Brooklyn Park and Xcel Energy Co. started an energy saving experiment this week by installing LED bulbs in nine streetlights.
Residents will be asked if the LEDs, which use about half as much electricity as conventional streetlights, are as bright as the high-pressure sodium bulbs they replaced, said city engineering director Gary Brown. The light emitting diode bulbs are on corner light poles on 71st Street, west of Zane Avenue N.
The LED lights last about three times as long as sodium lights but cost about three times as much. Replacing LED bulbs less often would save on installation costs, he said.
Other suburbs, including Minnetonka and Eden Prairie, are considering LED and other lighting alternatives. Eden Prairie installed about a dozen LED lights this summer in its City Hall parking lot, public works director Eugene Dietz said.
"It was quite impressive," Dietz said of the rectangular new lights, which were brighter than nearby sodium lights. A city consultant said the energy savings would pay for the new lights in 16 years, Dietz said.
LED streetlights last 100,000 hours versus about 30,000 hours for the standard fixtures, said Brian Wagstrom, Minnetonka public works director. But LEDs are relatively new, and Minnetonka is waiting to see how they perform elsewhere, he said.
Brooklyn Park, St. Paul and Minneapolis already use LED bulbs in many traffic lights, Brown said. The new traffic lights use only 10 percent as much energy as conventional traffic lights, he said.
Jim Adams • 612-673-7658
