By Corey Everitt
While the fate of the last original lamps of Heritage Springs is being decided by the council, Pakenham residents have been tinkering away in a shed where they have successfully installed a LED globe to an original lamp in what they say was a ‘quick and easy job’.
Cardinia Shire Council prompted outrage from Heritage Springs residents a few months ago after replacing the original custom light fittings of the estate to install new LED lights.
The affair provoked Cr Collin Ross to successfully put an immediate halt to the removal and command council officers to find a solution to retain those left within the eastern side of the estate.
While AusNet is reportedly exploring a globe that could be retrofitted to the original, which has not received official approval for use yet, Pakenham resident Henk Heeremans wants to show that the retrofit is not only possible but ‘simple and quick’.
Alongside friends Bill Ronald who retained some of the removed lamps, and Edward Dingle who provided advice on a suitable globe, an LED light was successfully installed on one of the original fittings.
“A simple and quick job of changing the light globes was all that was needed, not the complete removal of the lamps,” Mr Heeremans said.
“It has now been clearly demonstrated in glowing terms how easy this procedure would be. This is the correct LED globe for the lamp.
“All that is needed is to simply disconnect the ballast wire from the original lamp before changing the globes.”
Mr Dingle is an electrical technician with a background in the military, he advised on the type of globe to use which is a Phillips 18W LED globe that produces 3000 lumen and has a lifespan of 25,000 hours.
The globe was bought over the counter in Bayswater by Mr Heeramans at the cost of $89.55 and is available at stores in Pakenham. It includes fitting instructions which are based on replacing sodium lamps in street lamps.
“This globe came with fitting instructions which were dated October 2019, which shows it has been available world-wide for a long time, so this puts an end to the mountain of misinformation the Cardinia Shire Council and the electricity company have been misleading the councillors within saying that the original globes couldn’t be replaced by LED globes,” Mr Heeremans said.
Residents also question what the council has done with the 375 original fittings.
It was reported that a recent auction in Kyneton saw three original Melbourne street lamps sold for approximately $1700 each.
Though the Heritage Springs lamps are only about 20 years old they were custom-made in the likeness of Melbourne’s old lamps and are reportedly estimated at a value of $1000 each.
A spokesperson for electricity provider AusNet said the process of determining a potential new LED globe is still ongoing.
“AusNet is currently undertaking a review of the most appropriate light globes to be used in the bulk globe change program. This is being done in consultation with the Cardinia Shire Council,” they said.
“In the meantime, if any globes need replacing due to fault or age, they will be replaced with the existing Mercury Vapor Globes we currently have on stock.
“In the longer term we will look at the other LED globes to determine the most energy efficient options.”
