Flintshire County Council has announced a series of measures targeting the way the area uses its street and sign lighting in order to slash £50,000 from its energy bill over the current financial year.
The move comes at a time when the government is driving ahead with initiatives to help cut the country's carbon footprint, as part of which councils have been charged with taking the lead by finding ways to slash their energy usage and bring their region's carbon emissions right down.
Therefore, it is not surprising that the Flintshire Chronicle has reported that the county has done just that, announcing new policy measures for the coming year. These will include installing energy-saving equipment across the county and low-energy light fittings and bulb replacements, as well as turning off or dimming the lights in certain areas.
Currently, the organisation runs and maintains 20,000 street lights and 3,000 illuminated signs, the newspaper reported. The new measures will see street lights dimmed between 22:00 and 06:00 in residential areas along the roadside - provided they are not CCTV sites or known accident areas - and actually switched off between these hours on rural and non-residential A-roads and industrial estates.
Dimming or switching off lights in this way saves money as it means the council will inevitably use less electricity. However, the new replacement bulbs and more energy-efficient fittings are far easier to maintain - not least because they have greater longevity - meaning that the council will slash maintenance costs as well.
While it is easy to move around the home absentmindedly going about their business, homeowners could similarly save money by switching lights off in rooms they are no longer using. Alternatively, installing a couple of new, better-quality ceiling spotlights may mean that individuals do not need to keep so many lights switched on in order to achieve the same light quality as before.
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