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How Airports Swapped To LED FAA Lighting

By Helen Nelson


The Energy Independence and Security Act signed by George Bush on December 2017 is a law that calls for light bulb efficiency. As a result of this, many establishments in the United States have collectively opted to use LED lights, which are more energy efficient. These establishments also include airports. Airports have slowly adopted LED FAA lighting as a means of complying with the rules stipulated in this law.

Although the law did not necessarily call for the complete ban of incandescent bulbs, LEDs are simply better in many other aspects. While incandescent bulbs release ninety percent heat and only ten percent energy, LEDs emit only minimal heat and more energy. They also last significantly longer than other sources.

Researches have stated that LEDs can actively operate between 50000 to 100000 hours. This is around forty times more than incandescent lights. With a longer lifespan comes long term benefits such as increased savings, less manual labor, and fewer replacements. Since they are less hot, they are also safer in comparison to other lighting systems, particularly incandescent lights.

They can operate on low voltage electricity, making them better at adapting to power concerns. They are also flexible with a range of other functions made possible by their relatively small size. Although in spite of its benefits, more people still opt for inefficient incandescent lights instead of LEDs which are better in various ways.

One primary motivator for this is the fact that incandescents are much cheaper in the initial purchase and LED prices commonly begin at twenty dollars apiece. What most people fail to realize is that electrical costs are considerably lessened in the long term when they opt for light emitting diodes since they can run smoothly on low voltage. Moreover, fewer replacements mean fewer purchases and fewer expenditures. As an added bonus, LEDs are even brighter than other systems.

Even airports are slowly adjusting to the switch to help the environment. However, airport personnel and pilots have also run into some issues with the switch, especially since the concern was a relatively new issue for them. The switch mostly began with runways and obstruction lighting.

What they failed to take into account was the increased brightness of the new lighting systems. The brightness had caused visibility problems for the pilots who made their landings on the runways. The intensity of the light emitting diodes, even on the lowest setting, simply could not match the rest of the lighting systems. This considerably impaired the perception of the pilots and effectively blinded them during touchdown.

To provide a solution, the FAA introduced five step regulators to replace three step regulators. With this change, airline personnel was allowed to have better navigation of the brightness manual. Coupled with feedback from the pilots, the lights were adjusted to the most optimal setting that allowed safer landings and better visibility.

Presently, airports have already expanded the LEDs to tarmacs, hangars, jetways, and other areas. The development of better illuminating systems was done with the help of noting down the issues that arose when the switch was first made. Nighttime visibility issues and passenger safety were considered a primary concern and have since been addressed. Today, airports now generate at least a portion less energy compared to what they had been generating with older incandescent systems. This only shows that if major airlines can handle the swap to eco friendly solutions, others can too.




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