How Much does a Street Light Cost to Run

When it comes to how much LED street lights cost, many of us are afraid of the price of maintenance and operation after buying LED street lights or solar street lights. Indeed, knowing the truth in advance can be very beneficial to the success of our projects. The cost of a typical LED street light 100W ranges from $99 to $180 as street lights are used in various locations such as highways, underground parking lots, and home backyards.

Street lights are also divided into four types: solar LED street lights, halogen, fluorescent, metal halide, and high-pressure sodium lamps, which vary in price and operating costs. Many areas in North America and Europe, and East Asia are doing LED street light replacements. By replacing LED streetlights, you will save on energy consumption and the amount of electricity used by streetlights every day. There are many solar street lights on the road. Do you know the price of a street lamp? What are the street light cost of solar street lights besides electricity? Next, let us explore the solar street light price together, right?

Our typical street lamp costs include the cost of electricity for regular lighting, the cost of repairing light bulbs and poles, the cost of labor during repairs, and wear and tear caused by natural disasters or accidents. Usually, towns or cities are responsible for the cost of replacing street lights. However, they may charge drivers for accidental damage, for example, if the original street light was damaged in an accident and needs to be replaced.

You may be surprised at who pays for street lamp costs, as they vary. In some areas, the street lamp cost is the responsibility of the local government. In other cases, the local electric company maintains the street lamp cost, which charges a regular electricity bill for the maintenance of the street lamp poles or other damages.

When it comes to the solar street light price, not many people know how much money needs to be spent. The cost of the installation of street lights varies depending on the type of lighting and power. For example, if you installing 100W LED equivalent street lights, you would need to spend at least $110 for the Street lamp. The estimated cost of a standard street light pole is US$2000 to US$3000, with electrician cost to put in street light to installation is up to $1000! The final cost of each street light is between approximately $5,000 and $8,000 depending on the particular style. If the project is for the highway or bridge, the total street light cost will raise by 20% more.

Total running cost of street lights is divided into two parts the energy costs and maintenance cost. The energy cost is the total amount paid towards the electricity bill of the street light. The maintenance cost is the amount paid towards maintaining the street light i.e., keep it running like lamp replacement cost, cleaning cost etc. So, when you put them together you can actually see the cost of running a Street Light.

For example, for 1km long two-lane road, with 40m pole distance and opposite arrangement using 100-watt LED street light. We have 50 street lighting columns taking the average cost of electrical energy as $0.10 kW/h, the running cost for street light is (50x100x0.10)/1000 = $0.5/ hrs./km.

For another example, A 100 LED street light installed on a highway road. Light pole is 30 feet long. Most of the time, street lights are used for 12 hours a day. The average price in the USA is 10 cents per kilowatt-hour ($0.10/kWh).

Consumption for 12 hours is (12 hours*100 watt) = 1200 watt-hours = 1.2 kWh.

So daily Electricity cost is (1.2 kWh*$0.10) = $0.12. Monthly Electricity street light cost is ($0.12*30) = $3.6. Or $43.8 per year or $438 in 10 years. The power consumption and electricity cost can further reduce for solar street lights.

Maintenance Costs with LED Lights

Include factors like material, time, labor, and presumably redirected traffic impacting commercial activity.

Street light cost of Replacement  = Cost of Replacement Bulbs + Truck Rental + Rental of Man Lift + Salary of At Least 2 Workers.

A street light probably takes 15 minutes on site to replace on a 30-foot pole. That includes setting up the boom truck’s outriggers and the time the boom requires to extend to the light fixture. The city probably has one journeyman electrician working at $40/ hr. rate plus $20/hr. benefits, and a helper trainee at $28/hr. plus $12hr/ benefits. The boom truck probably street light costs $50/hr., most of that street light cost due to the much higher service and maintenance required for the hydraulic boom and outriggers. Travel time to the location might be an additional 20 minutes, depending on geographic factors.

The street light cost then would be 35 minutes (0.58 hr.) times.

