Don't they use 1kW on high masts?

Over here, yes... but very rarely. I think a railway marshalling yard at Guide Bridge near Manchester may use 1kW lamps... but I can't be sure on that.

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1kw!  

Good god, it would be like daylight and confuse the local bird population!   Is that 1kw SON light because that would be extremely glary, I dread to think just how glary it would be with this snow we're having!  

A column that was knocked down during the pre-Christmas snow in my friend's road has now been replaced, which has enabled me to compare 36w PL-L and 50w SON side by side from the perspective of my friend's driveway. Confirmation that even though PL-L isn't technically as bright, the higher quality white light more than makes up for this, and it's much better.

Incidentally, some articles regarding the imminent South Coast PFI seem to suggest that large numbers of columns will be upgraded with new lanterns in Hampshire. It will be interesting to see what happens, although we've got five years to see the end results.

Since energy efficiency was one of the main considerations of the bids for the South Coast PFI, I would expect to see that where columns are not being replaced, the lanterns will be upgraded. SOX being replaced with CFL and probably the removal of the ZX1\ZXU1 casuals or converting the later from SON to CFL I would have thought would be highly likely.

It's unusual for older lighting to be reused in a PFI and fitted with a new light source though isn't it, even if the lanterns being reused aren't all that old. It would be good if they did do this though as I find PFIs very wasteful. It's like the Nottingham PFI which will see loads of Beta 2s being replaced which have (believe it or not) only been installed in the last 3 years. Surely they could be converted to CFL?

Depends how easy a gear tray and lampholder replacement is.

Urbis have noted that some areas such as Devon have been upgrading existing lanterns, namely the ZX1, from SON to CosmoPolis. Urbis supply a new gear tray and lampholder unit all pre-wired. All that is necessary with tools is to remove or attach the incoming supply wires and to unscrew the old gear tray and fasten the new gear tray.

Well for CFL there is just the ballast since they will specify electronic gear, so it would be simple to remove the old gear tray and fit a new one with a CFL ballast. The other change would be a new "bung" for the optic with a CFL rather than ES lampholder.

If I was in charge...  ,  to ensure there wasn't a mix match of lanterns, I would fit new CFL lanterns replacing SOX which would go for scrap, the ZX1s would be removed and taken back to the depot for conversion and then reuse elsewhere. It would only take a few minutes per lantern to convert (using prewired Urbis "kits"), and it would be quicker to do at the depot with them going in the stock pile to be used again. That way would make lantern conversion quick and easy "on the street" and would ensure that entire streets gets converted in one go and that the same type of lantern (and optics) are used per street.

The question lies with the 1920 - 1950 lanterns as these could be converted to CFL rather than going on the scrap heap. Some pretty decent lanterns are still in use along the A272 and are the Bleeco Open Conical on MBF.

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From streetlighting to radio, dance through the night whilst the streetlights are glowing outside.

All pre 1990 columns and installations will be replaced.