We have all heard the greatness of LED lamps, because they are clean and green. Haven’t we? Here is something that the cleanness and the greenness of the LEDs have proved to be their greatest disadvantage as well! In Milwaukee, traffic signals have been changed to LED lamps, but when it snows hard, the icicles collect and obstruct the lamp, leading to confusion on the streets.
Apparently, a person has already lost their life and many accidents have been reported. The authorities of Milwaukee are considering getting labourers to clean the traffic lights every time it collects snow. Now that is not exactly what we were expecting when we read about the goodness of LEDs, right?
I guess it would be better for the colder countries to sue gas lamps while the warmer countries and warmer regions where it does no0t snow, can be installed with LED lamps. LED lamps use 90% less energy than the regular ones and that is one of the reasons why they are so popular. It would be really cool to know if anything new and better comes up which also melts snow. However, by generating heat, it would be consuming energy as well. You can’t have the cake and eat it as well!
Via: Yahoo
Posted by Carlos on December 18, 2009 in Environment, Green News · 2 Comments
Perhaps it could also be possible to create a specialized hybrid lamp that have dual lighting elements so that the regular lamp can be used in winters and the leds can be used during the rest of the year (which is still the largest part of the year) and therefore still save a substantial amount of energy, less than using a led for the whole year but still way better than using a regular lamp for the same length of time, in other words a simple compromise.
The lamps could change which of the two type of lighting elements they would use according to the time of the year with a programmable timer circuitry that could be a small enough to fit in the specialized lamp itself or it could be located outside in the housing of the stoplight or farther away cause after all as many people already know many modern stoplights are already microprocessor controlled and use sensors located under the road to be more efficient in handling the traffic flow.
Older incandescent style cowling to blame – as with most American engineering this shows a half-assed attempt to resolve the problem! Call in the Chinese – they completed courses in school with vigor! they can show America the way, and they will! Indians for computer sciences, Chinese for the practical stuff, Americans for nothing good save for the Volt! If it ever gets here!