Caithness Map :: Links to Site Map Paying too much for broadband? Move to PlusNet broadband and save£££s. Free setup now available - terms apply. PlusNet broadband.  

View Poll Results: Should switching off street lighting be considered for saving energy?

Voters
72. You may not vote on this poll
  • Yes

    31 43.06%
  • No

    35 48.61%
  • Don't Care, Rheghead, stop this eco-rubbish, I'm bored of it now !!

    6 8.33%
Results 1 to 20 of 34

Thread: Switch Off the Lights!!

Hybrid View

Previous Post Previous Post   Next Post Next Post
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Caithness
    Posts
    12,924

    Default Switch Off the Lights!!

    Obviously the carbon footprint of Highland Council is starting to bite deeper into their conciences or pockets.

    What do you think, should street lighting be turned off to save energy where possible?



    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/...ds/7271428.stm
    God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
    Courage to change the things I can,
    And wisdom to know the difference.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Thurso
    Posts
    990

    Default

    Next you''ll have us living in the cold and dark!!! It's safer to the towen leaving streetlights on, turning them off would be ridiculous!
    Smiling is infectious, You can catch it like the flu.
    Someone smiled at me today, And I started smiling too.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Sarclet
    Posts
    499

    Default

    Read the link Rob16, it's lighting outwith the town/city they want to turn off.
    It's an accident of life to be born a gentleman
    It’s an achievement of life to die a gentleman.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    right here, right now
    Posts
    1,586

    Default

    I think we should get rid of at least half the lights in towns and cities too! They are far too brightly lit. Also it would be worth turning lights on at far lower light levels, and turning off again at lower levels than appears to be current practise.
    The box said, "Requires Windows XP or better"...

    ... so I installed Ubuntu!

  5. #5

    Default

    And if you turn of the lights, you best be buying extra strengh locks.
    WoRdS ShOuLd Be SiMpLe An VoIcEs SoFt !!!

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Posts
    3,227

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by danc1ngwitch View Post
    And if you turn of the lights, you best be buying extra strengh locks.
    It's a totally ridiculous Idea and the criminal element would have a field day. What an idiot.

  7. #7

    Default

    a very dangerous place without lights..

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Sarclet
    Posts
    499

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by NickInTheNorth View Post
    I think we should get rid of at least half the lights in towns and cities too! They are far too brightly lit. Also it would be worth turning lights on at far lower light levels, and turning off again at lower levels than appears to be current practise.

    If you turn off half the lights in my street NITN our street would be in darkness, as half the lights are usually out anyway.
    It's an accident of life to be born a gentleman
    It’s an achievement of life to die a gentleman.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2001
    Location
    Pulteneytown
    Posts
    2,752

    Default

    It's a good idea but not from a safety point of view. Motorways and dual-carriageways do not need to be lit up like Blackpool illuminations on some stretches. Speaking of Blackpool I hope they use low energy bulbs!
    Why be a hard rock when you really are a gem!

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Posts
    1,873

    Default

    They could start with turning of the lights that light up thurso bridge

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Out of Caithness... sadly
    Posts
    2,772

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by rob16d View Post
    Next you''ll have us living in the cold and dark!!! It's safer to the towen leaving streetlights on, turning them off would be ridiculous!
    That may be so.... so why not trun of every other one? That would halve the power consumption.
    "Step sideways, pause and study those around you. You will learn a great deal."

  12. #12

    Default

    Urban motorway lighting could be turned off in the early hours - cars have powerful headlights after all...most rural motorways are unlit so whats the difference?

  13. #13
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Location
    warrington
    Posts
    3,252

    Default

    im confused now.. i dont live in the town center, i do live in the town though.. but if you walk a few streets up the way you are outside the town.. and its pitch black. i was just thinking about walking bubbles at night. when you go up the trinkie road their are no lights at all, and let me tell you .. walking a black dog in the dark.. not easy! *G*
    but i was under the assumotion that the town center is the town center not the residential areas around it? i may be totally lost and cluless as usual, but sorry if ive gotten it wrong.
    http://itqueries.com/

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    1,746

    Default

    I think the comfort and safety the lights give are pretty important too. Think of the insurance claims, all that paperwork and extra computer time would more than likely leave an even bigger carbon footprint
    She was not quite what you would call refined, she was not quite what you would call unrefined. She was the kind of person that keeps a parrot. Mark Twain

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Wick
    Posts
    4,815

    Default Switch off the lights

    Interesting debate with many different opinions. I have spent most of my working life out in the sticks without any lighting and because it was never their we never thought about..We had a intruder light and a dog and never encounterd any problems with security for the 25 years we lived in the same house.I now live in a house in a street and I am just getting used to having a light outside the house. I enjoy the night skys when it is clear and have to drive out towards Sibster forrest to get away from light pollution to really enjoy star gazing.I think it would be a good idea to try a suck it and see approach and try several different ways IE switch every other light off or try a street for few days to see how people feel about, and then have a debate.
    You never know you might just like it.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    Clyth
    Posts
    4,974

    Default

    Switching of some streetlights after midnight in urban areas used to be the norm, and that was when lights on side streets had nothing more than a normal sized domestic bulb.
    It says a lot about the amount of wasted electricity when you realise that the glow from most large towns and cities can be seen from up to 30 miles away.
    I fail to see the point of me rushing round the house making sure all the lights are switched off and nothing is left on standby when the average street is blazing away all night using more electricity than I have just saved. Apart from saving money on my Electricity Bill that is.
    I'm surprised how many people seem so terrified of a little bit of darkness, I had got over that long before the age I started school.
    Animals I like, people I tolerate.

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    wick
    Posts
    249

    Default

    Isnt about switching the lights off at a certain time, when it causes the least inconvenience. I thought it was from 12am to 4am......something like that anyway, when most people are in bed, surely you cant see a problem with that?????

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    536

    Default

    How about using motion sensitive street lights?

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Caithness
    Posts
    12,924

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Sandra_B View Post
    How about using motion sensitive street lights?
    Swaying trees etc and the cost might be a problem.

    I wonder if there was a crimewave when the war blackouts were on?
    God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
    Courage to change the things I can,
    And wisdom to know the difference.

  20. #20

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Rheghead View Post
    Obviously the carbon footprint of Highland Council is starting to bite deeper into their conciences or pockets.

    What do you think, should street lighting be turned off to save energy where possible?
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/7271428.stm
    I don't think this is about saving energy, I think it is about wasting energy.
    ywy2

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •