camelot-forum.co.uk

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... ct-decline

Think birds, bats, hedgehogs.

The lights down to 1/2 output from 1 a.m would be welcome, as would motorway sensors for infrequent traffic opportunities to save some energy.

For instance when we head down to Luton to park the car (airparks drop off) we motorway travel under great illumination till the last mile when it go's dark by comparison, enough to see foxes moving around in shadow, (right through a village with 24 hour bus pick up / drop off), seems ridiculous as that is where a significant mass of vehicles head from the motorway junction.

Street lights, nasty things should be banned IMO, no ifs no buts, cut 'em all down

Sped

I believe lots of them in residential areas used to go out from 1 to 5 am, or something like that. Nowadays (with cheap sensors and the simplest circuitry - and low electricity consumption because they use LEDs) they come on at dusk and don't go off till dawn.
Maybe they should come on at dusk, have a small-hours cut-out and come back on in the early morning.

Is there a middle way between a computer-in-every-streetlamp / internet-of-things solution and a simple light sensor circuit which knows what the real time is (like my radio clock) so that it can do a reliable small-hours cut-out?
A

Genuinely don't know why we need so much streetlighting - seems an easy win to just switch the bloody things off.

dan_b wrote: ↑Fri Aug 27, 2021 11:28 am Genuinely don't know why we need so much streetlighting - seems an easy win to just switch the bloody things off.

If you are walking or cycling they are very useful.

I just ensure I have a car competing bike light (this sometimes angers cars)
I also ensure I carry a decent petzl for walking, streetlights are useful for avoiding dog muck & pot holes as a pedestrian.

It does irk me that there is no timer turn down for the empty hours, a lamp post is questionable "security" & tends to make people leave cars on the road under street lights outside their houses instead of on their driveway, impeding movement.

"ah yes but if there is a disturbance I can look out & see my car" (never mind the temptation to thieves of a car parked further away from a house) put up some solar & park it on your crunchy gravel covered garden (doh)

Turn it down to be considerate to wildlife, night sky light pollution whilst cutting down another power station output, create a new standard of lighting for cyclists & other road users to counter any effects.

Although I like the idea of turning off/down street lights outside dusk & dawn, aren't moths most active at dusk & dawn? I'm pretty sure that bats are.
Perversely, I saw bats zipping around above my garden one evening a couple of weeks ago as the moths were attracted to the street light (over)illuminating the path next to my garden, only rarely seen them before. I've also seen hedgehogs a lot more this summer despite the light - though they do prefer the shadows and (unsurprisingly) hedges.

Portable LED lights are available.
I have 2x 1500lm Lezyne Superdrives on my bike for night riding - sure as hell can see where I'm going, and I don't murder a million moths every time I go out?!

AE-NMidlands wrote: ↑Fri Aug 27, 2021 11:45 am

dan_b wrote: ↑Fri Aug 27, 2021 11:28 am Genuinely don't know why we need so much streetlighting - seems an easy win to just switch the bloody things off.

If you are walking or cycling they are very useful.