Things You Should Know about LED Traffic Light
There is a growing interest in Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) as a source of lighting for various applications. One of these applications is the LED traffic light. LED lights have several advantages that make them ideal for various types of lighting applications. LEDs are purely electronic lights that use a tiny amount of electric energy to produce light. They are tiny in size, each smaller than a pea. Therefore, manufacturers assemble them into arrays to get a useable quantity of light.
There are three main advantages of using LED lights in general, which makes them very appealing for use in the LED traffic light. First of all, the lights are very durable. They can take a lot more abrasive handling compared to traditional lighting bulbs. Therefore the chances that the bulb will survive shipping, storage, installation, and repeated exposure to stressful conditions are higher than for ordinary light sources. Traffic lights are exposed to the elements and occasionally to rowdy mobs. LED bulbs are more resistant to the conditions that these circumstances present compared to halogen lamps.
Secondly, LED lights lasts much longer than traditional lighting fixtures. The bulbs are set on an electronic board that controls the electric flow within the board ensuring that they are not damaged because of poor power quality. Their long life also reduces the need for replacement and maintenance. This brings down the associated cost of staffing, truck maintenance, and procurement.
The third advantage that these lights have over traditional lighting options that make them suited for traffic lighting is that they consume up to ninety percent less power. This means that in a large city that has thousands of traffic lights working for twenty four hours, there is opportunity for substantial savings related to the lower power consumption of the LED traffic light. With all the interest in lower emissions and increasing efficiency, the LED traffic light provides cities with a very viable way of cutting back on its carbon footprint.
One of the setbacks reported that relate to the use of the LED traffic lighting in very cold cities is that they do not produce enough heat to melt away ice the way traditional lamps do. The heat produced by halogen lamps caused ice falling on the traffic lights to melt. There is a need to look for alternative ways of solving this problem because colder days tend to have greater precipitation. Therefore, the need for traffic lights is even greater in these days.
One of the opportunities that the LED traffic light offers because of its lower power consumption is that it is possible to use renewable energy sources such as solar to power them. At a tenth of the power demand of conventional lights, the LED traffic light can make it possible for cities to remove their traffic lighting away from the grid. Depending on the power design, such lights will still function regardless of power interruptions due to bad weather and forces of nature, terrorism, or energy system malfunction. There is indeed a serious case for every city in the world to consider installing LED traffic lighting.