3 ms·

Here’s the thing: all of those things you mentioned (dimming, occupancy sensing, focused beams, light shields to prevent light pollution on other properties) ar

Here’s the thing: all of those things you mentioned (dimming, occupancy sensing, focused beams, light shields to prevent light pollution on other properties) are options that can be added on during manufacturing, but an engineer needs to specify that those options are required or else someone will win the bid with a more basic light pole head without all those options. The customer (municipality or state) often will compare the nice lights with all of the options you listed against a more basic light during the planning phase and opt to spend less money on the more basic lighting.

stinos 1y ago
Indeed I implied this when saying 'willing to implement', but one thing to note: the customer should be smart enough to consider total cost of oownership. I.e. there's the price of the light but also the price of having to replace it and having it on etc. The extra price of functionality allowing to decrease the amount of on time might pay itself back. I vaguely recall in my municipality this was one of the reasons they went for the slightly more expensive initial cost of full control ability anyway - not completely sure though.
- quickthrowman 1y ago
  > the customer should be smart enough Oh how I wish that were true in all cases :) Integral occupancy sensors are usually an easy sell, like you said the energy savings usually cover the added cost of the sensor and relay, given that most LED pole heads draw anywhere from 50w to 150w. It also simplifies installation and maintenance since you don’t need to switch a whole line of poles with a single occ sensor and contactor. The more esoteric options are usually a harder sell, stuff like glare shields and non-standard optics/distribution. I see options like this selected when a commercial property borders residential property, but it’s atypical. Photometric studies can be done to figure out what options should be selected, but the customer, engineer, and contractor are all overworked and don’t always design things the way they could (or should) be designed. I will say that wealthier areas tend to have the budgets and time to go the extra mile on stuff like this. FWIW, one of the things I do at my day job is sell LED pole heads (and a full range of electrical services) to municipalities (and others). Here’s an example pole head cutsheet that shows the options that can be selected for reference: https://pdmassets.azureedge.net/library/LL/documents/specsheets/DSX2-LED.pdf https://pdmassets.azureedge.net/library/LL/documents/specshe...
  - stinos 1y ago
    FWIW, one of the things I do at my day job is sell LED pole heads (and a full range of electrical services) to municipalities (and others). Hehe, sorry for explaining the obvious to you then :D
    - quickthrowman 1y ago
      No worries, I enjoy talking about electrical stuff :) I’m always happy to share the knowledge I have too, not many electrical PMs post on Hacker News!

stinos 1y ago

Indeed I implied this when saying 'willing to implement', but one thing to note: the customer should be smart enough to consider total cost of oownership. I.e. there's the price of the light but also the price of having to replace it and having it on etc. The extra price of functionality allowing to decrease the amount of on time might pay itself back. I vaguely recall in my municipality this was one of the reasons they went for the slightly more expensive initial cost of full control ability anyway - not completely sure though.

quickthrowman 1y ago
> the customer should be smart enough Oh how I wish that were true in all cases :) Integral occupancy sensors are usually an easy sell, like you said the energy savings usually cover the added cost of the sensor and relay, given that most LED pole heads draw anywhere from 50w to 150w. It also simplifies installation and maintenance since you don’t need to switch a whole line of poles with a single occ sensor and contactor. The more esoteric options are usually a harder sell, stuff like glare shields and non-standard optics/distribution. I see options like this selected when a commercial property borders residential property, but it’s atypical. Photometric studies can be done to figure out what options should be selected, but the customer, engineer, and contractor are all overworked and don’t always design things the way they could (or should) be designed. I will say that wealthier areas tend to have the budgets and time to go the extra mile on stuff like this. FWIW, one of the things I do at my day job is sell LED pole heads (and a full range of electrical services) to municipalities (and others). Here’s an example pole head cutsheet that shows the options that can be selected for reference: https://pdmassets.azureedge.net/library/LL/documents/specsheets/DSX2-LED.pdf https://pdmassets.azureedge.net/library/LL/documents/specshe...
- stinos 1y ago
  FWIW, one of the things I do at my day job is sell LED pole heads (and a full range of electrical services) to municipalities (and others). Hehe, sorry for explaining the obvious to you then :D
  - quickthrowman 1y ago
    No worries, I enjoy talking about electrical stuff :) I’m always happy to share the knowledge I have too, not many electrical PMs post on Hacker News!