|
The streets of North Bay are a little brighter
at night – and it’s saving taxpayers
$142,000 a year. The City of North Bay cut
the cost to operate its traffic lights by 85
per cent by converting to LED, the same
technology used in power indicator lights
on TVs, VCRs and other electronic devices.
“LED is better, brighter and works better,”
said Alan Korell, Managing Director of the
City of North Bay’s Engineering and
Environmental Services. “They last 10
times longer than regular lights. As LED
bulbs are made up of a lot of little diodes,
if one blows, the light still functions almost
as normal.”
After initial tests in 2005, the City
converted its entire fleet of traffic lights to
LED (light-emitting diode) technology.
These lights are extremely bright and
visible while at the same time use
extremely low levels of electricity.
“These lights look better. I’ve received lots
of comments from people. They say that
the lights are particularly visible in the
early evening or morning, when the sun is
low and shining in your eyes,” said Korell.
Better still, LED light bulbs are long-lasting
and can be expected to last for years. And
the maintenance needs are greatly reduced
as the bulbs don’t burn out quickly, requiring an immediate change. “Our
maintenance costs are almost nothing, as
we don’t have to incur overtime sending
someone out after hours to replace a bulb.
Now we just check the lights as part of our
regular maintenance,” said Korell.
The City’s next target is its street lights –
which together with traffi c lights – account
for 16 per cent of its electricity budget.
The existing fixtures – sodium lights dating
back to the 60s – are reaching the end of
their service lives and need to be replaced.
In partnership with North Bay Hydro, Korell
and his team are looking to refurbish the
existing lights and install state of the art technologies that use energy more
efficiently, with greater performance. They
are currently testing a light harvester that
acts as an automatic dimmer switch,
turning the lights on and off gradually as
natural daylight appears and disappears. LED technology is also being tested.
Yes, that little light on
your VCR on/off switch
can stop traffic.
LED light bulbs are clusters of those little
lights used on electronic devices to show
whether the equipment is on or off. Put
enough of them together and you get a
powerful, effi cient and inexpensive-to -
operate source of light. LED technology is
quickly emerging as a better alternative
for incandescent light bulbs – and even
fluorescent lamps. LED light bulbs outlast
incandescent bulbs – and CFL bulbs.
These bulbs also produce more light per
watt than incandescents and can light up
very quickly. For the most part, they fail
by dimming over time as each individual
diode within the bulb burns out.
With these qualities, LEDs are
increasingly popular for applications
such as traffic signals. They emit
coloured light, so they do not need a
colour coating or film that are typically
used with incandescents that would
absorb light. |
This lighting project is estimated to
generate savings of 35 per cent – with a
three-year pay back. It will also divert a
significant amount of waste from the
landfill, and save $100,000 a year in
ongoing maintenance costs. In total, the
City expects the lighting project to reduce
their energy use by 1.1 million kilowatt
hours (kWh) – the equivalent of five per
cent of its annual consumption. It has also
embarked on lighting retrofi ts throughout
its facilities, which again will save another
one million kWh.
These projects make up part of a broader
plan by the city to reduce energy purchases
by almost half – either through energy
efficiency or through the development of a
landfi ll gas generation facility to provide
electricity for local needs.
“We’ve achieved a lot in the last two years
and we’re seeing the savings we
anticipated,” said Korell. “Our next step is
to develop a green plan for the city. There
are still many projects to be done, such as
building the new generating facility,
installing interval meters and looking at
energy use at our sewage treatment
plants.
In many respects – the work’s
only just begun.”
A Perfect Match
Hourly electricity prices in Ontario are set
in the wholesale market run by the
Independent Electricity System Operator
(IESO). Here, prices rise and fall
throughout the day as demand for it also
rises and falls. As a result, off-peak prices
– overnight and during weekends – can be
particularly low, creating a real advantage
for municipalities who place their street
lighting load on the hourly price.
Municipalities can potentially reduce their
street lighting bills by as much as 40 per
cent just by moving to hourly prices. Think
about it – who else is using that much
electricity at 2:00 in the morning? You can
see the dynamics of on and off-peak prices
at the IESO’s website at www.ieso.ca/price. |
More Profiles >>
|
|
