What is Pavement light?
{{uncat|date=March 2025}} [[File:Hyatt_patent_basement_extension.gif|alt=Cross-section of a road and adjacent building, showing the basement extending under the sidewalk and part of the road. Sunlight is shining through the sidewalk into the basement.|thumb|On top, people could walk on the sidewalk, but pavement lights let light go into the room below.]] [[File:Sidewalkprisms.jpg|alt=view down onto a sidewalk with vault lights; a slab of concrete with a regular grid of inset squares of slightly domed purple glass. Within each square, faint vertical lines can be seen through the glass, and points of light shining up through the glass are duplicated in horizontal lines of three points of light. Some yellow leaves have fallen on the damp concrete.|thumb|Colored pavement lights from above.]] '''Pavement lights '''are usually put into [[sidewalk]]s or floors to let [[sunlight]] into a room below it. They are sometimes called vault lights or sidewalk prisms. They were much used in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when [[Light bulb|electric lighting]] was very expensive. Some cities are removing these lights, but others are keeping and [[Restoration|restoring]] them. == Uses == Pavement lights give sunlight into the [[basement]]s below it during the day, and the basement gives light to the sidewalk from below during the night.<ref name=victoria /> These lights are meant to make basements more useful in [[cities]] and places where space is scarce.<ref name=recon /> In places with high [[rent]], these lights may make an area look better, which helps [[landlord]]s make more money. People with these lights can also save on [[electricity]] during the day, because the lights are clear like a window, where sunlight can go through.<ref name=handbook /> Many years ago, pavement lights were [[Advertising|advertised]] as a way of saving on electricity costs and making places look better.<ref name=handbook /> Today's science has proven that they were right.<ref name=DoD /> Pavement lights are also used in floors with glass