Switch Off the Lights!!

**Ricco** · 02-Mar-08, 16:14

Originally Posted by Highland Laddie

Do people read links before they post!!!!!

Nope!!

**percy toboggan** · 02-Mar-08, 16:17

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?

**brandy** · 02-Mar-08, 21:57

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.

**TBH** · 03-Mar-08, 02:25

Originally Posted by Highland Laddie

A councillor wants at least half of the street lamps in the Highlands, outwith town and city centres, to be switched off to cut emissions and costs.

Do people read links before they post!!!!!

I wonder did the councillor think before he opened his mouth?

**ywindythesecond** · 03-Mar-08, 02:28

Originally Posted by Rheghead

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

**Lolabelle** · 03-Mar-08, 12:31

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

**Kevin Milkins** · 03-Mar-08, 16:22

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.

**JAWS** · 03-Mar-08, 16:53

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.

**bigjjuk** · 03-Mar-08, 16:56

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?????

**Sandra_B** · 03-Mar-08, 16:58

How about using motion sensitive street lights?

**Rheghead** · 03-Mar-08, 17:08

Originally Posted by Sandra_B

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?

**rfr10** · 03-Mar-08, 18:43

Just shove some energy efficient light bulbs in the street lights, make the street lights shorter (not as much metal has to be made and cut! :P) Erm.. You'd probably be better off making less street lights but have them brighter than making lots of dimly lit streetlights.

Most streetlights are in place beside a footpath to make it safer for pedestrians even without towns or some even to highlight main junctions which I have to agree, does make it a lot safer and I'd hate to drive towards a big round-a-bout in the middle of darkness. If it's a road you haven't been on before, it's more than likely you'll end up flying an aeroplane over the top of a round-a-bout than going around it.

You need them in town incase you stand in some dog poop when your out

**skinnydog** · 03-Mar-08, 21:09

Councillor Park stays in Auldearn, which would class as outside of town. As he lives right next to the road, which is well lit for his convenience, I dare say that he did not, in fact, think before he opened his mouth. I can hardly see him creeping about his garden in the pitch black for more than 6 months of the year just to get to his front door!!