antisocial lighting

Just having a rant about people on campsites who have excessively bright exterior lights and leave them on at night when they're sitting inside the van, or worse still when they've gone to bed.

Earlier this year in Scotland I was pleased to see that some of the site wardens have installed covers over the lights on the site power bollards, in support of the "dark skies" initiatives in areas like the Galloway Forest. It's a shame when people staying on site undermine that - though in fairness many people come from a town background where lack of night-time lighting seems strange!

JandJ wrote:Just having a rant about people on campsites who have excessively bright exterior lights and leave them on at night when they're sitting inside the van, or worse still when they've gone to bed.

I agree totally but...plead guilty as well sometimes. Not deliberately left on but forgotten after a visit to the bins or whatever after dark. Our switch is behind the hook on which coats etc hang so not immediately visible.

Next morning we feel very guilty and would have welcomed someone knocking on the door the previous night to remind us.

My bug bear is those kite thingies on poles that russle when the wind blows. Annoying enough during the day. Infuriating at night.

Not just a problem on campsites. 
Here in the East Neuk with mainly sea around us it's a great spot for stargazing, watching meteor showers and viewing the Milky Way, but our dark garden is often virtually floodlit thanks to neighbours' external wall lights, some of which seem to be left on all night. Probably think it's OK if they're low energy bulbs!

It's not just me then ;-)

round here (Notts/Derbys border) the street lights switch off at midnight and we and the neighbours are too mean to waste energy on outside lighting!
So it's great for late night star gazing or falling over things coming back from the pub!!

The site we were on near Staithes had very little lighting on after dark. The only lit bollards were at the back of the three serviced pitches. Mostly hidden by trees or the units parked in front of them.
When I walked mutely at bed time I managed to get as far as the site office before I triggered the only security light.
We were at the top of the site with views across the moors. The only lights were LED,s on the tow bars of the caravans I presume for safety but not high enough to spoil the night sky views.
The opposite being a site we use near Pickering. The static caravans there were competing with Blackpool with lots of coloured LED,s around the awnings and in the flower beds. Very pretty but a lot of the caravans were unoccupied during the week. Presumably the lights are solar powered and triggered as it went dark.
Our outside light is quite opaque due to age only giving enough light to find the step so I don’t think it would spoil the dark sky views.

One of the main problems of bright lights outside vans is down to AutoSleepers design team.   The location of the outside light switch on Warwick Duos' lends itself to get knocked on when passed.  
I think if a little more thought went into design or designers actually used motorhomes things would improve

Ah, me too, Roli. The number of times I’ve bumped that switch……

I'm not the only one then,
Boaby

And me !

One of our neighbours opposite has a floodlight set to cover his drive, only it also shines straight into one of our kitchen windows. It has a movement sensor and if it's windy it switches on and off all the time. It's especially annoying first thing on dark mornings as I'm filling the kettle and get blinded by the darn thing. We find that there's no need for a floodlight, just an ornamental fitting, like this https://www.lyco.co.uk/konstsmide-nemi-globe-outdoor-wall-light.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping&customer_tax_visibility=2&gclid=Cj0KCQjwuNbsBRC-ARIsAAzITucYLlv68zJYEOWH8YeSpQF1c8eOKFT8nuew-5Kr-PFRxn4PO9UCrdsaAqVtEALw_wcB with a 100W bulb on a sensor switch lights our drive and doesn't dazzle anyone. Floodlights aren't exactly decorative either