Am I being dim over street lights?

10:00am Thursday 16th October 2008

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Has anybody noticed that certain street lights have been dimmed?

Does anybody care?

I am not sure if Fourth Avenue was part of the trial, but there are five not working down there.

Sorry, the lights were dimmed not switched off altogether were they.

I must admit I am having trouble working out how dimming lights can save money.

For example, if I turn my living room light on for eight hours and it costs one penny an hour in electricity then I have spent eight pence.

Then, if I turn my living room light on for eight hours the following day, but turn the dimmer switch on, I am still being charged 1p per hour. The only difference being the room is not as bright.

Or can my electricity meter suddenly work out what I am doing and charge me accordingly.

I can understand the enviromental aspect of it, but to be honest does anybody actually give a stuff about saving the planet?

I appreciate the council has to do “its bit” in relation to carbon footprints and the like, but what is saved in one hand is lost in the other.

A prime example are the Bar Walls where certain parts of the walls are floodlit from early evening till late at night. Why?

At this time of year the vast majority of us just want to get home for our tea, not gawp at a floodlit pile of stones.

I am not suggesting the city be plunged into darkness, but double standards seem to be the order of the day. Practise what they preach needs to be applied.

High street shops take great delight in telling us how much they care for this and that. They think by not giving out carrier bags they are making a massive difference.

What they should do is turn overhead door heaters off during the day – or at least close the doors while they are on. Better still, turn neon window shop lights off at night.

Traffic lights are another waste of electricity especially during the early hours of the morning.

I was always under the impression that they worked on a sensor system so if you approached at a red signal a sensor would turn them to green if it was safe to do so.

The amount of times I have waited at Layerthorpe, Monk Bar, Exhibition Square and Leeman Road in the early hours, while the lights go through the complete cycle, suggests the sensor theory does not exist.

I noticed the lights were out the other month at Lords Mayors Walk. Traffic flowed freely as people actually helped each other and gave way.

Is it worth exploring the possibility of switching some traffic lights off and seeing what happens?

I waste money at home. I leave everything on standby. It is pure idleness on my part, picking up the remote control and flicking on the telly is second nature.

Bending down and flicking a switch at the wall is far too difficult.

Having said that, TV manufacturers should stop supplying remote controls and make us idle sods get off our backsides once in a while.

Going back to the street lights, if it is economical to dim them, then fair play to whoever had that idea.

However, could someone have a look at the trees that often overshadow street lights in residential areas and maybe have a prune every couple of years?

Trees in full leaf block out so much of the light from lampposts – even more if the lights are to be dimmed en-masse.

If not, then false economy is being applied as the job of the street light is being hampered by Mother Nature.

Save money and the planet to boot, but make sure the hymn sheet is open at the right page and everybody is singing from that page.

Paul Willey writes in a personal capacity, and not on behalf of City of York Council.

Paul works for the council as head of a street cleaning team.