Energy saving traffic lights don't melt snow/ice, causing accidents

snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net wrote in news:8192-4B28F659-5270@storefull-

3171.bay.webtv.net:

We get some pretty awful snow up here, and we don't seem to have that problem with the LED lights. Our traffic-light bulbs usually have fairly deep "hoods" above them, which may be the reason why.

Did you look at the picture? These have hoods.

Back to the drawing board. They'll probably retrofit heaters on them for the winter. Electricians should be busy.

--Vic

so if they install heaters where is the savings on electricity usage?

I figure with the electronic controls they have now, the heater would be turned on only when needed - maybe 4 months a year. Or maybe it'll be cheaper to go back to bulbs that produce heat. Don't know, just speculating.

--Vic

It's not just the energy savings, the LED's last much longer than the incandescents, like years compared to months, so there's a big savings there. Plus, the heaters would probably be used only when necessary. They'd still be way ahead.

Seems odd. Article says the LED are the ones causing problems.

snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@storefull-3171.bay.webtv.net:

Traffic lights are *supposed* to melt snow? I thought that's what salt was for.

twisted wrote in news:b5601f6c-f130-4f2a-ba27- snipped-for-privacy@u20g2000vbq.googlegroups.com:

I hadn't actually looked at any picture. I just did now.

We just had a very similar snow last week. All the signs were covered exactly like in the picture, so you couldn't tell what street you were at or what lane was supposed to turn what way, and so on. But the LED traffic lights remained clearly visible.

There might be some other factor at work here to produce the result shown in the photo. Maybe they're using smaller lights than we do?

fred wrote in news:Xns9CE3ADB4C4E36fred@127.0.0.1:

Who puts salt on traffic lights?

Heater controls could easily have a sensor mounted at the end of the hood looking back at the signal to determine if the light was being blocked by sticky snow. Only having heaters on when it's cold and there is snow obscuring the signal would maintain nearly all of the LED signal's energy savings since sticky blowing snow is pretty infrequent in most places.

I like the CFL's for trouble lights. They don't get very hot and are less prone to breakage.

so if they install heaters where is the savings on electricity usage?

They would have a thermostat with the heater to only heat in a certain temperature. WW

Incandescent light bulbs make good hand warmers.I used to use a hot air popcorn popper in my old shed to warm my hands and face. cuhulin

Tegger wrote in news:Xns9CE3D364F4BAtegger@208.90.168.18:

*really* big trucks going by .

Mental slip - I was thinking of the intersection itself as opposed to the immediate vicinity and housing of the light itself.

It is really Bad!

We have only had a couple inches of blowing sticky snow on the east coast and have noticed a 'lot' of those LED traffic lights with their deep hoods stuffed full of snow. Totally! They would be better off with no hoods, but then they can't be aimed at the correct lane...

The LED's also don't have the illumination to show at all in the daylight when snow covered. Haven't been out at night in the snow yet to see if they are maybe visible then.

You also just gotta love the local heating fuel companies giving away a half dozen of those compact fluorescent bulbs to each house! LOL! BTU's are BTU's and without the 60 or 100 watts from the incandescent bulbs you burn more fuel. It is to the point the local media are saying you should only use the CF lights in the summer....

Mike (up in The Great White North)

2000 Cherokee Sport 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG AT's, 'glass nose to tail in '00 'New' frame and everything else in '09. Some Canadian Bush Trip and Build Photos:

Much as I hate those damn CF lights, even I have to admit that the cost of a watt of electricity is a lot more than the cost of a watt of heating oil. So you're still saving money, just not so much.

--scott

Maybe they keep the lenses and insides of the hood clean and coat them with something? Teflon spray? PAM? I can see problems with a retrofit, but if you are designing a new light from scratch, making it snow- resistant should be possible.

On Sun, 20 Dec 2009 15:29:29 -0800 (PST), aemeijers wrote:

Just takes the right combination of precipitation and atmospheric conditions to coat just about anything. Remember that big ice storm in Quebec a few years ago? Took me a long time to clean the snow from my car this morning. Stiff couple inches on top, and about 1/4" icy sticking stuff under it. The sticking stuff was laid down at right around 32 F, then covered by more snow that stuck to that according to temp gradient. Had to basically scrape on the paint to get it off, so I left that part there and just removed the bulk of it so it wouldn't fly off in big chunks on the highway. The stuff was stuck on the side of the car too. Had to pry the doors open. We've all seen this kind of thing happen in snowland. How many words do the eskimos have for snow? They probably have a word for the snow that gets stuck to LEDs. I like it better with crust on top. A lot easier to get it off. Best is no crust at all. No, best is water that rolls off. But I keep a regular household straw broom in my car in the winter. I can clear 4 inches of unstuck snow off the entire car in about a minute, even if it's heavy snow. The stuff on my car this morning would have stuck to an LED too with enough wind to move it sideways. Probably an fairly unusual occupance, but when it happens to stoplights it becomes a more serious issue. I suspect the only way to prevent it entirely is with heat, but maybe there's a miracle coating out there. $41,345.00 per 2 ounce container.

--Vic