New LED street lights

[skmc1955]

Hi, we've just had a whole lot of white LED street lights fitted in my area of Hull, to replace the orange Sodium lights, and the drop in light pollution is astounding. I,ve been inspired to drag my Tal1 4" reflector out of the garage  and start hoping for clear nights again! I am definitely in the market for at least an 8" Dob. Has anyone else had their street lights changed and noticed a difference? 

[laser_jock99]

Yep- wrecked my back garden.......

[JemC]

10 minutes ago, laser_jock99 said:

Yep- wrecked my back garden.......

 

Whoaaa, where's my shades 

i had heard they were bright, but that does seem a bit much, have you spoke to the council about that, or shown them that image?

you have my sympathy,

Regards 

[sloz1664]

13 minutes ago, laser_jock99 said:

Yep- wrecked my back garden.......

Any chance of getting that sorted with the local council. Having a shield fitted, maybe.

Steve

[Star101]

Yep, as laser_jock99 shows, I too had street lighting replaced for new LED's. 

I asked the council if they could shield or dim the street light not far from my garden. When I first started astronomy, it was a small street light about 10ft tall. They said they were actually going to replace all the street lights in my area. They changed the lamp post for a much taller one and replaced the sodium for LED's. Now its three times brighter in my garden. Enough said. I dare not talk to the council in fear they will increase the light some more  

[laser_jock99]

5 minutes ago, sloz1664 said:

Any chance of getting that sorted with the local council. Having a shield fitted, maybe.

Steve

The Council have fitted a 'tiny' sheild- trouble is it's in the wrong place and doesn't sheild any of the emitters.

[sloz1664]

I must admit they have changed to LED lighting in my area and it has reduced the light pollution considerably.

Steve

[Alan White]

And we wonder why the light pollution level has gone up in the last few years?
I was under the impression LED controlled light better.
This is clearly terrible lighting design.
The light is a 'nuisance' and is 'damaging your sleep and causing distress' are the words needed to get it resolved legally with you local authority.

[sloz1664]

1 minute ago, laser_jock99 said:

The Council have fitted a 'tiny' sheild- trouble is it's in the wrong place and doesn't sheild any of the emitters.

Contact them again and explain your predicament. Does it shine into the house, if so, you could complain on the grounds of light intrusion.

Steve

[skmc1955]

This is a quick pic taken in my back garden, not bad for a very built up area. This would have been impossible with the old lighting.There is a bit of a glow from the BP plant at Saltend on the Humber.

[cotterless45]

That's a good sky .Nick.

[Pig]

The led lighting has made a huge positive difference for me also. However, I did have to ask for a shield to be fitted to the lamppost directly in front of my house..... it took the poor council 3 attempts, and the involvement of the local MP, to get the shield located in the right spot and be the right size but in the end all worked out just dandy ? It is worth persevering and do not be put off by crazy responses and excuses. 

[rockystar]

They've fitted them on the street behind me, and whilst under them, they are very bright, but looking down the street it does seem darker.  They haven't done my street yet, and there are still loads of sodium lights in the area, making the sky orange.

So if they fully fit  the ones like that, I'm all for it.  However if they could just do half of them and turn the other half off  

[Mr Spock]

Since they fitted Sheffield with LED lighting my sky has turned light grey. I do very little astro these days

[DaveS]

I think my council's too mean to put in higher lamp posts so the new LEDs are no higher than the old sodium ones. I also think they're no brighter, and may even be slightly dimmer.

My sky is now much more sensitive to weather conditions, as when it's dry the sky is getting darker, but wet pavements or humidity can make the conditions worse.

[happy-kat]

Having seen the program where that Council just sawed off the top of the old lamp post and fitted and new LED lamp head that slid over the old column and wired it in and also has dimming and lights out my Council got mugged by the electric company who ripped out all the old posts and  fitted nearly twice as many new columns!!

[barkis]

We all know, and are aware of some lighting schemes impinging on practical amateur astronomers.  The best approach to the  problem is via the local  lighting authority. Some have succeeded in getting adequate alterations to at least minimise their particular intrusive light source.                                                    These threads continue to highlight this problem, and some contain good advice.   On the other hand, there is always an input of potential criminal suggestion, which is certainly. Severely frowned upon by SGL's administration.      Such a post has appeared in this particular thread, and  therefore dealt with. The Code of Conduct everyone is.     supposed to read on becoming a member, contains a reference to this particular situation, and expressly forbids incitement to  cause. Criminal damage to. Council, or any other Body's  property.  It is getting close to the time, when anyone guilty of any such incitement, could be banned immediately, with no prior warning being issued.  The streets lights where I live have been  changed to LED's, and the area is flooded in light, but the sky above is black, and stars are quite visible to the naked eye.  The previous lamps were Sodium, and were really damaging to any astronomy. My observing sessions needed a LPR filter to kill that awful Sodium glow.                              So, use these light pollution threads to air your  LP. woes, but beware of  suggesting non legal ways to act against council lighting. It could               lead to you losing your SGL membership.

 

[bottletopburly]

16 hours ago, laser_jock99 said:

Yep- wrecked my back garden.......

i think a trip to your local MP is in order here ,that's definite light intrusion ,very little thought is put into the positioning of lamposts and  always seems  be one sided on their part ,here in northants they have installed less posts but increased the height of columns giving more spread ,the downside is that these encroach further into your garden. 

[DaveS]

Fortunately I can only see one streetlight from my garden, and that's from right at the far end where I don't observe from anyway. The new LED head is much more directional so appears less intrusive than the old sodium one.

I was worried that they would replace the bus-route streetlights with more powerful LEDs, but the ones I've seen so far look to be the same as on my road. If they do the bus-route that runs near my road that might make a difference, as it runs pretty much to the south of my house.

[PeterW]

The council shielded the ones near me (though one shield seems to have slipped slightly). The new LEDs installed nearby are really intense where they illuminate, but they are nearly invisible from 100m down the road. I would hope your council will shield... tell them about the detrimental effect of night light on health.

 

peter