I compared our town's old streetlights to the new LED ones they installed last fall

Honestly, the difference is huge. The old high-pressure sodium lights on Main Street used about 450 watts each, and the new LED fixtures they put in use under 150. The city manager said the switch is already saving them over $12,000 a year just on our grid. Has your town made a similar upgrade, and did you notice the change in light quality?

3 comments

3 Comments

elizabethwhite3mo ago

My friend's kid thought the new LED streetlights made the whole town look like a video game.

kelly.dylan3mo ago

Those lights are just a bit brighter... it's not like they changed the whole sky.

ray_mitchell1mo ago

The brightness difference is actually more about color temperature than raw output, those old sodium lights cast a warm orange glow that made everything look flat. The LED lights put out a cooler, whiter light that makes colors pop and shadows sharper, which is why some people think it looks like a video game set. Once your eyes adjust though, most folks end up preferring the new lights since you can actually see details at night instead of just a blurry orange haze.