Street lights. Are they on a timer or do they have a light sensor?

Answer 1

Both. The ones on your street are have a light sensor. If you notice when the sky gets dark before a thunderstorm they go on. Once the storm has passed they usually go off. In larger areas, like a mall parking lot, the lights are on a timer.

Answer 2

It depends on the traffic density.If there is a high traffic density,they will most likely be timed so that the traffic flow will be even.If the density is low,the lights are sometimes equipped with sensors so that the light will change when it senses a car's presence,so the wait time is shorter. You might have noticed sometimes that there are two wires layed strait across the road connected to a small yellow box.This is a "car counter" that the road crew uses to analyze traffic density. With this information,they determine things like what kind of traffic light sensor or timers to use and the best times of day to do road work according to traffic flow.

Answer 3

Some are timed, some have a light sensor. Most colleges and large facilities that are privately owned are timed since it causes to much of a power strain if they all come on at once like with a light sensor. They are timed to come on at different times a few minutes apart to avoid brown outs and timed to go off at different times to avoid power surges. they really don't make sensors with different light sensor variations so that the lights come on and go off at different times.

Answer 4

most of the lights are timed, only a few have sensors. at least, that is the case in Singapore. but i'm sure other countries do that too.

Hope this helps, Peace.

Answer 5

Both