New LED street lights

[BillyRay 10]

Does anyone have one directly outside of their house? What's it's like, is it a bad as I think it will be?

[cgksheff 44]

Amazing to see their patterns in tonight's fog.

[the_rudeboy 12]

Amazing to see their patterns in tonight's fog.

 

You can see the cut-off is far more defined than with sodium lamps.

[scargill 10]

the only problem I have with them is that they don't seem to have been spaced out equally on the roads around here so there is some very dark gaps when walking down the footpath

 

my concern too- My concern is as a cyclist, I am happy to drive or walk under the lights, but as a cyclist the constant moving from light to dark patches is dangerous, my eyes do not adjust quickly enough, last night in a dark patch I hit a deep pot hole that nearly threw me into the path of an oncoming car, a couple of weeks earlier I had a similar issue with a fallen branch, it appears to me that the lights are too far apart to give an even spread of light.

[watchcoll 10]

Does anyone have one directly outside of their house? What's it's like, is it a bad as I think it will be?

 

I have one directly across the street. It illuminates my living room through the curtains & through the little window above the front door, and i have had to have blinds fitted to the bedroom window as the curtains just didn't keep the light out.

They are very bright lights. At first they were awful, but now i've gotten used to it.

I'll still be buying new, thicker, curtains for the lounge because when people walk past my window the street light is so bright it casts a shadow on the white curtain & has made me jump a couple of times!

[senwar 10]

Senwar, they have marked a location for the new LED lights right outside our house, will impact our living room & Bedroom. Did you complain to the council, have they said or done anything?

 

Hi BillyRay

 

I raised an issue via the councils website about the new lights (lights are too bright). However that was in June and it's still not been resolved despite numerous phones to me from the council with updates saying it's going to be fixed.

 

The lighting affects me more in my front room as due to the height and location it basically shines straight through the window and renders certain seating positions unusable. No amount of black out curtains or blinds (which we already have) will resolve this.

 

We're also due to have one installed at the end of my drive next month. I was advised by the council to raise a complaint in advance of installation but if I'm honest I've given up already.

[Aleksandr 10]

Really - really?

 

Wow - Well you are the lucky one...

 

I must be more susceptible to the LED lights - but hold on - how do you know your retinas aren't damaged?

 

---------- Post added 14-11-2014 at 17:02 ----------

 

 

And here is the difference between candelas, lux and lumens

 

http://www.ledlenser.com/uk/information/technology/leds-and-light/candela-lumen-lux/

 

"So you really have to know the numbers."

 

---------- Post added 14-11-2014 at 17:06 ----------

 

In summary...

 

Sheffield City Council have used the wrong LEDs for street lights

LEDs can easily disrupt circadian rhythms

Disrupted circadian rhythms can cause cancer and other ailments

LEDs can cause damange to the eye especially those of young children

Since the introduction of LEDs sleep has been disrupted in Sheffield by the brightness of the lights

 

 

Now I understand that some of you have not been affected, and I am glad for you, but I have, and I am concerned about the lack of due diligence that the council appear to have had in the introduction of these new lights.

You know nothing of the science behind this and have no grasp of reality. Leave it to those who do and stop embarrassing yourself!

 

---------- Post added 15-11-2014 at 21:09 ----------

 

My concern is as a cyclist, I am happy to drive or walk under the lights, but as a cyclist the constant moving from light to dark patches is dangerous, my eyes do not adjust quickly enough, last night in a dark patch I hit a deep pot hole that nearly threw me into the path of an oncoming car, a couple of weeks earlier I had a similar issue with a fallen branch, it appears to me that the lights are too far apart to give an even spread of light.

As a cyclist, I've not experienced that. Perhaps you have an eye condition that makes it difficult for you to adjust to changes in light level, or causes you to be easily dazzled. IMO, the light provided by these new street lamps is more evenly spread and of higher quality.

