Road Lighting Revolution: LED Street Lights Are Gradually Replacing High-pressure Sodium Lamps

Most of us have experienced this when taking plane: On a clear night, look out the window of an airliner and most of the city below is bathed in a bright orange glow. This is mainly because the light is produced by thousands of high-pressure sodium lamps. "From the sky, most cities look like orange blobs," said lighting expert Ron Bednarick.

However, with the road lighting revolution, LED lights gradually replaced the high-pressure sodium lamp due to these advantages of longer service life and better light etc, all this is beginning to change.

It is estimated that the total number of street lights in the United States is 45 to 55 million.Among them, most street lamps are high-pressure sodium lamps, and a small part are metal halide bulbs.

"The rate of adaption has probably tripled in the last two years," said Lighting expert Ron Bednarick. "The quality of light has improved dramatically with LED fixtures, and the cost savings have been significant."

He believes that LED street lights have 3 advantages as below:

Firstly, the light from the well-designed LED street lights is clear, controllable and beautiful. Precisely designed optics in LED fixtures ensure that light hits where it belongs, which means less light is wasted.

Secondly, LED lamps have lower maintenance costs and lower energy consumption.Since most streetlights are owned and operated by utilities, using leds can reduce energy consumption by about 40 percent.Meanwhile,the more important savings are in maintenance.High pressure sodium lamps must be replaced at least every five years due to the reduction of lumen output.The cost of materials and labor to replace a single bulb can range from $80 to $200.Because LED fixtures last three to four times longer than HPSL fixtures, the cost savings from maintenance can be significant.

Thirdly, decorative LED street lighting is on the rise.As technology has improved and manufacturing costs have decreased, LED lighting manufacturers have been able to offer a wider range of decorative lighting options that can mimic the lighting designs of older gas lamps and so on, with great aesthetic advantages.

A few years ago, LED lamp fixtures were a small part of the road lighting market.Compared with high-pressure sodium lamp,the high cost of LED light makes it difficult for most towns to convert.But today, with the progress of LED lighting technology and the decline of the price, LED lights are gradually replacing high-pressure sodium lamps.