Editor,

Yay for Langley’s plan to convert street lights to LEDs! It’s a great move as it saves money, conserves energy and cuts down on maintenance costs because LEDs rarely need to be replaced.

Like most lighting projects, good design is essential. For street lighting, the light needs to go where it is intended,  i.e., streets or sidewalks, not the sky and not into neighbors’ windows. And just because LEDs are more energy efficient, doesn’t mean light levels should be increased. Reducing energy use not only saves the city money, but is also is critical to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

It’s also important to note that there’s nothing inherently different or more “dangerous” about the blue light emitted by LEDs; that is, at the same power and wavelength, electromagnetic energy is the same, regardless of source type. That includes television monitors, computer and phone screens and traditional high pressure sodium street lights. In fact, unlike old street lamps, LED lights can be fine tuned to dim them and/or reduce blue light spectrum.

As the U.S. Department of Energy states, “Some media coverage of concerns about blue light, light at night, and dark-sky issues can give the impression that LEDs are the enemy, when in fact they’re a critical part of the solution, which the AMA acknowledges. It’s important to remember that these issues have been around for decades, long before the emergence of LED technology… More than any other technology, LEDs offer the capability to provide, for each application, the right amount of light, with the right spectrum, where you need it, when you need it.” (http://energy.gov/eere/ssl/articles/get-facts-led-street-lighting)

Bottom line, it seems Langley’s street light project can make us all happy: save money, conserve energy, improve the quality of street lighting and reduce night pollution.

KIM DRURY

Langley