CTO gel for LED floodlight? Sodium light effect.

[dhutch]

I want to alter the colour temperature of a cold white LED street light to resemble a low pressure sodium vapour street light.

 

I presume 204 CTO is not going to give enough orange, there seems to be 652 Urban Sodium light, presumably designed for tungsten, could you go even more orange?

 

Will by buying new so don't really want to experiment much. It is actually for the newly replaced street light outside our house. Semi rural location, have a large ladder, again don't really want to be doing it twice! And some good tape?

 

Daniel

[david.elsbury]

Eh?

Aren’t you going to piss people off by gelling a streetlight?

I presume that it’s got to meet minimum light levels for safety purposes; if you put gel in front you’ll drop the light output. Presumably you don’t own the streetlight or you would have installed a warm white one?

 

Also I don’t hold much hope of warming up a cold white led source- the spectral output is going to be all wrong, isn’t it?

Edited August 30, 2019 by david.elsbury

[adam2]

Agree, I would strongly advise against any form of tampering with the public street lighting. Especially whilst still new and therefore more liable to inspection, though not a smart idea even if old. If despite this, you are determined, I would try a deep orange colour. There is probably some ancient law whereby you can be imprisoned in the tower of London for this sort of thing though.

 

I HAVE gelled street lights, but only short term to facilitate filming and we did have written permission to do this.

 

 

 

[timsabre]

There's very little orange/red output from cold white led. Orange gel will just remove most of the intensity.

[Don Allen]

I always find graphs easier to relate to, the Low Pressure Sodium Lamp has a very narrow spectral wavelength, more descriptive here , I realise your question has nothing to do with bats, but this LED streetlight spectral output paper on bat activity indicates how little light output you will get after gelling a LED streetlight.

You have not mentioned what colour temperature the LED streetlight is, to allow a more accurate comparison.

[DrV]

I always find graphs easier to relate to, the Low Pressure Sodium Lamp has a very narrow spectral wavelength, more descriptive here , I realise your question has nothing to do with bats, but this LED streetlight spectral output paper on bat activity indicates how little light output you will get after gelling a LED streetlight.

You have not mentioned what colour temperature the LED streetlight is, to allow a more accurate comparison.

Ah, that took me back to A level physics in the 70s - fiddling with a spectroscope to try to separate the two sodium lines. I even remembered that they were around 5900 Angstroms! I wonder what useful piece of info I might have remembered if I hadn't learnt that instead... why I came upstairs perhaps!

[dhutch]

There's very little orange/red output from cold white led. Orange gel will just remove most of the intensity.

Yes, this was also a fear I had.

 

I don't know the colour temperature, but it's seriously cold. It's a lot more directional and does give higher light levels in the floor in front of it but is also a lot more noticeable through our bedroom curtains. So some reduction in output should be ok.

 

Appreciate the comments about not tampering with public street lights, and certainly I will be very careful not to damage it, however the whole of the rest of the street is old Sodium lights still and this light is just outside us and the adjoining house in a narrow tree lined single track road.

 

Daniel

 

I always find graphs easier to relate to, the Low Pressure Sodium Lamp has a very narrow spectral wavelength, more descriptive here , I realise your question has nothing to do with bats, but this LED streetlight spectral output paper on bat activity indicates how little light output you will get after gelling a LED streetlight.

You have not mentioned what colour temperature the LED streetlight is, to allow a more accurate comparison.

Very good graph. I like that.

 

Obviously I don't need to recreate the very narrow 589 nm wavelength spike, a more inclusive general orange glow would be fine. However you are always going to have to chop out a lot of the blue, maybe too much.

 

In terms of this one street light am more concerned about my own sleep pattern, however I do understand there is quite real concerns that while sodium lights somewhat by chance give a nice warm glow that doesn't overly interfer, cold led street lighting is not go for wildlife which is also ######.

 

Daniel

[gyro_gearloose]

If you are worried about your sleep patterns, may I suggest blackout blinds and a sleep mask? Tampering with the councils streetlight is really not a good idea. Taping a piece of gel to the front of it, and thereby reducing the light output, does count as tampering.

 

There may well be a reason they've put a brighter LED streetlight near your house. Have you tried asking them about changing to a warmer type of LED? I suspect their answer will be a firm 'no', but it doesn't hurt to ask.

[sandall]

I want to alter the colour temperature of a cold white LED street light........

You have my sympathy. Whatever was used to replace our suburban sodium lights gave a wide, even coverage, in a slightly pinkish warm white. They were a huge improvement, for both pedestrians & drivers. They have recently been replaced by harsh cold white LED fittings, with too narrow a spread, so our nice even coverage has now been replaced by (not particularly bright) pools of light, with dangerously dark areas in between, & really deep shadows from trees & parked vehicles. Driving is like going along an unlit road with someone flashing a follow-spot in yours eyes every 50 yards or so. I'm sure they are more energy-efficient, though I suspect the pay-back period might be measured in decades, but the pavements are no longer safe to walk at night, & the quality of life has taken a severe hit,

 

As for your query I think you've already had the answer :(

[Dave m]

If you tried that in my neck of the woods I'd shop you myself.The lights are there for a reason and you have ample opportunity to gel your windows or use blinds/blackouts

Your actions are selfish and illegal.

It seems you haven't even bothered to contact the council to see if they can help

[adam2]

Also, as the light is reported to be the only one in the immediate area, that might suggest some form of test or trial before installing them on a large scale. That in turn suggests that the council might inspect the sample light regularly to ascertain suitability. Any tampering might therefore be quickly noticed.

[timsabre]

You should approach the council with your issue. I believe they are legally required to fit a guard to shield the light from your property if you ask for it. That has certainly been the case in our town when streetlamps are changed - even before led fittings.

[DrV]

Tim's approach is right. A friend of mine had problems with new streetlights outside his place and the council put a baffle on his side of the offending light. You only have to ask (although maybe more than once)

[Jivemaster]

There is a known effect where blue light stops the brain from going completely to sleep while "warmer" light lets the brain sleep properly. especially in young people it's manifested as mental health issues if they leave a modern mobile phone with a dim blue glow be with them as they try to sleep. It's cured by expensive drugs or turning their phone over to screen downwards!

 

If you have issues with sleep in blue light then get your GP to get the council to fit a shield to the streetlamp to stop it shining into your bedrooms, usually it's a steel sheet about the size of a big envelope.

 

There is every chance that LED streetlamps will be installed everywhere due to reduced power consumption, and pure fashion.

 

There is NO chance that an orange gel would let enough light through, especially as LED lamps are far from a continuous spectrum.

[kerry davies]

If only you hadn't posted on an open internet forum but you have. Now anyone tripping over on your street or damaging their car has all the excuse they need to sue you.

 

I strongly suspect that if your local authority has changed out only one they had some reason for that. I also suspect they have chosen a brighter light just as they have outside our adapted flats because we is old and decrepit and they don't want us taking them to court. Any miserable old gits like me near you?