A SHINING EXAMPLE
Waiting for the sun to go down is something that many Lighting Engineers grow accustomed to
during their careers. However, it is less often that they are joined by curious crowds of residents,
contractors and Council officials.
The purpose of the assembled party was to witness a clever demonstration where observers would
be able to compare traditional street lighting with an LED solution instantly alongside one another.
The ‘seeing is believing’ concept was designed
by Rob Warner of Middlesbrough Council and
installation contractor, David Webster Limited.
Indal WRTL Exterior Lighting Limited invited
spectators along to the residential street to
observer the immediate contrast between the
existing 10 x 70W SON and 3 x 35W SOX
lanterns and 11 x recently installed Stela Wide
36 LED luminaires.
Traditional sodium lighting before the switch over
To begin with there was nothing new to see. The onlookers saw houses and the street bathed in
the usual golden glow that washes every road and to which everyone has grown accustomed. This
was shortly followed by a stunned silence as the street lighting switched from sodium to LED
lighting.
The scene was dramatically and instantly transformed. At once everyone could clearly see to the
ends of the road whereas moments before the street had faded into the shadows within a relatively
short distance. The level of light delivered by the Stela LED luminaires was consistently uniform,
which in turn enabled the undulation of the road to become visible and hazards become
identifiable. The crystal clear quality of the cool, white light offered excellent colour definition and it
was possible to see the undistorted colour of plants and flowers.
Evidence of accurately-controlled light fall could also be seen. Objects cast shadows into gardens
but no obtrusive light, classified as statutory nuisance in Scotland, reached the front elevation of
the properties. Behind the street lights there was no more than around 3m of light fall, eliminating
spill and light pollution. Although this installation was a bright S3 design, there was no glare from
the Stela units and each LED was clearly visible.
Probably the most dramatic evidence of the evening was provided by an LCD display mounted on
the feeder pillar that showed the energy output in total circuit watts. The party were invited to note
the reading on the meter before the switchover had taken place. This was taken as 1.15 kW. No
sooner had the transfer taken place then the reading changed to 0.55 kW - a reduction of 52%.
Such was the level of disbelief, the crowd asked for the demonstration to be repeated. It took more
than 5 minutes for the orange glow to reach full power and the sepia scene to return, at which point
the energy consumption was again more than double.
Finally, the Stela LED street lights, designed to meet EN60598 standards, were switched on again
- this time to a resounding applause.
Everyone now wanted to know the
facts behind the spectacular
comparison and commenced firing
questions at contractors and lighting
engineers.
This installation will reduce
maintenance costs by more than 66%
and only four column visits are
anticipated over the next 25 years.
Stela LED street lighting after the switch over
If there had been any sceptics at the beginning of the demonstration they had been convinced by
the time the crowd departed. Everyone present could see that whereas they might have witnessed
magic, there was certainly no trick involved. The genuine and dramatic performance
improvements, energy savings and CO2 reductions that Stela LED lighting can deliver were there
for all to see.
Stephen McCluskey, Coventry City Council Service Manager, commented:
“This is a very impressive scheme with good uniformity levels.”
Bedfordshire Highways Electrical and Lighting Manager said:
“I was very impressed with the installation and it was a pleasure to witness the switchover. Indal
WRTL are leading the LED programme.”