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What is with bringing this to a forum, instead of being neighborly, introducing yourself, and discussing the issue. It never ceases to amaze me that people would rather complain, complain, complain than confront an issue and see if it can be resolved. Have you tried this? Or do energy abusing, light polluting New Yorkers scare you
People from different areas have different lifestyles. Myself, if that was me next door, I'd rather have you come shake my hand and discuss the situation than have you rocking in the corner of your bedroom, sweating and shaking in anger and hatred over a few light bulbs.
Now why did you want to take this to a insulting/attacking direction? How have I offended you?
Since you know so damn much about me, they you will know that I have talked to them about it, among many other things, but living in the mountains these people are scared poo-less. The lights haven't stopped the bears from raiding their trash or bird feeders, nor the raccoons, or opossums, or the foxes.
But I do find it amusing that it's only the people (from my observation of the neighbors) from NY, NJ area that live in the pools of light while the people from FL, TX, CA seem quite content in the dark.
But if you had read my original post, the jest of it is while we constantly hear about all the 'vampire devices' in our homes wasting power, unnecessary outdoor lighting which uses 100 fold more power is never mentioned as a waste. Want to address that?
One of my big pet peeves. Bad lighting. Halogen, and sodium vapor (vampire) lamps are UGLY. They look creepy shining anywhere. And the halogen car headlights ought to be outlawed. Creepy creepo. I recall lighting along US 1 in Maryland about 40 years ago. It was subtle, adequate, and even the billboards were subdued, not garish. Plenty of pretty neon. People had nice house lighting, and yellow bug lights on the porch. I absolutely hate those white lights shining all over the place, and some gas stations are blinding. At least put an illumination area arc shield over these ugly things, or color them. I loved the old yellow flourescent lights at the ice cream stands way back. The new generation would like the old lighting, but they don't get a chance to even see it. Many towns have anti ugly light laws. Yay ! There were so many white creepy yard lights in my neighborhood, I wanted to shoot them out. But, I didn't. I moved west. We have a dark skies rule here. yay !
Now why did you want to take this to a insulting/attacking direction? How have I offended you?
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But I do find it amusing that it's only the people (from my observation of the neighbors) from NY, NJ area that live in the pools of light while the people from FL, TX, CA seem quite content in the dark.
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Maybe he or she was offended by the fact that you keep attacking/insulting people from NY/NJ. I live in NY and the only time I leave my outside light on is if I'm expecting company or the pizza delivery man so that they can clearly see my house numbers. Otherwise my lights are always off.
I agree that light pollution is a problem and people aren't addressing the wastefulness of outdoor lights but please don't make this a NY/NJ issue. Other posts here have already said that it happens in other places too. Citing your anecdotal evidence is proof of nothing more than your personal experience.
As for the energy waste issue, there are lots of solar lights available that store the power from the day to use at night. The light from this kind is usually strong enough to see where you are going but not so bright that they offend or annoy your neighbors.
I have floodlights outside, two on corners of the house, one above the garage, and a porch light. The only time I use the porch light is when someone comes over after dark, (which doesn't happen often). The light over the garage burned out quite some time ago, and I still haven't replaced it, (shows you how often I ever use it). The other two lights I turn on, when I go outside to feed my dogs, and feed my miniature horse his nightly carrot and celery treat, (he's spoiled). But, I don't always use them, even then. Sometimes, I just take out a flashlight.
Inside, I frequently only have the light over the stove on, and my bedside lamp, and nothing else. I have no street light for my house, and it seems to be a mix, as to the neighbors. Some do, some don't. I'd be fine if none of them did, but then, I'm not scared of the dark, inside or outside. I was raised in the country, and dark is fine by me, (unless, of course, it was a dark alley, with a bunch of nasty thugs, but then, I don't go into dark alleys. And, if I did, I'd be armed).
In our county, all the subdivisions have streetlights that are on from dusk to dawn. My problem is that when new construction was booming, the first thing that went in were the streetlights and now there are numerous lights burning where there are vacant lots. It is unclear how long it will take for the market to open up again. This is such a waste of energy and without anything to buffer them, they are unsightly when night falls. I have approached the county and the builder of the + 55 community behind me but I get little satisfaction that they intend to do anything about this.
Don't have any great care about night lighting, either way, but have heard and read it is a crime deterrent.
As far as a power waste -- probably does not tend to be so much of one as may be thought. In general, the grid is surplus overnight.
Motion sensor lights are the way to deter crime. When pools of light are the normal, well it's normal, and the thief doesn't have to worry about the interior lights of your car coming on, etc.
True, the demand is lower at night, thus power companies don't need to figure nighttime lighting into their calculations for 'peak' demand periods. But to say that 1,000 watts of lighting on a single house is not waste, can't be done, it is a waste.
extra lights outside of houses in the country is a bit unnecessary. but street and house lights in cities (and even some suburbs) are COMPLETELY necessary. I really would like some of you to come walk through my neighborhood if it was pitch black without any lights on the streets. I bet you wouldn't do it!
That is my reason for leaving the light on in at the front and back door of my home. It's a mild deterrent for intruders, peeping toms, and any other undesireables. Only drawback is it attracts bugs, but I'll take bugs over prowlers any day.
It's my reason too, as we have no streetlights in our development. I live in a nice suburban neighborhood, but we've had our share of break-ins, so my outside lights are on a timer. Several years ago, the light bulb blew in the fixture by my garage door (back of the house). That night, someone tried to get into my shed to steal my lawn mower. Grrrr...
extra lights outside of houses in the country is a bit unnecessary. but street and house lights in cities (and even some suburbs) are COMPLETELY necessary. I really would like some of you to come walk through my neighborhood if it was pitch black without any lights on the streets. I bet you wouldn't do it!
That's what lanterns and flashlights are for.
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). But, I don't always use them, even then. Sometimes, I just take out a flashlight.
