Street lights get an LED makeover
WEXFORD County Council has begun an ambitious programme of replacing around 14,000 bulbs and surrounding ‘lanterns’ with LED bulbs in street lights across the county.
Though the programme is costing the council in the region of €5 million, the energy bill savings will clock in at around €800,000 per year.
Gorey’s Main Street public lights have already had their makeover as have street lights in various other parts of the county. The council said it will replace around 1,300 lights this year. ‘We expect to replace 2,500 annually over the next five years which will effectively replace all our lighting stock with LED,’ said communications officer David Minogue.
He explained that the old 200W ‘Son’ lights are being replaced with 120W and 80W LED lights, while the 135W ‘Sox lanterns’ and 150W ‘lantern Son’ bulbs are being replaced with 80W and 120W LED.
‘We are changing out the entire lantern not just the bulb itself,’ said David. ‘The existing life span of a Sox and Son bulb is in the region of two years. The expected lifespan of an LED fitting is 15 years.’ Sox lanterns are now obsolete and only one company manufactures the Sox bulb which costs around €65.
The project will be primarily funded from the Council’s own resources, supplemented with some grant aid. The energy savings will be in the region 69 per cent of the energy expended at present. This will result in an annual energy saving of almost 4.5 million KW a year.
The council’s energy policy, as agreed by the Housing, Community and Environment Special Policy Committee, was approved by the full council at the recent monthly meeting.
As well as upgrading public lighting, there are also plans to retrofit a number of houses, while solar panels on the roof of Wexford County Council’s building will supply 5 per cent of the building’s electricity. Cllr Malcolm Byrne welcomed the policy saying it was a positive development but adding that it was important to have clear, measurable targets.
Director of Services John Carley said they were looking at zero energy housing as well as energy efficient public lighting. Senior Engineer Gerry Forde said they were also looking at the area of energy efficient transport and were examining a pilot scheme for electric vehicles.
Cllr Oliver Walsh complimented all involved in writing the policy, saying it would pay dividends in the future. Cllr Pip Breen agreed but added that the area of agriculture should also be examined and the IFA consulted as, he said, the EU seemed to think cows were to blame for environmental issues!