Traffic Modules around the world use more than 3 billion kilowatt-hours of electrical energy every year. The energy consumption can be significantly reduced by the use of LED in traffic signal modules that promise to be the best replacement for the traditional traffic modules based on incandescent lamps. Many developed nations have already started to replace the traditional traffic signal modules with the LED signal modules and are enjoying the benefits of LEDs.
LED lights are capable of producing monochromatic lights of some fixed colors such as red, green and yellow. This makes them ideal for the LED traffic signal head or module, where these particular colors are desired for lighting. LED lights are thus able to produce all these colors naturally without needing any filtration through a lens. This makes LED lights works with just 10% of the energy that is required to operate normal incandescent lamps with the same light output.
There is another great reason for using LED in traffic signal modules instead of incandescent lamps. When the weather conditions are not the best, the visibility can often become poor due to the dust. LED module traffic signal offers a brighter light output that makes them very useful in such poor weather conditions. Thus, LED lights come up not only as an energy efficient option but also a safer option.
One of the main factors that prevent users from looking to replace the normal incandescent traffic signal modules with the LED traffic signal module is the initial cost of investment. The price of the LED is significantly higher as compared to the cost of incandescent lamps. If we take the case of a simple traffic signal ball, the LED version of it costs around $70 whereas the incandescent version costs just about $20. Thus, we can see that the cost of a LED in traffic signals can be more than three times as compared to the cost of the normal incandescent traffic signals.
There is always a big question about the time period after which the savings can actually overcome the huge cost of investment. According to an estimate, the total cost of energy consumed and maintenance are three times higher in case of incandescent lamps as compared to the LED lights. The actual cost can vary slightly depending on several factors such as the population, manufacturing industries etc. But, there is no doubt that LED traffic signals modules offer a great replacement to the traditional modules.