 

You may notice an apparently brighter patch under a street lamp when the road is wet, but that's more the result of the proximity to the light source than the level of illumination at that point. It's due to the angle of reflection.

 

---------- Post added 15-11-2014 at 21:14 ----------

 

my concern too- My concern is as a cyclist, I am happy to drive or walk under the lights, but as a cyclist the constant moving from light to dark patches is dangerous, my eyes do not adjust quickly enough, last night in a dark patch I hit a deep pot hole that nearly threw me into the path of an oncoming car, a couple of weeks earlier I had a similar issue with a fallen branch, it appears to me that the lights are too far apart to give an even spread of light.

I doubt the street lights will be as much of a problem to you as oncoming car headlights then! If you want to see in the shadows better, there are many incredibly bright bike lights to buy, and some are quite cheap!

 

---------- Post added 15-11-2014 at 21:16 ----------

 

Hi BillyRay

 

I raised an issue via the councils website about the new lights (lights are too bright). However that was in June and it's still not been resolved despite numerous phones to me from the council with updates saying it's going to be fixed.

 

The lighting affects me more in my front room as due to the height and location it basically shines straight through the window and renders certain seating positions unusable. No amount of black out curtains or blinds (which we already have) will resolve this.

 

We're also due to have one installed at the end of my drive next month. I was advised by the council to raise a complaint in advance of installation but if I'm honest I've given up already.

Given that decent blackout curtains can block direct sunlight, that must be one hell of a bright street lamp!

 

---------- Post added 15-11-2014 at 21:17 ----------

 

It is impossible for LED street lights to cause eye damage.

[Guest]

The lighting affects me more in my front room as due to the height and location it basically shines straight through the window and renders certain seating positions unusable. No amount of black out curtains or blinds (which we already have) will resolve this.

 

Well that's complete rubbish. In a previous property the attic room served as my bedroom and I bought the blackout shutter for the blind. In the middle of a summers day it was pitch black.

 

Either you've not actually got proper black out curtains/blinds or you've somehow managed to put them up incorrectly.

 

Even in my current flat I have 3 el-cheapo Ikea blackout blinds and they block out sunlight.....which is several orders of magnitude brighter than LED streetlights.

 

my concern too- My concern is as a cyclist, I am happy to drive or walk under the lights, but as a cyclist the constant moving from light to dark patches is dangerous, my eyes do not adjust quickly enough, last night in a dark patch I hit a deep pot hole that nearly threw me into the path of an oncoming car, a couple of weeks earlier I had a similar issue with a fallen branch, it appears to me that the lights are too far apart to give an even spread of light.

 

How exactly do you cope with the old streetlights which also create much worse patches of light and dark? Or car headlights? Or any light at all?

 

People are going on about LED streetlights as if the old lights were somehow really bright and awesome. They were incredibly dim by comparison. Basically it's a different type of light and we all know people on this forum don't like anything different.

Edited November 15, 2014 by Guest

[Litotes 63]

You know nothing of the science behind this and have no grasp of reality. Leave it to those who do and stop embarrassing yourself!

 

---------- Post added 15-11-2014 at 21:09 ----------

 

As a cyclist, I've not experienced that. Perhaps you have an eye condition that makes it difficult for you to adjust to changes in light level, or causes you to be easily dazzled. IMO, the light provided by these new street lamps is more evenly spread and of higher quality.

 

You may notice an apparently brighter patch under a street lamp when the road is wet, but that's more the result of the proximity to the light source than the level of illumination at that point. It's due to the angle of reflection.

 

---------- Post added 15-11-2014 at 21:14 ----------

 

I doubt the street lights will be as much of a problem to you as oncoming car headlights then! If you want to see in the shadows better, there are many incredibly bright bike lights to buy, and some are quite cheap!

 

---------- Post added 15-11-2014 at 21:16 ----------

 

Given that decent blackout curtains can block direct sunlight, that must be one hell of a bright street lamp!

