[HN Gopher] Energy Saving Road Lighting in Norway
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       Energy Saving Road Lighting in Norway
        
       Author : CharlesW
       Score  : 22 points
       Date   : 2023-05-13 19:59 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.dailyscandinavian.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.dailyscandinavian.com)
        
       | sschueller wrote:
       | We have similar setup at tram/bus stations here in Zurich,
       | Switzerland. When you sit still on the bench the lights will
       | start to dim down and once one move they will brighten up again.
       | A bit odd sometimes...
        
         | ChuckNorris89 wrote:
         | The toilets at my work do that, the light turns off if it
         | detects no movement so I need to start waving my hands while
         | I'm on the john and end up in the dark.
        
           | sbierwagen wrote:
           | If the sensor is near the door it should be able to just
           | count people coming in and out.
        
             | chmod775 wrote:
             | That "just" hides something that is so insanely hard to
             | make work reliably in practice, any implementation of it is
             | likely worse than a simple motion sensor... or a light
             | switch.
        
           | zeristor wrote:
           | If you're in a cubicle with no smart sensor, there's nothing
           | to see your waves of despair.
           | 
           | Never underestimate the torch screen on a smart watch, just
           | so long as the sleeve doesn't slide down to cover it.
        
       | Malic wrote:
       | I've noticed that hotel hallways in Norway worked the same way.
       | While on a tour, I poked my head out of my room quite early to
       | begin the day - it was pitch black but only for a moment. My
       | motion clearly set off the detectors and the hallway fully lit
       | up.
       | 
       | I kinda wish this was the norm in other countries for apartment
       | buildings, hotels, etc.
        
         | sargun wrote:
         | I've been in apartment buildings state side that kinda have
         | this, but there was always some light. Enough to see the exit
         | at least. I think I'd be scared shitless if it was pitch black
         | because of motion detector failure.
        
           | wenc wrote:
           | Many older stairwells in Europe (Italy/Spain/Portugal) are
           | like this.
           | 
           | They're pitch dark, but you turn on the first switch which
           | gives you enough light to reach the landing (and they are
           | timed), and then you have to turn on another light, and so
           | on. But if you don't get there quickly enough, it'll be pitch
           | dark.
        
         | geerlingguy wrote:
         | The Novotel North Cambridge hotel in the UK had lights that
         | come on when you approach in all guest corridors, as well as
         | room lights that require a room-key-size card to be inserted
         | into the main light switch (so they all switch off if you leave
         | the room, along with HVAC going into away mode).
         | 
         | I've also seen a number of grocery stores adopt display
         | lighting that turns on only when presence is detected.
        
           | bombcar wrote:
           | The grocery store thing is getting more common in the US - a
           | friend said it makes her want to dance like a Disney princess
           | :)
        
       | jeffbee wrote:
       | Energy-saving HTTP serving, too.
        
         | agumonkey wrote:
         | just in case https://archive.is/Uw6wK
        
       | wenc wrote:
       | The article claims that they save 2.1 MWh per week (109 MWh per
       | year) with a payback period of 4.5 years in Norway. It doesn't
       | say how much it costs, but Norwegian electricity prices are
       | around 83 EUR/MWh, so we can estimate that the lighting system
       | costs roughly EUR 40k (US$43k).
       | 
       | Wholesale grid prices in the US are around ~$252/MWh at peak,
       | which means the payback period in the US is only 1.5 years give
       | or take, which is not a bad investment.
       | 
       | https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/update/wholesale-mar...
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | hansjorg wrote:
       | I had no idea this was a thing until a recent trip.
       | 
       | For a small while I was certain I had become too tired and had
       | started seeing things. Quite trippy seeing another car about a
       | kilometer ahead igniting the lights as it drove.
        
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       (page generated 2023-05-13 23:00 UTC)