LED street light upgrade leads to savings

Published on 17 November 2017

The roll-out of energy efficient LED street lights is already paying dividends to ratepayers, according to City of Launceston General Manager Michael Stretton.

In March this year, the Council began the state's largest roll-out of LED street lamps, replacing more than 4800 street lights across the municipality.

The new energy efficient LED lights are 82 per cent more efficient and have a 20 year lifespan while producing the same light output and saving an estimated 3848 tonnes of greenhouse gas over the life of the new lights — or the equivalent of removing almost 90 cars from the road every year for the next 20 years.

The replacement program, which is due to be completed before Christmas, has seen the Council's street light bill for October this year reduced by more than $35,000 compared with the same time last year.

"This means the Council will save more than $420,000 in the first year of the street light replacement program — that's a fantastic result for the city," Mr Stretton said.

"And with only about 50 lights still to replace, we expect the savings will be somewhat greater going forward."

Mr Stretton said based on current savings, the cost-benefit analysis of the replacement program is expected to see it break-even in just six to seven years.

"As a Council, we're committed to identifying any and all potential savings and efficiencies going forward. This program certainly ticks both of those boxes."

The shift to the new lights is part of a regional push, with the Meander Valley, George Town,

Break O'Day, Northern Midlands and West Tamar Councils also participating in the replacement of a further 4300 globes across Northern Tasmania.