Unintended Consequences (LED traffic lights don't generate heat to clear snow)

[Daox]

Originally Posted by Ryland

If the snow is blowing so hard that it is filling an open bottom stop lights that is 20 feet in the air the weather is bad enough that YOU SHOULD NOT BE OUT DRIVING, I've never seen a stop light full of snow and we have had LED stop lights in my part of Wisconsin for 10 years or so now.

Agreed (about driving and lights), never seen a light plugged with snow here in WI.

[jamesqf]

You might also consider relative risk. That is, what is the chance that an LED traffic light is invisible due to snow buildup, vs the chance that an incandescent one is invisible because of the higher failure rate.

Then consider that incandescent failures are pretty random, while snow buildup only happens in snowstorms, when you ought to be driving carefully anyway :-)

[Thymeclock]

Originally Posted by SentraSE-R

The unintended consequence of that will be a lot of toasty warm birds blocking lights on cold winter nights .

Ah, potentially another unforseen consequence.

[Thymeclock]

Originally Posted by Christ

I guess it snows year round in NY, eh?

It's not much of a problem in the NY Metro area, where I'm from. However, in upstate NY (which is most of the state) some parts have weather like Siberia. From Albany to Buffalo, especially northward towards Lake Ontario, it is not unusual to have snow on the ground for more than 6 months of the year.

[bgd73]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Just saw on the news that in WI they have many new energy saving LED traffic lights which have become unreadable i.e. useless in cold and blowing snow from snow build-up over the light.

Seems the old incandescent lights generated enough heat to stay clear.

that happened to tractor trailers too, the trailers stay too cold for led, and the backwash covers them. The hot bulbs did get mastered of course, reasons for changing are as bizarre as pinless cpus, and fuel injection claiming efficient...

[almightybmw]

Problem solved here. It's a glass plate, set at a downward angle, same one as the glare cover. nothing collects on it. Seems only Montana solved this simple problem....?

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by bgd73

that happened to tractor trailers too, the trailers stay too cold for led, and the backwash covers them.

Not only trailers, but many new cars have leds in the rear, and led headlights will go mainstream eventually.

[Nerys]

finally someone saw it (almightybmw)

that was a big DUH to me. :-)

LED headlights will still generate more than enough heat to take care of snow :-)

[Clev]

A couple of thoughts:

1. This town mentioned in most repeats of this story saves $100 per month per intersection by using these lights.
2. The town also saves money because the lights have to be replaced much less often.
3. This is the first time in the six years these lights have been in use that this has presented a problem.
4. This wasn't a "ZOMG GUBMINT COMMIE MANDATE"--it was a city that saw real savings potential--savings that have so far added up to $7,200 per intersection over the last six years in electricity alone. There are several easy fixes for this (as simple as a plastic cover over the fixture, as somebody mentioned here.)