I live on a county road where the street lights are few and far between. My street is absolutely pitch black at night, and I'd like to install a sodium light on the power pole that borders my property on the street side. I'm assuming that these are fairly efficient, since they are used everywhere, and as such, would like one in my back yard on my shop, too. My questions are:

1. How should I go about getting the county to put a light on the pole on the street?

2. Is this style of lamp the most efficient way of lighting my back yard as a "Night Light?" I'm not looking for massive illumination, but I'd like to be able to see if someone was in my back yard without having to turn on the outside house lights.

Check with your power company. Many offer lights as you describe for a set monthly fee (you pay).

Mikee,
Are there many accidents on this road or dangerous curves and/or warning signs? If so I would check with your DMV office and get the accidents for the last year. They should be a matter of public record. You should also get letters from your neighbors stating that a light is needed for the safety of all concerned.Any eveidence you can provide is critical. Even crime statistics will help.

As for lighting your back yard. HID lighting is about as efficient as you can get for outside lighting. The problems are that they can be expensive to replace parts. I know that expense is a relative thing too. They are slow to get to full brightness. And the Ballast can hum very loudly at times.
HPS lights are orange and changes the colors of objects that are illuminated. If this doesn't bother you then go for it. Substitutions could be Mercury Vapor which is a truer color light with generally less light output per Watt (Used mainly for landscape lighting because it shows the green of the plants best.) or Metal Halide which is a white light. All use roughly the same amount of energy and all are good choices for outdoor lighting.
Hope this helps.

U.S.M.C. Semper Fi !!!

The local power company will normally install lighting for a fairly low monthly fee. Its kind of like leasing light where the county does not install, own or maintain the lights. Call your electric company to ask first. Usually available for less than $10/month.

This might seem an unusual response, but what the heck:

What you currently enjoy is actually (I believe) an ENVIABLE commodity!

Unless there's a genuine safety concern, consider enjoying the Milky Way. Fewer and fewer of us can see it anymore.

And yes, there's that monthly fee for a streetlight, too. One more expense...

Regards,
-k2 in CO

Moderator, Miscellaneous Forum

http://www.bobvila.com/BBS/Miscellaneous

Thanks for all of the responses, everyone.

Tperez, there is no real justification for the light, other than me not wanting to come home to a pitch black driveway. As it stands, this project is on the back burner due to a rotted floor in the bathroom. I'll revisit this, along with the backyard light light later.

"other than me not wanting to come home to a pitch black driveway"

See if you can't find a location on your property where you can install a motion detector light, pointing at the entrance to your driveway. That may solve your problem, and the light is only on for the few minutes when someone arrives, rather than burning all night.

That's what I did for my mother on her farm, and she is very happy with it. (Though it did take several days of adjusting the trigger point to get it to turn on at the place she wanted.)