New LED Lighting Will Save Power, Money

By John Voket

Public Works Director Fred Hurley said this week that new LED (light emitting diode) lighting being installed at the town-owned Fairfield Hills campus, and across the street at Reed School, will shed softer light but its penetration will remain virtually identical to the 150-watt bulbs that have been in use since the pedestrian walkway and parking lot fixtures were installed.

The new bulbs and ballasts will also provide substantial savings over the former installations, drawing only 40 watts per bulb, and translating into 60 percent less power consumption and about a 20 to 25 percent overall savings, Mr Hurley said.

According to a report in Electrical Construction & Maintenance magazine, light-emitting diodes are solid-state devices that convert electric energy directly into light of a single color. Because they employ “cold” light generation technology, in which most of the energy is delivered in the visible spectrum, LEDs do not waste energy in the form of nonlight producing heat.

In comparison, the article states, most of the energy in an incandescent lamp is in the infrared (or nonvisible) portion of the spectrum. As a result, both fluorescent and HID (high intensity discharge) lamps produce a great deal of heat. In addition to producing cold light, LEDs can be powered from a portable battery pack or even a solar array; can be integrated into a control system; are small in size and resistant to vibration and shock; have a very fast “on-time”; have good color resolution; and present low, or no, shock hazard.

In all, 103 fixtures are in the process of being converted to LED technology. And the cost for the hardware and labor is being covered as part of a federal economic stimulus grant to the community.

“That means there is virtually no taxpayer cost, it’s all coming out of the stimulus grant,” Mr Hurley said. “And while the light is somewhat softer, we find it penetrates the darkness as good or better than the existing fixtures.”

He expects the conversion to be completed by year’s end.