Why do so many city stores stay illuminated even when closed? (From Oxford Mail)

Ms Pitson described the lights being left on as a “shocking waste”. .....




What has it got to do with you how anybody spends their money. All of the lights left on contribute £millions to the ecomony all over the country every year in utility bills. Best you get back to your knittting love, and leave business to the businessmen (and ladies). P.S. Driving past the White and Red during the early hours I have noticed illumination coming from both, maybe you should start closer to home.

Perhaps the lights are left on so companies aren't sued by burglars having accidents whilst 'working' in unsafe conditions.

Sid Hunt wrote:
Perhaps the lights are left on so companies aren't sued by burglars having accidents whilst 'working' in unsafe conditions.

That is why the multi-storey car park lights are left on all night. Much cheaper than law suit.

Imagine walking through the centre of Oxford at night if many of the commercial businesses *didn't* offer consumers the benefit of courtesy lighting. It is quite comforting having a bit of general lighting when you're waiting for a bus on a dark night.

Pierre My wrote:
Ms Pitson described the lights being left on as a “shocking waste”. .....




What has it got to do with you how anybody spends their money. All of the lights left on contribute £millions to the ecomony all over the country every year in utility bills. Best you get back to your knittting love, and leave business to the businessmen (and ladies). P.S. Driving past the White and Red during the early hours I have noticed illumination coming from both, maybe you should start closer to home.

Your argument applies to any economic activity. For instance cancer, and its treatment, contributes millions to the economy every year but this does not make it desirable.
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Best you stick with your ranting on the internet love and leave decisions to other people.

Floflo wrote:

Pierre My wrote: Ms Pitson described the lights being left on as a “shocking waste”. ..... What has it got to do with you how anybody spends their money. All of the lights left on contribute £millions to the ecomony all over the country every year in utility bills. Best you get back to your knittting love, and leave business to the businessmen (and ladies). P.S. Driving past the White and Red during the early hours I have noticed illumination coming from both, maybe you should start closer to home.

Your argument applies to any economic activity. For instance cancer, and its treatment, contributes millions to the economy every year but this does not make it desirable. . Best you stick with your ranting on the internet love and leave decisions to other people.

AHH little Floey love. Pray tell how a comment on street lighting leads to cancer in one easy move. My argument is not about any economic activity, but about what right some old biddy has to tell others how they spend their money. It is a bit early you know, the sun is not even over the yard arm yet.

@ Pierre - read my post again and you may understand it better. To help you understand I'll rephrase - leaving lights on may 'contribute £millions to the ecomony' - but this is not necessary a good thing, as my example should have illustrated to you.
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And if 'contribute £millions to the ecomony' has nothing to do with your argument why mention it?

Ok,Ok!!. This is not a bitchfest. Although my personal agreement goes on Pierre's comment. I think their are more pressing issues in this climate today than ''which shops leave their lights on at night''. Lets hope that a new vendor for the Ex-Borders shop is found soon to employ not only those who lost their jobs at Borders but also more besides. I would suggest that it is nothing more than an old dear as usual with to much time on her hands. Maybe she should climb to the top of Didcot power station and protest there instead of boring everyone with such dire opinions.. rock on OAP eco warriors!! lol

my o my i covered this weeks ago on the oxford flickr group. Why are you lot so late with the news. You need better reporters who are out there.

Floflo wrote:
@ Pierre - read my post again and you may understand it better. To help you understand I'll rephrase - leaving lights on may 'contribute £millions to the ecomony' - but this is not necessary a good thing, as my example should have illustrated to you. . And if 'contribute £millions to the ecomony' has nothing to do with your argument why mention it?

Sorry Floey luv. I should have elaborated, I only mentioned the money thing to counteract the old biddys argument that by leaving the lights on they are destroying the Earth. And I don't understand your point about cancer, are you saying that all sufferers should die so that money can be saved. Cancer is a fact of life, and if it contributes to the economy (although sad for the inflicted) it must be beneficial for some. As my local pastor says, "god works in strange ways"

1) Mr Goodall, Green Party candidate for Oxford West: "Borders could be boarded up and the lights turned off.” And give everyone the opportunity to moan about a shopfront that size covered in boards? That'd be nice. I'm pretty sure the landlords and administrators would rather find new tenants for the property as soon as possible, as the site is costing them money at the moment. Speaking of which:
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2) I'd imagine that leaving the lights on and windows un-boarded deters squatters and vandals somewhat. Leaving the store lit will allow passers-by to see any unusual activity in the store (at least on the ground floor).
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3) "Climate change campaigner Chris Goodall has estimated the shop could be pumping out as much as a tonne of carbon dioxide a week." Comparison please? How much did the store produce when it was operating? How much does the average house produce? Is there any evidence for Mr Goodall's calculation? The words "could" and "as much as" are vague at best. If you want to report the figures, please calculate them first.
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4) And yes, as long as the electricity bill's being paid they can technically burn as much energy as they want. As can I. As can you. It's not necessarily right, but that's the way it is. Perhaps the organisations named in the article could petition the utility company to turn off the site's electricity? But then perhaps the utility company would refuse as they have no reason to do so, as long as the bills are paid.
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5) The only "shame" about this whole scenario (imho) is that we've lost a great store, the people working there lost their jobs, and there's now a huge unit in central Oxford sitting empty.

HarryBo wrote:
1) Mr Goodall, Green Party candidate for Oxford West: "Borders could be boarded up and the lights turned off.” And give everyone the opportunity to moan about a shopfront that size covered in boards? That'd be nice. I'm pretty sure the landlords and administrators would rather find new tenants for the property as soon as possible, as the site is costing them money at the moment. Speaking of which: . 2) I'd imagine that leaving the lights on and windows un-boarded deters squatters and vandals somewhat. Leaving the store lit will allow passers-by to see any unusual activity in the store (at least on the ground floor). . 3) "Climate change campaigner Chris Goodall has estimated the shop could be pumping out as much as a tonne of carbon dioxide a week." Comparison please? How much did the store produce when it was operating? How much does the average house produce? Is there any evidence for Mr Goodall's calculation? The words "could" and "as much as" are vague at best. If you want to report the figures, please calculate them first. . 4) And yes, as long as the electricity bill's being paid they can technically burn as much energy as they want. As can I. As can you. It's not necessarily right, but that's the way it is. Perhaps the organisations named in the article could petition the utility company to turn off the site's electricity? But then perhaps the utility company would refuse as they have no reason to do so, as long as the bills are paid. . 5) The only "shame" about this whole scenario (imho) is that we've lost a great store, the people working there lost their jobs, and there's now a huge unit in central Oxford sitting empty.

hear-hear

I suspect many of the lights are left on because the shop keepers are worried about burglars. I used to always leave my lights on which is not very cheap, (especially as over 90 of the light fittings don't take modern echo bulbs), to try and give the feeling that there was at least a couple of the staff on the premises, but even so it could be believable that they were in one wing or another. There is though a very simple solution: timers. You can set the lights to come on and go off with nobody in the building. But people looking in from the outside don't know this. Sadly it's not stopped the staff stealing trinkets to sell on this internet eBay thing.