White LED lighting allows for better facial recognition compared to yellow sodium lamps, using 40-45% less energy. This is because more sodium light is needed to properly see faces. While sodium lamps are more energy efficient, requiring higher lighting levels regardless of color has proven a false economy. Additionally, white light better helps alleviate fear of crime by improving ability to recognize faces from a distance, an important factor in personal safety.

1. Lights, LED vs LPS
As related to security

2. University of London study
• Key points of the study
• White light versus yellow
• White lighting is twice as good at letting you see the face of
someone else as that from the yellow light from high or low
pressure sodium lamps commonly used to light our streets.
• It can therefore allow the same facial recognition as conventional
sodium lighting while cutting energy use by 40 - 45 per cent. This is
because more sodium light is needed to be able to see other
people’s faces properly in pedestrian areas.
• Previous recommendations on street lighting for pedestrians
required set lighting levels irrespective of the color. This has
resulted in the widespread use of high and low pressure sodium
lamps, due to their greater energy efficiency and long life. But the
information gathered in this study suggests that this is a false
economy.

3. Fear of Crime
• Lighting and the Fear of Crime
• One of the major factors facing people using urban spaces
is the fear of crime, and an important contributing factor in
people’s sense of personal security in town centers at night
is their ability to recognize faces before somebody enters
their ‘personal space.’
• People aged over 45 need 30 per cent more light than
those under that age in order to recognize faces to the
same degree. This may in part explain why the fear of crime
at night time is greater among the elderly.
• Normal standards of lighting, if applied using low or high
pressure sodium lamps, will not provide the necessary level
of lighting to alleviate fear.