$60 electrician, $40 helper, $50 boom truck, then $150 x 0.58 = $87. Add the cost of the bulb, around $110. Total $187.

In the city of Los Angeles, 42 million dollars are spent every year for monitoring and maintaining over 200,000 lights. This results in $200 being required for each light to continue working. It is important to keep in mind that the cost of maintenance varies depending on the type of street light used. For instance, LEDs offer the lowest maintenance costs as compared to other outdoor light options such as HPS lamps.

Several factors can affect the cost of a street light pole. But the labor cost of installation is not the only factor involved in the price of a street light pole because the average price of a street light pole ranges from $1,500 to $4,000. (But this does not include the labor cost of installation.) The installation cost depends on your city, but in general, the labor cost of installing a street light pole averages $800. These costs are variable, but street light poles will be much more expensive than consumer poles because they are more complex to install and are more extensive.

Four main factors affect the cost of street light poles.

Materials: The cost of the actual LED street light pole and all the parts are included. But it would help if you also considered the equipment and tools needed to install the light bar. This usually increases the installation cost for contractors because they need to use expensive elevators and other equipment.
Labor: Labor is an expensive part of the process, and projects usually require several experienced tradespeople.
Energy consumption: The cost of running streetlights will be a factor for most cities, so they are so careful to weigh different types of energy sources.
Maintenance: Maintenance includes fixing any streetlight problems caused by wear and tear, the environment, time, or accidents that may occur. It also includes routine maintenance, such as replacing bulbs, cleaning, and checking to wire.

The height of the street light pole is generally 6 meters, 8 meters, 10 meters, 12 meters, 14 meters, etc. The specific use of the street light height depends on the width of the road surface. And the length of the pole will also affect the solar street light price.

Street lighting accounts for 15–40% of the total energy spent in standard cities worldwide. Energy efficient findings & design (LED Based smart street lighting system) can reduce street lighting costs by 35-70%. Now cities around the world are switching to LED lights as a way to save both money and energy while simultaneously increasing safety and visibility. In addition to the huge cost of electricity for street lights in daily use, street light costs are also extremely expensive to maintain. To solve this problem LED street light is a game changer. The LED lights consume about 50 percent less energy when compared to their High-pressure Sodium (HPS) luminaire.

If you do a quick search online, you’ll find that the popularity of solar lights has surged in the past 5 years due to emerging green technologies and rising energy street light cost. Among this shift in moving towards more renewable energy sources for lighting, an important question is being raised: how much do solar street lights price compared to traditional street lighting?

Solar street lights price are practically more economical and eco-friendlier than traditional street lights. When comparing the total costs of traditional and solar lighting, there appears to be a clear winner. Overall, solar street lights price around $4,800 over 5 years, while standard costs a steep $8,200. As before, this is the cost of one street light. Imagine 10 lights? 20? Suddenly, the savings with solar are clear. In the battle of the lighting systems, technology and innovation win. While traditional lighting systems may have won some battles, solar lights win the war for street light cost.

The above is some of my research on street light cost. Street lights accompany us in our lives, and understanding street light cost can help us better understand the city.

Street Light

A street Lighting System is a lighting system for the illumination of streets, roads, squares and common public areas. Street light has two basic parts: Pole and street Lamp. This also shows that multiple aspects determine the solar street light price.

Street Lighting has been around since humans began living together. As early as 500 BC, the ancient Romans used oil lamps filled with vegetable oil in front of their homes. From gas lights, improvements were made, and the gas lights were switched to electric lights which are more energy efficiency.

Traditional Street Lighting:

Traditional Street lights connect to the electrical power grid. There would a monthly bill for the electricity that the street lights use. Recent incorporation of LED light bulbs has improved energy efficiency and many cities have switched to LED street bulbs to save on operational street light cost.

Solar Street Lighting:

With today’s demand for reliable and sustainable lighting, solar-powered street lights are becoming a more popular preference over regular street lights. These street lights are not connected to the electrical power grid: the solar light will produce its own energy from the sun (photovoltaic panel) and store the energy in a battery. So what is the solar street light price?