YOU might have been asked at some point how many it takes to change a light-bulb.
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But have you considered how much it takes to changes the lights.
It’s about nine weeks and costs $1.4 million on Tamworth Regional Council’s watch.
Council is about to switch three quarters of its streetlights over to LED technology tasking Essential Energy with the changeover, as its staff sweeps through during bulk street lamp replacement program.
It’s the next step in council’s mission to lead the way in the community, moving towards sustainable energy, with a range of projects in motion.
While there’s an initial cost for council to switch the streetlights over, it will save money and power in the long-run.
“Council’s investment of $1.4 million will have a simple payback period of just over six years, which is a fantastic financial outcome,” acting water and waste director Dan Coe said.
“We are also saving the equivalent power of 100 homes through the conversion and reducing our carbon dioxide emissions by 685 tonnes per year.”
The new lights will go primarily in suburban areas, with the LED lighting not yet meeting requirements for corners, roundabouts and major roads.
Council hopes approved technology will be available in four years time, when the next replacement program rolls around, so it can to replace all of its streetlights.
There isn’t a plan for TRC’s savings on power bills yet, but the hunt for more savings has already begun.
Energy sustainability officer Tim Hurcum is currently investigation how council can get more efficient with all of its sites.
“From those audits, we’ll come out and look at the load-profile of the sites and work out what savings can be made, how power is used at the site, what time it’s used and the equipment that uses it,” Mr Hurcum said.
This audit could see sites such as the town hall, TRECC and AELEC moved to sustainable energy.
But it’s not just about looking back, new developments will also be faced with the same scrutiny.
“The sustainability team will review new developments,” Mr Coe said.
“So, before we will build something, we’ll look at how we can be more energy efficient, how can we make it use less water, recycle more waste.”
Last month, Local Government NSW called on the state government to establish a $50 million kitty to help councils transition to LED lighting.
Essential Energy Regional Manager Northern Mark Summers said following successful trials of the technology, it has added LED streetlights to its standard materials listing for new installations and upgrades.
“Public lighting plays an important role in ensuring safe and secure areas within the community and while this project will ensure every streetlight is working we ask customers to let us know if they see a streetlight fault in the future so that it can be rectified as quickly as possible,” Mr Summers said.
“To help facilitate a more environmentally-friendly approach to public lighting and reduce ongoing maintenance activities, Essential Energy has formally offered councils across our network area the opportunity to install the LED lights.”
The upgrade is due to start on July 10 and will take approximately nine weeks to complete.
The upgrade excludes highways and high traffic roads.
The only difference residents will notice is the colour of light that the LED’s emit, which will be whiter in colour.