PAP town councils go for energy-efficient LED bulbs, motion sensors
Ng Kai Ling Straits Times 19 Aug 10;
HOUSING Board blocks here are on the way to becoming 'greener', with People's Action Party (PAP) town councils banding together to call for a bulk tender for the replacement of light bulbs in their blocks with more energy-efficient ones.
Jurong Town Council led the way with its announcement in May that it was switching to light-emitting diode (LED) lights for the blocks in its jurisdiction.
Aljunied Town Council announced a similar move this month. The first phase of work to replace the bulbs in 167 of its blocks will start this month.
But the town council will still get together with the remaining 12 PAP town councils to call for a joint tender in November for the rest of the more than 500 blocks it looks after.
Marine Parade Town Council chairman Lim Biow Chuan said the joint tender will save money.
He added that the bulb replacement will be done in phases because it will be a massive exercise.
In Tampines, the town council there plans to change the light bulbs scheduled for replacement to LED ones as a first step.
Council chairman Masagos Zulkifli said: 'We're still at the stage of finalising the blocks where the lights will be changed and the total number of lights, but we'll likely do it in two phases.'
Hong Kah Town Council, on the other hand, has already identified the 123 blocks for the first phase of the switch, with the lights in the remaining 150 blocks to be replaced in another two to three phases.
The town council overseeing Ang Mo Kio-Yio Chu Kang will start with 380 blocks.
Jurong Town Council, which has 96 blocks lit by LED lights, is already enjoying significant savings.
Its chairman Halimah Yacob said PUB bills for the completed blocks have shown an average savings of 28 to 40 per cent.
The town council estimates that it can save up to $1.13 million in annual utility bills when the bulb replacement exercise is completed in all 588 blocks by the end of the year.
In Jurong and Aljunied, the cost of the bulb replacements will be covered by the savings in electrical bills over a period of five years.
The blocks in Aljunied will not just be energy-saving, but will also have motion sensors.
Lights in staircase landings, for example, will dim when there is no traffic. When someone uses the stairs, the lights will brighten.
In dim mode, the lights reduce energy use by more than 60 per cent, with each bulb using four watts. When the bulb glows brightly, it uses 12 watts.
Aljunied Town Council chairman Cynthia Phua said the motion-sensor lights will be installed in the staircases of blocks where the lifts stop on every floor. This is because the staircases are rarely used, with residents taking the lift straight to their respective floors.
Residents in the one test block in Lorong Ah Soo said they have not noticed that the staircase lights are any dimmer.
LED lights use half the energy of fluorescent ones. They also last four times longer, and will work for about 10 years.
The downside is that they are more expensive. Those used in Aljunied's 167 blocks cost $80 each, twice that of fluorescent lights.
But despite this, each block can save about $4,000 a year, said Madam Phua.
Housewife Jennifer Heng, 45, who lives in the test block in Lorong Ah Soo, said: 'The new lights are much brighter and nicer. I use energy-saving lights at home too. So it's good that the lights outside are also energy-saving.'
Madam Phua, who is also an MP for Aljunied GRC, said the installation of LED lights for the 167 blocks will start in about two weeks and be completed by October. 'We will monitor the situation and analyse the savings before joining the other town councils in the bulk tender for our next phase,' she added.
