The City of Palos Heights approved the purchase last week of kits which will be used to retrofit the streetlights along Harlem Avenue to LED bulbs instead of halogen.
The project, which is meant to improve energy efficiency in the downtown area, will see 57 street lights along Harlem from Route 83 to 127th Street replace their bulbs to brighter, more efficient LEDs.
The city approved the purchase of the Louvers International custom Fulson Retrofit Kits from Production Distribution Companies for $525 each, totaling $29,925. The cost is being offset by a rebate program through ComEd, which will reimburse $22,230 for the project when it is completed, bringing the city’s portion of the cost down to $7,695.
According to Public Works Director Joe Smith, the city piloted the light kits last year in the area near the fire station and said “they look great.”
The 57 new lights are 165 watts each and will use an estimated 73,500 kilowatt hours less per year, according to Smith.
Smith said the exact rate the city pays per kilowatt hour to ComEd was not readily available, however Zipelectricity.com, reports that the average commercial rate for electricity in Palos Heights is $0.09 per kilowatt hour and the average residential rate is $0.12 per kilowatt hour.
“It will definitely lower our energy bills significantly,” said Smith, who also noted that the new LED bulbs are estimated to last “three to five times longer” than the old halogen bulbs, which have an average lifespan of about two years.
“We want to be as efficient as we can be and to do our part to take stress off the electrical grid,” Smith said. “It will also be a big cost saving for our residents.”
Smith also said that the LED lights are less likely to dim over the course of their lives, which will result in Harlem being “much brighter” with the new lights.
All of the labor installing the new lights will be completed by the public works department and is expected to be done by the end of the summer.
