Shine a light

[Propellor]

Street lamps. How many are actually needed at any given time?

Separately, but linked, do vehicles need street lamps? Or maybe to look at it another way, if they do, then why do they need headlights?

Strikes me there's a lot of wasted energy going on here.

[iansoady]

remember there are road users other than motorised ones.......

Many many years ago HGV drivers (as they weren't known) used to drive around on sidelights all the time. Mind you there were a lot of crashes.....

[timbo]

There could even be a huge saving if they were turned off during non peak times, such as the wee small hours. I think some councils are already doing this. But there are all sorts of issues including people in cities and towns feeling vulnerable to crimes like burglary if they aren't kept on 

[iansoady]

They go off at around 1 am in the suburban part of Brum I live in.

[Propellor]

remember there are road users other than motorised ones.......

Many many years ago HGV drivers (as they weren't known) used to drive around on sidelights all the time. Mind you there were a lot of crashes.....

I suppose LED headlights consume considerably less power than the halogens.

What I was initially thinking was why the need for both vehicle lights and roadside lights. Why not have one or the other. You can tell I didn't give this too much thinking time but, hey, where's the harm.

[Smithy]

If we don't have our headlights on and have good street lighting then how are numpties going to see us to pull out in front of us? Bitter, me? Never.

[Andy M]

I would not trust the local commissar for public works and urban diversity ( or whatever the job title is this week)  to change a  lamp in his own living room never mind maintain the only source of light in a city of a million people and tens of thousands of vehicles. They turn them off here at 1 am, its something to do with collectivisation of the tools of power production and possibly being green ( but not discriminating against other colours)

 I'm keeping my H5 and LEDs.

Andy

[Propellor]

I would not trust the local commissar for public works and urban diversity ( or whatever the job title is this week)  to change a  lamp in his own living room never mind maintain the only source of light in a city of a million people and tens of thousands of vehicles. They turn them off here at 1 am, its something to do with collectivisation of the tools of power production and possibly being green ( but not discriminating against other colours)

 I'm keeping my H5 and LEDs.

Andy

 

That might qualify for "the most polite rant (cue Clarkson overdub) in the world". 

Ok, how about this. Let's suppose we were forced to have only vehicle headlights OR only streetlights. On balance of safety/energy used/number of vehicles vs number of people out n about, which way should we channel our efforts?

[timbo]

I would go with vehicle headlights  But the whole debate is missing the point, as street lights are there for pedestrians. Aren't they 

[Propellor]

I would go with vehicle headlights  But the whole debate is missing the point, as street lights are there for pedestrians. Aren't they 

But there aren't many pedestrians. Put it this way, there are way more lit streetlights than there are pedestrians out and about. Wa a a ay more.

[johnr]

but streetlights arent just burning up electricity needlessly, remember that whilst we are still tied to thermal electricity generation , theres still going to need to be a baseload of electicity generation required just to keep the power plants running. unlike solar or wind you cant turn a gas coal oil or nuke plant on and off like a light, so even when theres no demand for electricity, they will still need to be running at operationg pressure and the turbines will still need to be spinning. even if you turned off all the streetlights in the uk, you wouldnt be saving much because all them power plants will still need to be kept running.

[Propellor]

but streetlights arent just burning up electricity needlessly, remember that whilst we are still tied to thermal electricity generation , theres still going to need to be a baseload of electicity generation required just to keep the power plants running. unlike solar or wind you cant turn a gas coal oil or nuke plant on and off like a light, so even when theres no demand for electricity, they will still need to be running at operationg pressure and the turbines will still need to be spinning. even if you turned off all the streetlights in the uk, you wouldnt be saving much because all them power plants will still need to be kept running.

Could the power be redirected? One day maybe everyone will be re charging their EV's overnight.

[Richard]

Round my way street lights off the main roads get turned off at about midnight as there just isn't anybody about.

The sort of crime they help reassure against is very rare here.

Not sure I'd want to walk around some places without lighting though.

[johnr]

Could the power be redirected? One day maybe everyone will be re charging their EV's overnight.

in an ideal world, yes, but the reality of power generation is that charging EV's with fossil fuels is still comparatively dirty, and we are a long stretch from the EV tipping point where that might happen. the reality is that from a cold start, to get a thermal power plant upto generating level can take 24 hours or more, so they are kept at almost operating power constantly, 24/7, so that if needs be, they can be brought on stream quickly. this, coincidentally, gives rise to one of the energy industries biggest myths. the old nay sayers claim that wind farms are useless because they arent ever seen to be turning. in reality, to turn on a wind turbine is merely a mater of flicking a switch, and away they go, clean green power. however, this instant switchability means that they are also the easiest to switch off when there is low demand, simply because its nigh on impossible to turn off a coal oil gas or nuke plant without major problems following. so, wind turbine owners are paid by central govt to turn their turbines off because they are more flexible than thermal plants. then folks(and it has to be said the madder bits of the media) see them not spinning and just assume that they are broken or the wind isnt blowing or they just dont work. the absolute reality in fact is that the uk has amongst the best resources in the world for wind power, certainly better than anywhere else in europe, and if they were fully harnessed with offshore wind, the uk could actually generate four times its own requirements for electricity from wind power alone. its just a matter of political will, and at the moment, there isnt any!

[timbo]

I totally agree with every word just said. The UK could and should have been world leaders in wind power generation, but the political will and leadership just isn't there