Why has Hull opted for LED street lighting?

LED street lighting has recently seen a huge spike in demand, especially in large cities. Most major UK councils have now trialed an area of LED lighting in their community in some shape or form, and Hull City Council is one such authority to have recognized the benefits of LED lighting.

The initial phase of Hull’s LED roll-out will see 6,000 street lanterns replaced over a six-month period by the council’s in-house building contractors KWL. Most of these will be road-side lanterns, currently known to use high levels of energy.

Once these 6,000 have been replaced, the focus will then turn to different residential areas of the city, with the whole replacement program due to be completed within a two-year period. There are thought to currently be around 47,000 street lights in Hull, which will need replacing, so the project is extensive.

Once the LED’s are fitted, Hull hopes to see some impressive cost savings on energy bills, in comparison to the traditional low-pressure sodium discharge lamps that are currently being used. They are estimating that the LED lights will initially save the authority about £2,500 per month in energy costs.

Leila Oxtoby, who is managing the LED rollout project for Hull Council said:

“Hull City Council plan to install around 33,000 LED luminaires over a period of 2 years.  This is a ‘spend to save’ project that will potentially deliver savings of up to £1.6m per annum, through a reduction in costs, including maintenance, energy and carbon emissions.”

As well as bringing sharper lighting and better visibility, adopting LED street lighting technology will hopefully result in a ‘quick win’ opportunity for Hull to help with their cost-savings targets and the payback period should be relatively rapid.