significant crash hazard is during
daylight hours.

You obviously don't live somewhere urban, then. Conditions are different.

I used to live in a village where I didn't bother checking too
enthusiastically that the door had locked if I went out shopping for the
day. Here, in the middle of a city, I check the door is locked if I nip
out to the shop next door.

In the village, about a dozen cars passed my house in an evening, here
there are hundreds each night, with the same traffic levels at one in
the morning as at one in the afternoon. The accident rate at night is
worse, as the drivers are more likely to be drunk, and there are enough
of them about that a collision is more likely. I'd guess that where you
live, it's unlikely there is more than one car in sight at any one time,
so it's a bit hard to collide with a moving vehicle.

There were no streetlights in the village. There are here. So, maybe if
we get rid of the streetlights, all the criminals will move away. And
the drunks will stop driving round at night.

Yeah, right....

--
Tciao for Now!

John.

"Dave Liquorice" wrote in message
ll.co.uk...

So can the mugger before they find their victim, but then anybody
sensible carries a 3D cell Maglite so they can see and a 3D cell
Maglight isn't a weapon is it...

My 5D cell one isn't so I don't see how a 3 cell one is.

Same for pedestrians, what is it with people not carrying a torch or
wearing something light coloured or better retro-reflective on them?

They are out looking to B&E.

Dave Liquorice wrote:

Aye, I don't think Andy has experienced a cloudy, moonless night.
It's unnervingly dark and you certainly can't move around as you just
can't see *anything*.

I have, though I will admit, not for several years. The thing is most
people are accustomed to having streetlights and they ride/drive/walk
accordingly.

The stretch in particular I first noticed has a physically separated
cycleway, but bikes often avoid using it (either due to the hassle of
rejoining the main road a the end of it, or the amount of horse**** on
it due to it be used as if it were a bridleway) and we all know that
bikes don't need lights, so cars approaching at 40mph (or higher the
limit) and finding an unlit bike on a previously lit stretch of road,
doesn't seem like progress to me.

Especially when the council claim to be saving nearly £1 per council tax
payer per year from this, I'd happily pay more than that to keep them
on, but they didn't ask! I suspect insurance bills will go up more than
£1 ...

There's lots of residential on-street parking here, most don't bother
parking facing the "right" way because the streetlights are on at the
time they actually park, not thinking that they'll be parked illegally
once the lights go off.

"Andy Burns" wrote in message
o.uk...

There's lots of residential on-street parking here, most don't bother
parking facing the "right" way because the streetlights are on at the
time they actually park, not thinking that they'll be parked illegally
once the lights go off.


A untapped revenue stream, better phone the council so they can have someone
go around and issue tickets.

BTW its illegal to park the wrong way around with the street lights *on*.
Its illegal to park without parking lights (that requires two lights at the
front and two at the rear not the ones you get when you flip the indicators
to the park position) when there are no street lights so there is potential
for even more revenue.
Of course with all the car parking lights on then you won't need street
lights anyway.

dennis@home wrote:


"Andy Burns" wrote in message
o.uk...

There's lots of residential on-street parking here, most don't bother
parking facing the "right" way because the streetlights are on at the
time they actually park, not thinking that they'll be parked illegally
once the lights go off.


A untapped revenue stream, better phone the council so they can have
someone go around and issue tickets.

BTW its illegal to park the wrong way around with the street lights *on*.
Its illegal to park without parking lights (that requires two lights at
the front and two at the rear not the ones you get when you flip the
indicators to the park position) when there are no street lights so
there is potential for even more revenue.
Of course with all the car parking lights on then you won't need street
lights anyway.

And the breakdown services will make a fortune, coming out to all the
flat batteries every morning. Emitting rather more CO2 than is saved by
turning the lights off in the first place.

--
Tciao for Now!

John.

dennis@home wrote:

A untapped revenue stream, better phone the council so they can have
someone go around and issue tickets.

I'm not likely to do that, but I'm surprised someone hasn't suggested a
graveyard shift of wardens.

BTW its illegal to park the wrong way around with the street lights *on*.

Not according to the highway code, I checked when I noticed the lighting
changes ...

"You MUST NOT park on a road at night facing against
the direction of the traffic flow unless in a recognised
parking space."

"All vehicles MUST display parking lights when parked on a road
or a lay-by on a road with a speed limit greater than 30 mph"

I'm sure there's plenty of scope for you to claim those are weasel words
and to remind us that the HC isn't the law, so feel free.