 

---------- Post added 15-11-2014 at 21:17 ----------

 

It is impossible for LED street lights to cause eye damage.

 

 

Wow - we must pay more attention to what you say, thanks for spending time giving us the insight into your scientific knowledge and wisdom of the world...

 

Except...

 

You back up none of your assertions with facts.

Just because you haven't experienced something does not negate it as possibility or fact.

I guess that the scientific papers which say that LED lights can cause eye damage are .

wrong.

[Annie Bynnol 612]

Wow - we must pay more attention to what you say, thanks for spending time giving us the insight into your scientific knowledge and wisdom of the world...

 

Except...

 

You back up none of your assertions with facts.

Just because you haven't experienced something does not negate it as possibility or fact.

I guess that the scientific papers which say that LED lights can cause eye damage are .

wrong.

 

As you have been making the claims then it is you who must provide the evidence.

Hearsay is no acceptable- there are least three types of LED street lights currently being installed in Sheffield which of these is the "engineer" referring to and why would an "engineer" be involved in street light installation.

Experiment-none of these residential lights provide enough light for comfortable reading and yet are able to penetrate your curtains. Other experiments you could do is to measure light levels using a camera -even better a camera on a mobile phone.

 

You refer to scientific papers that do not refer to street lighting or you claim to be in French but is in English as well. "Several papers " turn out to be one. Of the two papers that specifically refer to street lighting one concludes the issue of LED lighting to be irrelevant and the other finds no current evidence of harm from LED lighting. A paper which researches the brain chemistry of rats. Papers that investigate the effects of lighting in offices and workplaces where the light source is closer and of a much higher intensity than streetlight.

 

It is established that certain light levels and frequencies damage the retina.

Totally separate is the health hazard caused by the disruption of the circadian rhythm.

As yet you provided no link between residential LED street lighting and either of these issues.

 

You are right to question, you are correct to object to changes in your environment and the way it is handled, however you seriously weaken your argument by introducing "bad science" and insults.

[senwar 10]

Thanks to Aleksandr and probedb for completely misunderstanding my point about black out curtains.....

 

I am saying black out curtains won't solve the problem because I won't shut them in my front room - I'm not talking about a bedroom here. What I am saying is that I should not have to have my front room curtains closed during the evening because of this new lighting. I never have done and never will do. We already have vertical blinds and unless we fully close these then the lighting gets through brightly at all angles

 

Before popping up rubbishing my comment have a bit of a think about the context it was in.

[Litotes 63]

Experiment-none of these residential lights provide enough light for comfortable reading and yet are able to penetrate your curtains. Other experiments you could do is to measure light levels using a camera -even better a camera on a mobile phone.

 

I can read a book in my front room quite easily with the light pollution tyhat comes in through the window from the LED street light ourside it.

 

You refer to scientific papers that do not refer to street lighting or you claim to be in French but is in English as well. "Several papers " turn out to be one. Of the two papers that specifically refer to street lighting one concludes the issue of LED lighting to be irrelevant and the other finds no current evidence of harm from LED lighting. A paper which researches the brain chemistry of rats. Papers that investigate the effects of lighting in offices and workplaces where the light source is closer and of a much higher intensity than streetlight.

 

I provide a link to one paper - there are many others out there if you could be bothered to look - I have provided evidence.

It is established that certain light levels and frequencies damage the retina.

Totally separate is the health hazard caused by the disruption of the circadian rhythm.

As yet you provided no link between residential LED street lighting and either of these issues.

 

The paper I linked to suggested that LED lighting can emit frequencies which damage the retina.

My circadian rhythm (and whole sleeping pattern) has been disrupted since these lights were introduced - not other factors in my life have changed (apart from my age) - is that not enough evidence?

 

You are right to question, you are correct to object to changes in your environment and the way it is handled, however you seriously weaken your argument by introducing "bad science" and insults.

 

I fail to see how by providing evidence I have contributed 'bad science'.