It is believed that Town Hall bosses are considering swapping 56,000 lamps in Manchester with energy efficient LED Lanterns. The LED upgrade will cost roughly £32 million, and be rolled out over the period of 3 years and will cut the city’s energy bill drastically as well as mimic daylight at night. The council officers have already begun to speak about the idea to their street lighting partner Amey, and believe it could help cut their annual electricity bill by two thirds.

In accordance with a report which was given to the councillors, it shows there have be ‘significant’ advances in technology over the past 10 years – with the LED market ‘exploding’ into life.

One of the key benefits is they emit light that is similar to daylight, it says, adding: “Given the projected increases in energy costs and these technological advances, it has now become viable to start investigating the installation of LED lanterns across all of Manchester, as these would deliver various long-term benefits to the city. There will be less upward light pollution, less light interference into people’s homes and significantly less glare.

“For motorists driving on main traffic routes the new lights will offer safety benefits, the main improvement being more evenly distributed light and less glares. Recorded studies indicate that the new lights will remove the tiring effects caused from driving in and out of the bright and dark spots evident with present lighting technology.”

The move will also cut the council’s carbon footprint, with councillors believing now is the right time for the introduction of LED Lights in the city, because the new technology has got much cheaper yet the electricity bills are continuing to soar. Officers are expected to seek approval from council bosses later this month to develop a detailed business case for the plan.

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