In message o.uk on Mon, 18
Apr 2011 10:35:49 +0100 (BST)
Dave Liquorice wrote:

On Mon, 18 Apr 2011 10:13:07 +0100, Bill wrote:

it was then that I realised that burying a small article on the
council
website a couple of months prior to switching them off counts as
"consultation".

Agh Ha, the Vogon style of consultation, works every time. You really
should have read all the planning notices, they were there for you if
you had bothered to look.

At least you can find them on a website now (if you can be bothered
to look).

Well our local council is on to that! It was never the best for finding
information but, since a much publicised re-vamp a couple of years ago, it is
well nigh impossible to find out anything!

Sometimes, when someone posts a link on a local forum to some vital document or
another, I've tried to find it using the search facilty using every combination
of search terms possible, but to no avail.

Yet I know, because I've got the link, that it IS there - it's just very well
hidden ...!

--

Terry

Andy Burns wrote:

dennis@home wrote:

BTW its illegal to park the wrong way around with the street lights *on*.

Not according to the highway code

Damn, I should have read your message properly, I thought you said car
lights rather than street lights, I'll concede that the quote I posted
supports what you said, not what I said!

Andy Burns wrote:
dennis@home wrote:

A untapped revenue stream, better phone the council so they can have
someone go around and issue tickets.

I'm not likely to do that, but I'm surprised someone hasn't suggested a
graveyard shift of wardens.

FX: Sucks teeth Can't afford the overtime, guv'nor.

BTW its illegal to park the wrong way around with the street lights *on*.

Not according to the highway code, I checked when I noticed the lighting
changes ...

"You MUST NOT park on a road at night facing against
the direction of the traffic flow unless in a recognised
parking space."

"All vehicles MUST display parking lights when parked on a road
or a lay-by on a road with a speed limit greater than 30 mph"

I'm sure there's plenty of scope for you to claim those are weasel words
and to remind us that the HC isn't the law, so feel free.

When the HC uses the words "MUST" or "MUST NOT", it refers to a legal
requirement, with a reference to the applying law being given. It says
so in the introduction.

--
Tciao for Now!

John.

On Apr 18, 8:30*am, The Medway Handyman
wrote:
Up to 75% of councils are dimming the lights to save money

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ent-councils-d...

Using a dimmer switch on your lights at home doesn't save very much in
electricity AFAIK, e.g. dimming to half the light doesn't reduce the
power consumption by 50% - is it different on street lights?

--
Dave - The Medway Handymanwww.medwayhandyman.co.uk

Surely half the problem is the myriad ways that street lamps are
controlled ? I know some authorities fitted light-sensors to street
lamps (I vaguely recalled some had one sensor for X lamps), whilst
others (like mine) kept/fitted timers (always amusing after a power
cut). If they're going to start changing the "on" rules, it could
prove very costly. Ideally it'd be nice to control every light
individually - then they could switch to "half lights", or vary the
times for economy. Presumably those lights that are on less will need
replacing less, leading to savings in bulbs ?

Mind you, this falls into my "if it *really* mattered" test ...
similar to being able to control *all* traffic signals (INCLUDING
pedestrian lights). I'm sure if some enlightened local authority did
this, they could improve the efficiency of the road network (i.e.
reduce the need for new roads) by a considerable amount. Unfortunately
the dogma that we mustn't do anything that remotely looks like helping
motorists wins out. Better be careful, straying into urd territory.

Anyway, on topic, to be honest, I can't see that switching/dimming
lights between (say) midnight and 4am would affect a great number of
people.

On 18 Apr 2011 09:54:29 GMT, Andrew May
wrote:

On Mon, 18 Apr 2011 10:35:49 +0100, Dave Liquorice wrote:

At least you can find them on a website now (if you can be bothered to
look). No more negotiation of missing stairs, signs saying "Beware of
the Tiger" and locked filing cabinets. B-)

It was a leopard wasn't it?

Yes.
--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Due to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking some articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.

"Andy Burns" wrote in message
.. .
dennis@home wrote:

A untapped revenue stream, better phone the council so they can have
someone go around and issue tickets.

I'm not likely to do that, but I'm surprised someone hasn't suggested a
graveyard shift of wardens.

BTW its illegal to park the wrong way around with the street lights *on*.

Not according to the highway code, I checked when I noticed the lighting
changes ...

"You MUST NOT park on a road at night facing against
the direction of the traffic flow unless in a recognised
parking space."

So you can't park the wrong way around if its on the road and not in a
parking space. A parking space is a defined area and not some arbitrary
place on the road.


