New Quorn street lights to consume 50% more energy December 2007
Leicestershire County Council will be installing new lighting columns and fixtures to a number of streets in Quorn from mid-December onwards.
Quorn Parish Council, who were given very little notice that the work was about to start, have objected to the new installations.
One of their concerns is that the new lamps will use 50% more energy than the old ones.
The old lamps are rated at 35W, the new ones at 70W. With associated control gear, the final energy usage increase is approximately 50% for each new street lamp.
Why should consumers try to save energy?
The increase in energy usage that will result from the new lighting will null the efforts of many households who attempt to reduce their energy consumption on the advice from central government and also Leicestershire County Council.
Is the existing lighting provision sufficient?
There have been no complaints about the existing lighting levels on the affected roads in Quorn. There have been no problems with traffic, cyclists, or pedestrians.
History repeated
In fact, almost the exact thing happened before in Quorn a few years ago. Street lanterns in Wood Lane were "upgraded" without any consultation and the resulting lighting levels lit the area like a retail park. You can read the feature on this website - see News 2005.
Leicestershire Matters Publication - November 2007 - Issue 4
This magazine is published by Leicestershire Country Council and is distributed to homes in the county.
In the November issue, it states:
Let’s save our energy!
Saving energy is vital to protecting our environment.
That is why we are working in partnership with the Leicestershire Energy Efficiency Advice Centre to give away free low-energy light bulbs to our readers.
If each household in Leicestershire replaced just one light bulb with a low-energy bulb, 15,500 tonnes less carbon dioxide would be emitted into the atmosphere and each household would save £9 per year.
We have launched a ‘good housekeeping’ energy awareness campaign. This aims to reduce energy use in County Council buildings by 10%.
We will be asking Leicestershire County Council for their input on this topic - watch this space!
Vote for your preferred energy option
The installation of new lighting columns will be going ahead in mid-December. We set up a simple voting system to allow you to express your view about this. The options below are not exhaustive, but it allowed us to gauge opinion on this.
Option 1:
Go ahead with this
I really don't see any problem with installing street lights that use 50% more energy than the old ones.
Option 2:
Match the old ones
Okay, I understand that we need new lighting columns and lamps, but match the power consumption to the old ones and don't exceed the old rating.
Option 3:
Reduce the energy usage
I see no reason why this scheme should be exempt from the pressures that everyone faces, ie that we should reduce our overall energy use. Don't put in any street lights unless they consume less energy than the old ones.
Let’s save our energy!
22%
