Overall it took two hours to install the wires, two days to attach the wall fasteners and 10 hours to string up the 260 metres of lighting housing 289 LED bulbs.

While a number of designs were examined, General Manager of Shead and Nicholson Phill Gale said the final layout of the lights was chosen as it gave them a floating effect.

“We’re not taking the lights right up to the buildings – we’re stopping it at the verandahs so that of a night it will give the lights the effect of floating,” Mr Gale said.

Mr Gale said the project has been in the pipeline for a number of years.

“Des and Kerry started talking about it since 2006,” Mr Gale said, adding this was when they first started investigating the project and preparing quotes.

The bulbs chosen are Tokistar LED bulbs, which are made in the United States.

Mr Gale said the bulbs will be on for six hours, seven nights a week with an estimated life-span of 22 years.

The 48 watt bulbs are cost effective, costing only 0.9 cents per hour to run which is equivalent to 27 cents per hour to run the whole street.

The Tokistar LED lights have an estimated life-span of 50 thousand hours, which Mr Gale said compared favourably against the other option presented to Council which was Zennon lights.

The Zennon lights cost 50 cents per hour to run and only had an estimated life-span of 10 thousand hours.

Templar Street saw the lights turned on for the first time on Wednesday evening just before 8pm.

Rick Hall of Shead and Nicholson said the new lights run on a photo electric cell, the same as streetlights, and will turn on each evening when it gets dark.