Goodlighting2000
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| Studies have found that cool white LED street lights, as well as legacy metal halide and mercury vapor sources, suppress melatonin levels much greater than HPS bulbs or warm white LEDs.
The American Medical Association suggests residential street lights to be no higher than 3000K, which means 4000K+ LED, metal halide, and mercury vapor are technically not recommended for residential streets. My area (Columbus, OH) seems to mostly use 3000K cobra head cobra lights but post tops seem to be 4000K. However, some parts of Ohio seem to use 4000-5000K LED street lights and I actually prefer the cool white.
Do you prefer 3000K or 4000K street lights?
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« Last Edit: September 17, 2026, 12:12:50 AM by Goodlighting2000 »
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dor123
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Other loves are printers/scanners/copiers, A/Cs
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| Kiryat Ata uses mainly 3000K LED streetlighting, but Haifa also have 4000K and 5000K. Most LED floodlights here are >6000K. I think LPS and HPS, are the best for streetlighting. MV streetlighting usually was dimmer than LPS and HPS, thus didn't affected the melatonin that much like MH and LED.
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I"m don't speak English well, and rely on online translating to write in this site. Please forgive me if my choice of my words looks like offensive, while that isn't my intention.
I only working with the international date format (dd.mm.yyyy).
I lives in Israel, which is a 220-240V, 50hz country.
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suzukir122
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| ... off topic: it's very interesting to me how a good amount of fellow Lighting enthusiasts, live in Ohio, myself included. I'm beginning to notice this, and that is pretty epic. A decent amount of people on Lighting Gallery, seem to live here in Ohio... Anyways, back on topic, my area, as well as most places I've been to here in Dayton, seem to use what appear to be 4000k LED street lights. Seems like the majority of those replacement LED street lights give off a harsh color. They also appear to be much more glary during the night time, in comparison to the HPS lit roads. Or... maybe they are 3000k, but my eyes are so use to the much deeper orange glow from the previous HPS street lights, that even 3000k seems to appear a bit harsh in comparison...? I'm not sure. Or maybe the LED street lights have color shifted due to degrading phosphors. Regardless, I prefer 3000k, easily. But of course between LED and HPS, I'd choose HPS, easily.
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Interests: 1. Motorcycles, Cars, Women, and Lighting (especially fluorescent) 2. Weightlifting/staying extremely athletic 3. Severe Thunderstorms of all kinds 4. Food and drinks. So gimme them bbq ribs Lighting has ALWAYS been a passion of mine. I consider everyone on here to be a friend
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Urbis ZX2
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Urbis ZX2 - London classic
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| I prefer 3000K for LED street lighting. It’s the perfect balance between efficiency, visibility, and visual comfort. 4000K is slightly more efficient but I dislike the stark white colour and I feel that it should be restricted to only pedestrian crossings.
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Make the most of something while it lasts.
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AngryHorse
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Rich, Rollercoaster junkie!
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| Most streetlights in our town are 4000K, but all new installs here now are 3000, and they look so much better 😎
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Welcom to OBLIVION ! B+M INTAMIN Gerstlauer GCI Longest serving LED at home: 64,694 hrs @ 14/6/26
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PabTheSpanish
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Certified Indal enthuziast
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Definitely 3000K or even less!, while driving late at night it surely makes a difference between a cold white glow and a warm orange glow and you could easily notice it, when looking at a street light closely but not directly, the power the cool white one gives could give more discomfort to your eyes than the warm orange color. Ambience-wise, the orange color gives a much better feel around the city, here's a little comparison between a white Philips street light compared to the traditional HPS color (apologies for the bad quality):  Sure, white light does supress melatonin levels, but tell me that when you start to have trouble falling asleep, sleep is very important! 
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Indal, Lighting for you
  
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Baked bagel 11
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Tom
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| For me I'd have to say 4000k, though an Astronomer I know would beg to differ haha. I like 4000k because it really isn't that harsh (my whole city is lit with 80,000 4000k leds or neutral white PL/T, which are actively being replaced). I find that 3000k streetlights look too yellow, though they do make a very positive impact for night sky visibility.
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