Canadian city Kelowna located inthe south of Canada’s British Columbia province launched a pilot LED streetlight project that could help the city save millions of dollars and cut costs, reported CBC News.
A pilot study found switching to LED lights could save Kelowna millions of dollars in operating and energy costs.
Kelowna city council has approved the city to swap to LED streetlights, and is reviewing the results form a LED pilot project in five city streets. Reports from the pilot project indicated the city could save CA $13 million (US $9.92 million) over a period of 15 years by replacing 10,000 streetlights with LEDs.
Brydan Tollefson, the energy program manager for the City of Kelowna remarked the LED lights were an affordable solution.
"We can wait a lot longer before we have to replace these lights and they don't burn out as quickly. That will save us operationally and save us time and most importantly, it will save us energy and money on our utility bills," he explained.
Tollefson estimated the streetlight project could cost CA $4 million to install, and would take an uncertain period to install the lights.
"I've heard of an extreme example of 10,000 lights being installed in 56 working days. I've also heard of it taking two to three years," he said.
The city mayor was also aware of the potential health hazards caused by LED streetlights, as previously reported in New York and California in neighboring country U.S.
"The most important takeaway is to ensure that you are designing these streets with these light levels and not over-lighting," he said.
The new streetlights budget will probably not be approved till 2017.
