Monday, February 17, 2025

Improving Safety on a College Campus with LED Lighting

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We all know that LED lighting saves electricity and reduces maintenance costs, but did you know it can also reduce crime? The students at the University of Washington have begun to feel unsafe because of the increase in crime around the area and the low level of lighting. I, Dr. Bulb, remember my college years fondly; captain of the basketball court lighting team, my fraternity, Alpha Delta Wall Packs. I can see how feeling threatened when walking around the campus would diminish the fun of college. I completely support the movement of the Associated Students of the University of Washington (ASUW) to switch their campus lighting to LED street lights. Check out the article here.

Currently, the University of Washington is using high-pressure sodium lighting. A couple of years ago, sodium lighting would have been a fine choice because of the limited options. Now with LED options in the picture campus lighting has changed. Allow Dr. Bulb to illuminate you on how LED lighting beats out high-pressure sodium lighting. High-pressure sodium lighting tends to bleed out in all different directions and does not focus the light on the intended area. This directs valuable light towards the sky instead of illuminating the ground and surrounding area. LED lights are able to be directed at the ground in a manner where no light is lost. This creates a more illuminated and safer area for students walking the campus at night. High pressure sodium lamps decay earlier in their life than LEDs, which makes the light appear less bright after only a few years. Even though LED’s are more expensive at first, they pay for themselves shortly with the money saved on replacing the sodium bulbs and lowered electricity bills.

A well-lit area makes for a safe area. When the city of Los Angeles switched over to LED lighting they saw 7.82% drop in robbery/theft and a 13.6% drop in vehicle theft from 2009-2011! The ASUW student senate plans to vote on whether to change their lighting on March 5th, and hopefully they will push it through. In fact, LED lights are great for any kind of campus lighting like garage lighting and LED wall packs. Keep up with recent lighting news by subscribing to my blog! And do not be shy to ask me question through email, Facebook or any other social media sites.

 

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