Since I have been seeing recent news of HID cobrahead luminaires being largely discontinued for the North American market, I have a feeling that within less than 5 years from now, the very last remaining HID street lighting luminaire in North America will be removed from service by then and cities around the world would probably have 100% of their street lighting converted to LED by then. Does anyone else feel like HID luminaires will completely disappear from the streets of every city in the world well before 2030 with 100% of the world’s cities using LED luminaires by then?

I also have a feeling that by the time that happens, any form of HID lighting equipment in the world will be considered extremely rare and virtually unobtainium possibly due to NOS luminaires getting scrapped to the point of nonexistence and NOS lamps getting recycled to the point of nonexistence too.

I would agree with you. I don't think by 2030 though but it is gonna happen at some point or another.

If this is the case, I hope more LED teardrops and acorns appear. IIRC, half of all street lightning was LED back in 2018 and it has sadly increased since. We need to work together to make sure that HID fixtures don’t become as rare as hens teeth.

We also need to make sure that HID lanterns are in good condition. Most HPS/MH lanterns here don't get replaced until major failure occurs. If there is a steady supply of lamps and sometimes ignitors (if they fail), and proper maintenance of the lantern, they could exist more longer, atleast here (the government has no problem with lanterns which are giving out light, even if all the components are barely hanging on; they only replace them when it's not working).

Not for a long time. There's still MV lights from the 1950s still running in a good amount of places out there.

 As long as replacement bulbs , etc. are avail , HID will be around . There's still incandescent streetlights in use from the 20 & 30's . Underfunded communities and future historical areas will keep HID in use for as long as physically possible !!

I know of carbon arc fittings still installed (albeit privately and no longer working) from the early 20th century. There will always be some remaining on private property for probably at least 75 years. As for public ones, I believe that some will be converted, and the rest (unless historical) will remain until failure.

Yeah good point, there’s plenty of HID fixtures on privately property that rarely if ever get used either.

I wonder too. Toronto only gave up on installing new HPS this year. Even spot installs as late as last year were still HPS. I still see some MV even on publically owned roads too. Plus with the long life of HID, infrequently used fixtures will probably remain HID for years.

I know of school that still had high wattage incandescent lights in the gym, something I thought died out decades ago.