Intrusion of street lights into home
 

Chaps

Not sure if there are any laws or rules on what is and not acceptable, but we live in a street with bright sodium lighting - and in a house that is only 5 years old in a small collection of houses, so the lamps are modern technology. In our spare bedroom, (upstairs) the lamp is about 6 foot away from the window and is thus so bright that even blackout blinds and thick curtains cannot stop the light coming in - it gets through the edges and thus keeps the room bright enough...

Theoretically, you could put a black panel up in front of the light where it shines towards our house blocking the light, but allowing it to work on all other areas, so a remedy could be found.

But is this something we would have to do on the QT, complain to council and ask to fix or just live with it . Anyone ever experienced this?

Thanks

Andy

A friend had a similar issue, the council came out in a couple of days and painted the side of the light that faced the house with black paint, a bit low tech but it did the trick.

If a streetlight intruded into my home, it would have to seriously bend over to fit under the doorframe.

Perhaps they put in 250watt bulbs? In that case, buy a 75watt SON/T bulb and borrow a mates hi-top transit to stand on and swap it ;)

Blah blah blah.... :lol1:

Fair point - my description could have been relayed better!

Glad to hear that black paint is an option - we'll see what Mr Council man says but it was obvious he had never heard of it before.

I could reach it with a ladder - reckon there is any particular kind of paint required?

If the lamps are the typical orange light, they're definitely not modern technology. If so they tend to throw the light everywhere. As miff13 suggests, ask the local council to paint out the back of the lantern. If it's a pale yellow light then it's a SON/T lamp, but the lantern bowl can still be painted at the back.

The British Standard for road lighting design is BS5489, and from memory, more than 2 lux falling on a window can be construed as nuisance light. You could also try looking up BS EN13201.

Thanks for all your help. I have now found out the road has yet to be adopted and therefore comes under the control of the developer - who care not...

Therefore, can anyone advise what the best paint or spray I could get that would work on a street light, that is black, and that would give the best coverage (ie black-out) and if so where to buy it. Would be very helpful...

Do I need to worry about the heat these lights put out as well?

Andy

Unadopted road ---> the light belongs to the developer. Basically it's their responsibility but they couldn't give a stuff.

The lamps don't give off much heat but the control gear can get a little warm. You want some paint that is going to adhere to the polycarbonate bowl. Normal car black spray with a plastic primer?

Bear in mind you will be at least 5m in the air undoing clips ie you can't hold on to a ladder. Don't fall off the ladder as it'll be further up than you might imagine. A double decker bus goes under a 5m post if the lantern is overhanging the carriageway.

You can sue the developer for causing a private nuisance as the constant flood of light is damaging your sleep patterns, thus damaging your health.

One formal letter should see some action!

Anyhoo, what kind of developer puts the main bedroom on the front side of a house (unless it backs on to a landfill site ;) ).

It is actually the guest room but as we have recently moved, it's not been used. Now we have people in it, and you realise how bloody bright it remains at night. This room faces the front and side of the house. Our bedroom and the other three are all OK (although one is affected by a different light but it is further away).

These are not cheap houses, but the developer has since 'merged' with another and therefore their care levels seem pretty damn low. Hence my desire to jump up a ladder and paint the blinkin' thing.

The height is exactly the same as the top of our window. Pretty flippin high though...

Your 1st port of call has to be the developer but there are laws protecting home owners from street lighting as well as security lighting.

My parents have for the moment a building site to the rear of there property, the said builders have errected floodlights that any footbal stadium would be proud of, anyway they shine right through the entire up and downstairs of the house all night.

A lawyer who is a close friend arrived on the site and issued papers stating the lighting was not acceptable (with what ever law stated) 24 hours later the lights have been adjusted so they dont hit the rear of the property when illuminated ( Job done)

You could always use one of those air operated "light switches" to turn the light off. The .177 or .22 ones can be particularly effective... ;)

It's a "Private Nuisance" and with legal support you can sue for damages! ;)

just get a long reach chemical sprayer, get as high up on the ladder as you like and use the chemical sprayer to put a bit of black paint on it.

or just spray it from the bedroom window??

I suggest locking the door. They haven't got apposing thumbs so can't grip the handle.

:D Its Friday