Street lights help light up streets and any possible places to ensure clear vision and safety for passersby and drivers. When choosing suitable LED street lights, you usually need to think about the efficiency and brightness of the lights, whether the case can resist corrosion, whether its ability to dissipate heat is up to standard, etc. And there is one thing that you will be sure to consider: the height of street lights. Here is a guide telling you how tall the street lights should be. Don’t miss it!
Average height of different street lights
High–pole street lights
High-pole street lights have a height of 10-15 meters and can be higher. These lights are installed at the roadsides of main roads, expressways, and other two-way roads with more than two lanes. These roads are wide and always have heavy traffic, so the street lights need to provide a wider and brighter illumination.
Middle–pole street lights
Middle pole street lights have a height of 6-8 meters. Usually, you can find these lights on the secondary roads of urban areas, avenues of industrial parks, and other two-way single-lane or double-lane roads. Compared with the main roads, these roads don’t need such bright light. If the lights are too bright, the drivers may not adapt to the change in environment when they drive on relatively darker roads.
Low–pole street lights
Low-pole street lights have a height of 3-5 meters. They are used on rural roads, small industrial parks, and bicycle lanes and pedestrian paths in residential areas or parks. In these places, street lights function to help residents see their paths clearly, and the street lights can be set at a relatively low brightness to save energy.
If the height is too low, it is easy to have a small illumination range. Insufficient light will affect the safety of pedestrians and drivers. If the street lights are too high, it will cause energy waste and visual pollution, which have a negative impact on the image of the city.
On the contrary, suitable street lights can have many advantages. They will guarantee that both walking and driving at night are safe enough. As a study has found, with street lights of proper brightness and height, accidents can be reduced by 30%-50%. Besides, at a fitting height, these lights won’t affect the night sky and will improve the night view of the city through their exquisite design.
Factors that influence the height of street lights
Road width
Road width is the first factor that determines the height of street lights. Generally speaking, the height should be equal to the road width when the street lights are set on one side of the road. If the street lights are installed on both sides of the road, then the height should be half of the road width. The more traffic there is, the higher the street lights should be, illuminating more areas.
Height of the vehicles
For subsidiary roads, maybe only some cars will pass by. Yet on other main roads, such as highways and roads near the factory, there will be trucks and trailers. On these roads, the street lights need to be high enough to prevent collisions.
Wattage of LED lights
How tall your street lights should be is also determined by the brightness of LED lights. If the wattage of the LED light is high, when choosing a low street light, the light will be dazzling. For example, for LED lights of 100 W, a height of 7 meters is suitable. For 200-watt LED lights, the street lights need to be 12 meters high.
Other factors
Factors such as speed limits, crime rates, total light output, and light distribution should also be considered when determining the height of street lights and the distance between them.
Other things to consider about street lights
Brightness
The brightness of common street lights is 250-300 lux, but the brightness may vary according to the different installation locations. For instance, on highways, the brightness of the street lights needs to be higher, around 300-400 lux. As for residential areas, you can choose lights with a brightness of 150–250 lux to save energy.
Weather-resistant
You should also look for the street lights’ ability to dissipate heat and resist water because they will work outdoors. To reduce the influence of the heat, on the one hand, most people will choose the LED street light, which is a cold light source. On the other hand, those street lights that perform well at dissipating heat are a better choice. Street lights will also be frequently exposed to rain or humid air. Street lights that have passed the IP 65 rating can last longer in this kind of environment.
LED lights
As one of the most important components of LED street lights, LED lights determine the quality of the light. Outdoor lighting has a high requirement for brightness, so the power of a single LED light should be relatively high. And you need to choose high-quality LED chips to ensure that they won’t have light decay easily.
Conclusions
All in all, if you don’t know how tall your street lights should be, you can first roughly judge the height by thinking of the application places. Then you can try to decide the height by thinking about other influencing factors. If you are still not sure, seeking the help of experts can be a good choice. Mokolight is a Chinese LED street light manufacturer that offers the best products and advice. As the industrial leader that has worked for more than 16 years, Mokolight ensures the quality of the street light by providing certifications like UL and CE, using materials from famous suppliers such as Samsung and Osram, and so on. Contact us right now if you have any further questions, and we will find the best LED street lights for you!