"All vehicles MUST display parking lights when parked on a road
or a lay-by on a road with a speed limit greater than 30 mph"

That is true, even if there are street lights you can't park without parking
lights if the speed limit is above 30 mph.
There are other restrictions that require you to use parking lights that you
appear to have missed, like close to a junction.

Its common sense really, the car has reflectors at the rear so the rear must
be illuminated by the headlights of the cars. Its also why lights are
required at junctions as the headlights of the approaching car won't be
reflected properly.

Its because drivers are pretty stupid that they have to make it a law in the
first place, they can't think for themselves so need rules.

I'm sure there's plenty of scope for you to claim those are weasel words
and to remind us that the HC isn't the law, so feel free.

They are not weasel words and are true, you may have interpreted them
incorrectly.

"Andy Burns" wrote in message
o.uk...
Andy Burns wrote:

dennis@home wrote:

BTW its illegal to park the wrong way around with the street lights
*on*.

Not according to the highway code

Damn, I should have read your message properly, I thought you said car
lights rather than street lights, I'll concede that the quote I posted
supports what you said, not what I said!


Sorry I posted the reply before I got here.

"Tim Streater" wrote in message
...

When did you last see a car with sidelights on when parked at night?

Anytime I park where they are required. 8-)

Why are you calling parking lights, sidelights?
There are no such things as side lights fitted to most cars, some HGV have
what could be called sidelights but its no relevant as HGVs can't park
without parking lights even if there are street lights.

Andy Burns wrote:
Dave Liquorice wrote:

Aye, I don't think Andy has experienced a cloudy, moonless night.
It's unnervingly dark and you certainly can't move around as you just
can't see *anything*.

I have, though I will admit, not for several years. The thing is most
people are accustomed to having streetlights and they ride/drive/walk
accordingly.

The stretch in particular I first noticed has a physically separated
cycleway, but bikes often avoid using it (either due to the hassle of
rejoining the main road a the end of it, or the amount of horse**** on
it due to it be used as if it were a bridleway) and we all know that
bikes don't need lights, so cars approaching at 40mph (or higher the
limit) and finding an unlit bike on a previously lit stretch of road,
doesn't seem like progress to me.

Especially when the council claim to be saving nearly £1 per council tax
payer per year from this, I'd happily pay more than that to keep them
on, but they didn't ask! I suspect insurance bills will go up more than
£1 ...


I'd pay them an extra quid to switch the bloody things off!


There's lots of residential on-street parking here, most don't bother
parking facing the "right" way because the streetlights are on at the
time they actually park, not thinking that they'll be parked illegally
once the lights go off.

Jethro wrote:
On Apr 18, 8:30 am, The Medway Handyman
wrote:
Up to 75% of councils are dimming the lights to save money

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ent-councils-d...

Using a dimmer switch on your lights at home doesn't save very much in
electricity AFAIK, e.g. dimming to half the light doesn't reduce the
power consumption by 50% - is it different on street lights?

--
Dave - The Medway Handymanwww.medwayhandyman.co.uk

Surely half the problem is the myriad ways that street lamps are
controlled ? I know some authorities fitted light-sensors to street
lamps (I vaguely recalled some had one sensor for X lamps), whilst
others (like mine) kept/fitted timers (always amusing after a power
cut). If they're going to start changing the "on" rules, it could
prove very costly. Ideally it'd be nice to control every light
individually - then they could switch to "half lights", or vary the
times for economy. Presumably those lights that are on less will need
replacing less, leading to savings in bulbs ?

Mind you, this falls into my "if it *really* mattered" test ...
similar to being able to control *all* traffic signals (INCLUDING
pedestrian lights). I'm sure if some enlightened local authority did
this, they could improve the efficiency of the road network (i.e.
reduce the need for new roads) by a considerable amount. Unfortunately
the dogma that we mustn't do anything that remotely looks like helping
motorists wins out. Better be careful, straying into urd territory.

Anyway, on topic, to be honest, I can't see that switching/dimming
lights between (say) midnight and 4am would affect a great number of
people.

It would not. as anyone who has actually driven around at that time of
night can tell you.

You have the roads and streets to yourself.

Post midnight all activity tails off to a low at about 3-4 a.m before
the first of the early risers get going around 5 a.m.

However this will only make the load variation on the grid worse, as
there is oodles of spare capacity that has to be ready for the rush hour
spinning away overnight anyway.

Since I have been monitoring the grid, two things seem reasonable
propositions.

British summer time immediately increase electricity demand.

If everybody worked from home, we would save 20% of the nations electricity.