Lights

There's going to be a town meeting on 11/12 here in Rosamond and the subjest is
1st, a new higher fee to home owners to pay for street lighting. 2nd, the
paying for new street lighting in a park and in areas where there is none at
this time.

I will be there and I want to have some good ideas on hand to give to them to
save money. Ya, I know that No Lights would be best, but the powers that be here
are going to put them in no matter what, so I want to give them ideas of what
KIND of lights to use.

I want to hear your ideas too, to see if I can add them into what I will give
them. I'll be printing up my fact sheet.



--
"In this universe the night was falling,the shadows were lengthening
towards an east that would not know another dawn.
But elsewhere the stars were still young and the light of morning
lingered: and along the path he once had followed, man would one day go
again."

Arthur C. Clarke, The City & The Stars

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what worked for me to get a developer to include light rules in his deed
restrictions was 1) keep it simple
2) show these examples from IDA

http://www.darksky.org/~ida/infoshts/is122.html

when I first approached my developer with the idea of light restrictions,
his defenses went up.
then I tried , "no lights above horizontal and keep it on your property".
simple statement, but still he resisted.
then I showed him the examples cited above and how easy it was to achieve
good lighting.
the restrictions were added to the deed restrictions.
most people aren't intrested in light regulations until the night sky is
gone. if you show the authorities how easy it is to please both sides, they
will be willing to accomodate you.

good luck,
jon

"Starlord" wrote in message
...
There's going to be a town meeting on 11/12 here in Rosamond and the
subjest is
1st, a new higher fee to home owners to pay for street lighting. 2nd, the
paying for new street lighting in a park and in areas where there is none
at
this time.

I will be there and I want to have some good ideas on hand to give to them
to
save money. Ya, I know that No Lights would be best, but the powers that
be here
are going to put them in no matter what, so I want to give them ideas of
what
KIND of lights to use.

I want to hear your ideas too, to see if I can add them into what I will
give
them. I'll be printing up my fact sheet.



--
"In this universe the night was falling,the shadows were lengthening
towards an east that would not know another dawn.
But elsewhere the stars were still young and the light of morning
lingered: and along the path he once had followed, man would one day go
again."

Arthur C. Clarke, The City & The Stars

SIAR
www.starlords.org
Freelance Writers Shop
http://www.freelancewrittersshop.netfirms.com
Telescope Buyers FAQ
http://home.inreach.com/starlord
Ad World
http://adworld.netfirms.com



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Jax wrote:
then I tried , "no lights above horizontal and keep it on your property".

That's a very good approach.

I'll add not to worry about the type of bulb; just concentrate on being
sure the lights are shielded (at the *very least* above the horizontal).
Say little about astronomy. Concentrate on glare reduction instead.
Light entering a person's eye directly from the fixture is glare. Glare
reduction via shielding makes things *more* visible at night, improving
safety and making the lighting more effective. Glare is of particular
concern to the elderly; their vision is often much more sensitive to
it's negative effects. Ask them why they put shades on their indoor
lamps... Reducing glare makes it more pleasant to be outside at night
(you can see better and there is no need to shield your eyes), improving
everyone's quality of life. Lastly, proper shielding directs the light
that would otherwise light up the sky or enter the eye of a passing
motorist to the place intended, making the street light much more
effective. The resulting ability to use lower wattage bulbs or wider
spacing of the lights will result in real savings to the community.

Clear skies,
Greg

--
Greg Crinklaw
Astronomical Software Developer
Cloudcroft, New Mexico, USA (33N, 106W, 2700m)

SkyTools Software for the Observer:
http://www.skyhound.com/cs.html

Skyhound Observing Pages:
http://www.skyhound.com/sh/skyhound.html

Ask them why they put shades on their indoor
lamps... Reducing glare makes it more pleasant to be outside at night
(you can see better and there is no need to shield your eyes), improving
everyone's quality of life.


The shade of a lamp is one of the better anolgies I've read for describing why
it's of use to have cut-off fixtures.

Todd

http://www.backyardastronomy.com
http://www.skynewsmagazine.com
http://www.members.aol.com/tdcarls/s...otography.html

what worked for me to get a developer to include light rules in his deed
restrictions was 1) keep it simple
2) show these examples from IDA

http://www.darksky.org/~ida/infoshts/is122.html

How come no one in the lighting industy seems to be aware of this
stuff?

Because they WANT to sell more lights, not cut down the numbers.


--
"In this universe the night was falling,the shadows were lengthening
towards an east that would not know another dawn.
But elsewhere the stars were still young and the light of morning
lingered: and along the path he once had followed, man would one day go
again."

Arthur C. Clarke, The City & The Stars

SIAR
www.starlords.org
Freelance Writers Shop
http://www.freelancewrittersshop.netfirms.com
Telescope Buyers FAQ
http://home.inreach.com/starlord
Ad World
http://adworld.netfirms.com

"trent" wrote in message ...

what worked for me to get a developer to include light rules in his deed
restrictions was 1) keep it simple
2) show these examples from IDA

http://www.darksky.org/~ida/infoshts/is122.html

How come no one in the lighting industy seems to be aware of this
stuff?


