On October 30, 2013 I inquired with the City of London’s Roadway Lighting & Traffic Control division regarding recent, and upcoming, implementation of LED roadway lights around the City. I’m absolutely for LED lights thanks to the lower operating costs, and initiatives elsewhere involving the mass replacement of older roadway light technology in Los Angeles, CA and New York City, NY.
October 30, 2013
Hi there,
I see here that the City has already begun deploying LED street lights in some areas. I have a few questions:
- What is the capital cost of an HPS street light vs. an LED street light?
- What are the lifetime costs of an HPS street light vs. an LED street light?
- Are there plans to do a complete switchover to LED street lights like Los Angeles is doing, and New York City is about to embark on?
- If so, what sorts of cost savings does the City expect once the transformation is complete? And how much will the switchover cost initially?
- If not, why not?
I had yet to receive a response on Monday, so I reached out again. I received a response tout suite!
January 6, 2014
Mr. Silva,
First let me apologize for the delay in responding to your e-mail. I thought I responded but obviously that was not the case.
The capital cost of HPS vs. LED varies depending on the product and other factors. These are some LED products that appear to be relatively cheap; however, based on a review of the product the long term cost would be very high. The LED street light projects that we have accepted for use on City streets are approximately 3 times the cost of HPS fixtures. We are currently reviewing some new products that claim to offer the same lighting levels but at a better price; however, we have not completed our review. Even though LED products have been around for a long time their use in street lights is still relatively new and as this market matures the cost and reliability of LED street lights will improve.
A recent review of a LED street light retrofit program calculated the payback in energy savings and maintenance savings would be approximately 13 year. This is one of the reasons why we have not entered into a retrofit program yet. That being said, we are in discussion with LED street light vendors which may lower the retrofit cost to a level that would be financially feasible. I know other municipalities, such as Los Angeles, have undertaken a retrofit program but their hydro costs and federal funding opportunities are very different from London which makes these projects more viable.
Shane Maguire, P. Eng.
Division Manager
Roadway Lighting & Traffic Control
So, no definite costs, but some answers regardless. It would be nice to see some initiatives from OPG to reduce the need for power generation, and therefore decreasing operating costs overall. Los Angeles is looking save $7M a year on electricity costs alone after switching to LED. Hopefully the City’s discussions with LED street light vendors yield some positive results and make a wholesale switch more feasible soon.