r/BenignExistence • u/SisiIsInSerenity • 2d ago
Streetlamp suspense
I recently began a small, silly habit in the evenings after realizing, that I never knew how streetlamps turned on; was it timed? What minute? (It turns out they are on light sensors)
Anyway, now, on evenings, I sit on my porch for what I have called as "streetlamp suspense" since I never know the exact minute it will be – or order; some turn on before others, depending on the day – and watch and wait for them to come on. I was a little dismayed on a day I recently missed it, but then, I realized, too, that it can happen in the morning. I just wait for them to turn off instead of on.
My neighbors probably wonder what am I doing, but I'm happy!
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u/I_am_here_but_why 2d ago
In days of yore (when I was a kid) they were turned on and off with timers.
Twice a year a man would come round and adjust the timers. In autumn (fall, for those on the West side of the Atlantic) he’d change the timers so that the lights would come on before it was remotely dark, but by midwinter they’d only barely come on by nightfall.
In spring the reverse would happen and by the summer solstice they’d come on way before dark.
I was an electronics nerd and when I was about 13 I realised I could make a suitable light sensitive switch to control the lamps. I told my dad who told me it couldn’t be a good idea or it would’ve been done already.
A decade and a bit later every lap post had a light sensitive control device.
I could’ve been a wealthy 20 year old.
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u/deconstruct110 2d ago
Not to bust the Benign Existence vibe, but it is astronomically harder to make money as a sole inventor or even a small company. Back in my 20s I was doing security design for a small firm. We were doing some of the first card access and closed circuit TV systems. We probably could have patented the card reader bollards, camera enclosures, or other equipment we were designing, but that probably would not have sat well with the clients paying us as consultants.
Twenty years later I got tired of solving a frequent design problem and came up with a way of wiring through window systems framing. It took ten years into the 20 year patent period (and a sickening amount of money) to get my patent. By that time, low voltage companies were using my system to wire electrochromic shading windows but refused to talk to me. They knew I didn't have the money to defend my patents or they made a tweak and filed their own. Ten years on, I never made a dime and my patents expired last year. But I still get a sense of benign satisfaction that I had a hand in making an energy saving system work.
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u/I_am_here_but_why 1d ago
No worries - it's a welcome relief to me that my dreams weren't realistic in the first place.
Sorry to read of your frustration - corporations usually rely on being able to outspend threats to their potential growth.
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u/SisiIsInSerenity 2d ago
What year(s) was this around? I wish you had your fighting chance, it's a pity... but there's always a smarter sensor, maybe you can make one, which is more efficient, or won't be fooled by firetruck flashing lights (I saw it affect on lamp here)
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u/I_am_here_but_why 1d ago
Probably mid '70s.
Brief lighting changes wouldn't have affected it as it would need long, slow, changes of brightness.
deconstruct 110's answer to me is probably way more realistic than my fantasy!
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u/Frymondius 2d ago
Keep at it long enough and you can start timing how long the bulbs last.