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Because they WANT to sell more lights, not cut down the numbers.


Not my point. I should have been clearer.
I should ask " why don't they sell Better Designed lights". Would that
cut down on the quantity they sell?

Well for road lights, they do have good ones, that are even full cutoff,
CAL-Trans installs them on any new roads being built, and I've seen one street
here that new homes went up on has only two lamps in a two block area and they
are the new full cutoff cobrahead lamps and from what I understand they where
put in by Edson Elec.

But having said that, there are still lots of bad lighting devices that are made
and sold, just like the one the guy in trailer 16 put up. If I owned this
trialer park, that would come down real fast, but as this owner is one who fears
the dark himself, keeping the inside of his trailer lite up all night, something
like that light doesn't bother him at all.


--
"In this universe the night was falling,the shadows were lengthening
towards an east that would not know another dawn.
But elsewhere the stars were still young and the light of morning
lingered: and along the path he once had followed, man would one day go
again."

Arthur C. Clarke, The City & The Stars

SIAR
www.starlords.org
Freelance Writers Shop
http://www.freelancewrittersshop.netfirms.com
Telescope Buyers FAQ
http://home.inreach.com/starlord
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http://adworld.netfirms.com

"trent" wrote in message ...
Because they WANT to sell more lights, not cut down the numbers.


Not my point. I should have been clearer.
I should ask " why don't they sell Better Designed lights". Would that
cut down on the quantity they sell?


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In message , trent writes

what worked for me to get a developer to include light rules in his deed
restrictions was 1) keep it simple
2) show these examples from IDA

http://www.darksky.org/~ida/infoshts/is122.html

How come no one in the lighting industy seems to be aware of this
stuff?

They are (or at least some are) but their PHBs only care about selling
more and more lamps. I don't always agree with lighting policy, but the
lighting engineers are usually aware of some of the issues. The general
public is much more of a problem since they equate glare with safety.

In the UK one leading DIY chain actually has environmentally friendly
car park lights outside and a huge stack of discounted parabolic 500W
quartz halogen rottweiler lights stacked for sale to the punters at
every checkout.

Amazingly the better designed lower power outdoor lamps are much more
expensive than the nasty parabolic tin cans they sell in such bulk.

Regards,
--
Martin Brown

I would get help by the "experts". Go to the Dark Sky Association web
site (others will have to give the exact URL to you) for information.
Too bad you don't have more time...there is a fantastic self running
CD slide/multimedia show that a friend picked up when he was at
Starizona. It was obviously aimed at Arizona...but really excellent
presentation.

In short...what you are looking for are lower wattage bulbs and
fixtures that don't aim sideways or up. The worst are upwards shining
billboard lights, sports fields lights and those big ball shaped
lights in parking lots. A huge amount of light goes upwards into space
taking away the night sky and wasting MILLIONS of dollars in
electrical energy. The ideal light fixtures are flat cut off
enclosures...ones that direct the light only downwards. As far as
street lights. My new home is in the suberbs of Michigan...there are
NO streetlights there and it is delightful...the only lights are
subdued dim house lights and perhaps some very low wattage garden path
lights.

I think if you go to the Dark Sky Association web site you will find
lots of facts that answer the general belief that lots of lights make
it "safer". Often those lights only provide lights to ATTRACT kids and
others to areas to make trouble. Sort of like the moths gathering
around a light at night effect.

We all know that this is a loosing battle...but at least we can help
slow this down. It is a shame that many of todays kids DON'T see the
skies.

What you need to do is throw their arguments back in their face...make
them provide proof of why they need them...and than use the cost of
all that waste energy and equipment and picked up by the home owners
as a tool on your side. Most importantly...don't just roll over...make
it hard for them to get the lights approved ;-)

Bob Berta

"Starlord" wrote in message ...
There's going to be a town meeting on 11/12 here in Rosamond and the subjest is
1st, a new higher fee to home owners to pay for street lighting. 2nd, the
paying for new street lighting in a park and in areas where there is none at
this time.

I will be there and I want to have some good ideas on hand to give to them to
save money. Ya, I know that No Lights would be best, but the powers that be here
are going to put them in no matter what, so I want to give them ideas of what
KIND of lights to use.

I want to hear your ideas too, to see if I can add them into what I will give
them. I'll be printing up my fact sheet.



--
"In this universe the night was falling,the shadows were lengthening
towards an east that would not know another dawn.
But elsewhere the stars were still young and the light of morning
lingered: and along the path he once had followed, man would one day go
again."

Arthur C. Clarke, The City & The Stars

SIAR
www.starlords.org
Freelance Writers Shop
http://www.freelancewrittersshop.netfirms.com
Telescope Buyers FAQ
http://home.inreach.com/starlord
Ad World
http://adworld.netfirms.com



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