The first electric streetlights, Yablochkov Candles, were used in 1878 in Paris and soon spread to the United States. The gas lights were fueled with coal gas and maintained by lamplighters, men who would attend to each gas streetlight. The lamplighters would have to tend to each light daily. The world of street lighting has come a long way since the late 1800’s. Over time more efficient, long-lasting, and brighter lights have been implemented. 

Alloway Electric has been working hard with the City of Boise, retrofitting its streetlights over the past three years. In 2018 Alloway retrofitted 675 streetlights, in 2019 we finished 705 and we are scheduled to do 719 in 2020. We have been changing out, or retrofitting standard high-pressure sodium fixtures for LED fixtures. It decreases the power usage from 100 watts to 40 watts in each fixture. Boise’s bigger and busier roads have seen a decrease from 400 watts to 146 watts. The new LED fixtures also decrease maintenance without the need to change bad lamps every few years. 

During each streetlight installation Alloway Electric’s team does a full assessment of each streetlight including the integrity of the pole and the presence of all-important safety and protective items. The retrofits improve light distribution with LED, eliminating the “hotspots” associated with High-Intensity Discharge (HID) fixtures. 

Streetlights play an essential role in Boise’s night life, allowing pedestrians and drivers a brighter pathway. Alloway Electric is proud to be helping with the betterment of our community. With all of these changes, our team makes sure to recycle and properly dispose of all materials that are removed to keep Boise the wonderful place that it is.