Lighting The Way To Budget Savings

Caerphilly Council has successfully reduced carbon emissions, light pollution and budgets by introducing energy saving measures to street lighting. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Since 2009 a significant proportion of street lights across the county have been subject to energy saving measures including inter-urban part-night lighting, low-energy alternatives and dimming where possible. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

A capital Investment fund of £980k was made available in 2015-16 which saw the replacement of a third of the council’s life-expired conventional sodium lights with much more energy efficient LED retro fit gear-trays, which has resulted in a whole year saving of £290k. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The 15 month installation period has allowed the authority to assess the figures of the energy reduction, environmental savings, financial savings, material savings, maintenance costs and light pollution figures all of which have seen a significant reduction. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Maintenance costs have reduced as the new LED lighting units have life span of between 10 and 15 years which is significantly longer than the conventional sodium lighting which only lasted 3 to 4 years. Use of the more modern technology means that the lighting head design is more effectively profiled to resist severe weather conditions, is composed of more resilient materials and lighter in weight (reducing the loading risk), therefore presents a more sustainable unit due to the reduced use heavy metal elements and noble gases, when compared to conventional types. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

LEDs provide substantially more value for money than their sodium predecessors. This also equates to a reduction in the amount of energy required to create and operate each light. Together with the reduction in energy usage, the better control of unwanted light into the night time environment provides a positive benefit and assists in contributing to National Government targets. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Cabinet Member for Highways, Transportation & Engineering, Cllr. Tom Williams commented, “Changing the lighting has had significant benefits to the environment and we will continue to look at ways to reduce costs and create a greener and sustainable environment for residents.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​