Residential, Roads & Highways
From driveway to highway, let’s navigate the options
From driveway to highway, Cree Lighting delivers street LED lighting solutions that meet the needs of every application. Our portfolio was designed around visual comfort, durability, and performance to enhance the lighting experience of all who encounter them. Cree Lighting wrote the first chapter in LED street lighting with our first generation of street lights over a decade ago, and we continue to develop the story of where better light can take you today.
Before we look at all the Cree Lighting options, it’s important to review the generally accepted application goals of street lighting. These usually include:
- Offer comfortable light levels that allow drivers to see accurately and quickly identify objects on the roadway and within the vicinity
- Supplement headlights by helping drivers see details better, understand where they are located, and enable them to react to changing environmental and driving conditions
- Help pedestrians identify designated walkways and see nearby vehicles, other pedestrians, and objects in their vicinity
- Help improve traffic safety and flow of movement, regardless of weather condition
- Minimize shadows while reducing both direct and reflected glare from the ground or other surfaces
- Minimize light trespass and pollution to reduce negative environmental impacts
With these goals in mind, well designed street lighting can help reduce nighttime accidents, improve flow of traffic, promote safety and security after dark, minimize environmental impacts, help cities and businesses look better at night, and promote a general sense of pride and wellbeing among citizens.
Designing for street and roadway applications takes into consideration a variety of factors such as visibility, aesthetics, safety, environmental impacts, “smart city” capabilities, and of course, cost. While the full design and specification process can be complex with many factors to consider, it generally requires the determination of these items:
- Roadway Classification – What type of thoroughfare is it? This could be anything from a bicycle path to a major freeway.
- Area Classification – What type of area is the thoroughfare surrounded by? This could be residential to commercial.
- Pavement Luminance – What are the reflectance characteristics of the roadway or pathway surface materials? This can impact the quality and uniformity of the light.
- Distribution Classification – How should the light by distributed from the source? This is very application specific and usually involves vertical and lateral light distribution as well as control and cutoff above the maximum candlepower.
- Lighting System Geometries – This involves the relative mounting height of the light source and the desired uniformity of the light distribution.
- Pole Spacing – How far apart should the light sources be placed? This is often influenced by the location of existing utility poles and masts, property lines, and/or the geometry of the thoroughfare being illuminated. In general, it is more cost-effective to space light sources further apart.
No matter your roadway application, Cree Lighting has a street lighting family to meet your needs. Here’s a handy reference table for selecting Cree Lighting LED Street Lights, outlining the options for each of our families, by the top three most common street lighting applications:
NEED A HAND-OUT TO SHARE? Download this Roadway Selection Guide which includes the quick compare table above.
Which are the best street lights? The Ultimate Buying Guide for the Right Choice
It's the right time to choose the street lighting for there are safer roads, clearer visibility, and an energy-saving requirement in the modern world. With advancements in LED technology, cities and municipalities are opting for options that are not only eco-friendly and cost-effective but also long-lasting. Which ones, then, are the best street lights? Let's explore them here, including all the factors to look for when such a choice has to be made, and why the LED Street Lights dominate the market.
- Types of Street Lights
There are a few primary types of street lighting. Here's a quick look at each:
High-Pressure Sodium (HPS) Lights: With their typical yellow-orange glow, HPS lights have been widely used; though efficient and long-lived, they are wanted in color rendering and visibility.
Metal Halide Lights: These light brighter and whiter than HPS. However, they are not as efficient or long-lasting as LEDs.
Induction Lights: They provide good visibility and color rendering. But installation and maintenance costs remain very high.
LED Street Lights: Both efficiency and brightness are offered with a balance in the color quality by LED lights. This makes them quite common for modern street lights.
- Why LEDs Street lights are the Best Option
LED streetlights are of a very high efficiency, robust, and versatile; therefore, they are rightly chosen for all cities across the world. Here's why:
- High Energy Efficiency: LEDs consume between 50 and 70% less energy compared to other traditional lighting systems. This way, lesser energy consumption, lesser electricity expenditure, and low carbon emissions are achieved.
- Longevity: LEDs are known for lasting between 50,000 to 100,000 hours; other lighting options are much lesser. This minimizes replacements as well as maintenance costs.
- Improved Light Quality: LED street lights render high color making it more visible, thereby reducing light pollution.
- Environmental Issue: The LEDs are recyclable and contain no chemical that is lethal, such as mercury, which can be found in older forms of lighting technology.
- Smart Technology Compatibility: Many modern LED street lights can be integrated with smart city technology, so they can be monitored and adjusted remotely, depending on the traffic, weather, and time of day.
- Important Considerations in Picking Street Lights
The following are some of the essential factors to have at hand when choosing the right street lighting:
Location Requirements: This is very different from highway to a residential street to a city square. For brighter lights on highways and for softer lights on residential. Brightness and Color Temperature: The color temperature of LED street lights ranges between K to K, which falls into warm white and cool white light. Cool white LEDs can be more used in heavy traffic zones and warm white LEDs can be used more on residential streets.
Pole Height and Spacing: The height and spacing of light poles will have a strong influence on both the light spread and intensity. In general, taller poles are well-suited to highway applications, but shorter poles will better fit into residential settings.
Budget and Maintenance Costs: While LEDs are more expensive to purchase up front, their long lifespan and low maintenance requirements make them more economical over time.
Environmental Impact and Regulations: Choose something environment-friendly and aligned with the expectations on sustainability. LEDs are usually number one on this aspect.
- LED Street Lights vs. Traditional Alternatives: A Comparison
Let us compare the LEDs with some traditional street lighting alternatives to understand why they rank first:
Feature
LED Street Lights
High-Pressure Sodium
Metal Halide
Energy Efficiency
High
Moderate
Low
Lifespan
50,000-100,000 hours
15,000-24,000 hours
6,000-15,000 hours
Maintenance Costs
Low
Moderate
High
Color Rendering
Excellent
Poor
Good
Environmental Impact
Eco-friendly
Contains mercury
Contains mercury
- Recommended LED Street Lights for Various Applications
To further narrow your options, here are the top-rated LED street lights and what they're best suited for:
- LED Cobra Head Lights- Best suited for highways and large intersections for their wide beam spread.
- LED Shoebox Lights- Ideal for parking lots and urban streets because it provides good light distribution and uniformity.
- Solar LED Street Lights- Best suited for rural applications or parks because it will not require extensive wiring to meet functional requirements.
- Why LEDMyplace LED Street Lights Are the Right Choice
LEDMyplace offers a wide range of energy-efficient, long-lasting, and high-quality LED street lights for various purposes. Some of the key highlights of our LED street lights are as follows:
Energy Efficient and Cost Saving: Our LEDs save energy costs while providing strong illumination.
Durable and Long Lasting: We have market leading warranties and have a long life span in our products.
Easy Installation : It comes with easy installation that is less time consuming. The minimal efforts meant for installation and maintenance also ensure that your resources and time are saved.
Conclusion: Choosing the Best Street Lights
The selection of the proper street lights depends upon a number of factors, such as location, budget, and how effectively they could affect the environment. Of all the above alternatives, LED streetlights rank at the top for their efficiency, durability, and quality of illumination. Through LED streetlighting, municipalities and businesses can ensure bright streets, greater safety, and tremendous savings in energy.
Choose from the list of the best LED street lighting solutions from the one available here at LEDMyplace for your lighting requirements.
