The argument for switching off lights at night

Re:The argument for switching off lights at night by jonstewart on Sunday July 25, 2021 @07:31PM (#27953917)

My neighborhood in Washington, DC recently replaced a number of old sodium streetlights with new LED streetlights. The number of lights was doubled, but power consumption was still halved. The ballasts on the LEDs angle down at about 45 degrees—light pollution is reduced by 80% as a result.

The LEDs are a much brighter color temperature but I worked with the city to get them reduced from 4000K to 3000K (which has very little blue light).

All in all, a big win. There are technical solutions these days, and they pay for themselves. However, municipalities often operate on auto-pilot; let your local officials know where you want them to head.

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Re:The argument for switching off lights at night by etrautmann on Monday July 26, 2021 @01:31AM (#27956010)

Isn’t the ballast only required for a fluorescent bulb?

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Re:The argument for switching off lights at night by masklinn on Monday July 26, 2021 @02:30AM (#27956335)

They probably mean lampshade / directionality. Ballasts are a current-limiting device, they would not influence the light geometry.

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Re:The argument for switching off lights at night by jonstewart on Monday July 26, 2021 @01:24PM (#27962215)

They meant the LED device, ie “bulb.” DC’s transportation department referred to it as a ballast; that might be inaccurate.

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