

Anchorage, Alaska, to Install 16,000 LED Streetlights. Will Save $360,000 per Year. - MikeCapone
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/07/led-streetlights-anchorage-alaska-16000.php

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jws
Forgive me, I must vent here (treehugger does not approve such comments
there)...

Treehugger is a disservice to environmental news. They are consistently
technically uninformed and making no progress as the years go one. You will
routinely see articles like this one where there is a story but they get it
wrong. If they are going to fill the space, they should do it adequately.

Consider this article:

    
    
       Bigger Benefits Up North
         Because Anchorage has 85 days a year with less than 8 
         hours of daylight, any benefit over the tradition [sic]
         lighting architecture are compounded. 
    

That is their first big benefit of the lights in the article. And during
winter it is true, but what about summer when the sun barely sets? Doesn't
that make streetlights less useful? Doesn't this all come out in the wash? Is
the 50% reduction in power use enough?

Shoddy journalism, mountains of ads (69 items loaded for this article), and
suppression of source articles (this one is just a summarization of a press
release published elsewhere , but good luck finding the link. The first couple
that look likely are just links back into treehugger) should not be tolerated
at "One of the most influential tastemakers".

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arran
I agree with you, that is a very shoddy piece of journalism. The LEDs are
almost certainly less efficient than the sodium lamps they replace.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminous_efficacy#Examples_2>

Prototype LEDs are reaching 130 lumens/watt, low pressure sodium regularly get
150 lumens/watt in production. The efficiency of the LEDs used is probably
around 80-90 lumens/watt.

The money saving is probably coming from the lower maintenance costs whilst
there is an increase in energy use.

