Say what? Raleigh mayor de-bugs light bulbs

Raleigh, N.C. mayor Charles Meeker on Monday said he wants to convert all the city's municipal lights to LEDs--starting with parking garages. He points out that in addition to substantial cost savings, the quality of light is brighter and less yellow than sodium lights. This is all good news for Carolina taxpayers and drivers parking downtown.

Let's not overlook an important piece of Meeker's common sense, however: "With sodium lights, you get bugs in the cover."

Admittedly, the insect world isn't usually recognized as a major player in cutting costs. But if you've ever spent a summer in Raleigh, you know that flies, mosquitos, hornets and yellow jackets collect in every available light fixture, buzzing madly up to the instant of their crunchy, smoky deaths. Many light sources are even partially obscured due to layers of critter remains.

So in addition to saving money due to longer-lasting light, installing LEDs instead of incandenscent bulbs may alleviate the expense of city maintenance folks' untold hours of labor removing the encrustations.

All hail the hidden benefits of the LED.

The full story is here: City tries to cut energy bills with LEDs.