LED Street Lights

The Vale of Glamorgan Council has been installing new LED streetlights in all residential streets as part of a £1.4 million investment project that will benefit the environment by reducing Co2 emissions and energy costs.

Over 10,000 conventional street lighting lanterns have been replaced by more efficient LED alternatives, which will be dimmed by 50 per cent between midnight and 6am, meaning increased illumination times and an end to part-night lighting in these areas.

This project will also reduce the Council’s ongoing maintenance and repair costs for street lighting as LED lanterns can last for 20 to 25 years or 100,000 hours compared to conventional lighting, which only has a life span of three to six years. LED lights:

• Have a much longer lifespan than the traditional lighting
• Enhance facial recognition for security and CCTV cameras
• Are cheaper to run than traditional street lighting
• The light emitted is directional and illuminates the highways and footpaths
• Reduce the amount of light pollution such as backlight into resident's houses
• Brighter white light enabling a better distinguishing of colours and making objects look sharper and clearer at night
• Provide a white light source that concentrates light into the road and footway meaning less light pollution into homes and gardens

• Can you control the brightness and glare of the new lighting?
  With the advent of the new technology the new lanterns can also be programmed to dim in the early hours where the higher lighting levels are not required due to the lack of pedestrian and road traffic. Any glare from the new lanterns that cause concern can be addressed by fitting shades to lanterns. 

• Are other councils installing LED lights?

  Many other councils across Wales and England have successfully installed LED street lights as part of their street lighting energy reduction strategies.