Letter to News and Observer, Raleigh
01/12/2000
Dear Editor,
We read your Dec. 24 article "City officials look on the
bright side" with great interest, and are glad that this
problem is receiving local attention.
We wish to point out that in addition to light "trespass,"
improper lighting also wastes energy, adversely affects safety,
and causes environmental concerns in general. While security is
often cited as the reason for bright outdoor lighting, statistics
show that such lighting does not deter criminal activity (most
crimes occur during daylight), and indeed raises safety issues
like being "blinded" by service station lights while
driving.
While we don't advocate eliminating outdoor lighting, we suggest
several ways to improve it. First, use full cutoff fixtures to
eliminate glare and light trespass. These fixtures are designed
to direct all light at or below the horizontal. Second, use low-pressure
sodium lamps for economical lighting when color rendition is not
important. A 55 watt low-pressure sodium lamp emits more light
and uses one third the amount of energy used by the typical 175
watt mercury vapor lamp used inmanystreetlights and security
lights. Finally, use only as much light as needed. The lighting
in use at East Coast Oil on Capital Boulevard, mentioned in the
article, is excessive but not uncommon for businesses.
Depending on the placement of the fixture, the 400 watt metal
halide lamp typically produces more than 100 times the light of a
bright full moon, which is much more light than is needed.
Phyllis Lang
Cary
David Lakey
Raleigh