LEDs to replace sodium lights, cut power expenses

Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is gradually going to replace all sodium and metal lights in the city with white LED lights for cutting down electricity costs, saving on carbon emissions & utilisation of green energy. “We pay an annual bill of Rs 12 crore for street lighting. This will come down by at least Rs 4 crore.

The high pressure sodium vapor lamp fittings (HPSV) or Metal Halide Fittings consumes greater electricity and has huge  carbon dioxide emissions, which is a major green house gas. The White LEDs’ that we are using  in street light fittings are very energy efficient and consumes nearly 50 per cent less energy than that of conventional HPSV fitting. LED lighting emits white light, which provides clear visibility that results in better public satisfaction,” an official in KMC’s lighting department said.

The KMC will gradually move towards replacing all lights in its offices, including health units, schools, compactor stations, markets, borough offices, ward health units, pumping stations, crematoriums with LED. The total annual bill of the KMC covering all its  establishments is Rs 32 crore annually. The state government is allocating Rs 40 crore to the KMC for this purpose.

The KMC has also made a plan of putting sodium and metal lights into use after replacement. The added areas in the city, including a major portion of the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass, has tube lights. “We will replace these tube lights with sodium and metal lights initially and with availability of funds, we will gradually replace them with LED’s. There will not be any tube light for street lighting in the KMC area in future,” the official said, adding that in Rs 1 crore, as many as 400 sodium lights can be replaced with LEDs.

The operating and maintenance cost of a LED fitting is very minimum compared to conventional HPSV fitting. LED fittings have a relatively long useful life of 50000- 75000 burning hours when compared to conventional HPSV or metal halide fitting which has a life time of 15000 burning hours roughly.

 “LEDs do not contain the toxic element mercury, unlike compact fluorescent and mercury vapour lamps,” the official said.