I will be mounting this externally in view of the neighbor's house on
a seasonal cottage. I make few trips there in the winter, but would
like to have the neighbor (all year round resident) be easily able to
tell me if my power is off. (He has a phone, there is none at the
cottage.)
What should I use, neon, led,etc? It needs to be wall mountable,
and be easily seen, though it need not be very bright or large.
Suggestions appreciated. I just want to be sure it has a long
life so a burnt-out bulb won't be confused with no power.
Thanks in advance.
Frank

On Apr 27, 9:58*pm, frank1492 wrote:
I will be mounting this externally in view of the neighbor's house on
a seasonal cottage. I make few trips there in the winter, *but would
like to have the neighbor (all year round resident) be easily able to
tell me if my power is off. (He has a phone, there is none at the
cottage.)
* * What should I use, neon, led,etc? It needs to be wall mountable,
and be easily seen, though it need not be very bright or large.
* * Suggestions appreciated. I just want to be sure it has a long
life so a burnt-out bulb won't be confused with no power.
* * Thanks in advance.
* * * * *Frank

I use a yellow CFL bug light on my back porch as a security light. It
burns 24/7 and lasts about 2 1/2 years before replacement.

KC

frank1492 wrote:
I will be mounting this externally in view of the neighbor's house on
a seasonal cottage. I make few trips there in the winter, but would
like to have the neighbor (all year round resident) be easily able to
tell me if my power is off. (He has a phone, there is none at the
cottage.)
What should I use, neon, led,etc? It needs to be wall mountable,
and be easily seen, though it need not be very bright or large.
Suggestions appreciated. I just want to be sure it has a long
life so a burnt-out bulb won't be confused with no power.
Thanks in advance.
Frank
Well, you could do like the aircraft warning lights on radio towers.
Install 2 bulbs of your choice. Chances of both failing same time are low.

On 4/27/2009 7:58 PM frank1492 spake thus:

I will be mounting this externally in view of the neighbor's house on
a seasonal cottage. I make few trips there in the winter, but would
like to have the neighbor (all year round resident) be easily able to
tell me if my power is off. (He has a phone, there is none at the
cottage.)
What should I use, neon, led,etc? It needs to be wall mountable,
and be easily seen, though it need not be very bright or large.
Suggestions appreciated. I just want to be sure it has a long
life so a burnt-out bulb won't be confused with no power.

Since bulb longevity is paramount, here's an idea: one of the
longest-lasting type of bulbs is an ordinary incandescent bulb, operated
well below its rated voltage. (They say that some of Edison's original
bulbs are still burning to this day.)

All you need to do is rig up an incandescent bulb to run on less than
full power. You could use a series resistor to lower the voltage, or you
could try running two 120-volt bulbs in series. They'd probably last
forever that way.


--
Save the Planet
Kill Yourself

- motto of the Church of Euthanasia (http://www.churchofeuthanasia.org/)

frank1492 wrote:
I will be mounting this externally in view of the neighbor's house on
a seasonal cottage. I make few trips there in the winter, but would
like to have the neighbor (all year round resident) be easily able to
tell me if my power is off. (He has a phone, there is none at the
cottage.)
What should I use, neon, led,etc? It needs to be wall mountable,
and be easily seen, though it need not be very bright or large.
Suggestions appreciated. I just want to be sure it has a long
life so a burnt-out bulb won't be confused with no power.
Thanks in advance.
Frank
Hi,
You two have different power feed line?
I'd try high intensity LED of your color choice in a smal enclosure.
They are very bright and lasts LONG time using VERY small amount of
power like couple Watts.

Tony Hwang wrote:
frank1492 wrote:
I will be mounting this externally in view of the neighbor's house on
a seasonal cottage. I make few trips there in the winter, but would
like to have the neighbor (all year round resident) be easily able to
tell me if my power is off. (He has a phone, there is none at the
cottage.)
What should I use, neon, led,etc? It needs to be wall mountable,
and be easily seen, though it need not be very bright or large.
Suggestions appreciated. I just want to be sure it has a long
life so a burnt-out bulb won't be confused with no power.
Thanks in advance.
Frank
Hi,
You two have different power feed line?
I'd try high intensity LED of your color choice in a smal enclosure.
They are very bright and lasts LONG time using VERY small amount of
power like couple Watts.
Hi,
Last week end I was at local HD. Tehy had sale on LED bulbs which uses
2W. Had color choice of white, blue, red and changing multi color.
2 bucks each. I picked up a few.

On Apr 27, 9:58*pm, frank1492 wrote:
I will be mounting this externally in view of the neighbor's house on
a seasonal cottage. I make few trips there in the winter, *but would
like to have the neighbor (all year round resident) be easily able to
tell me if my power is off. (He has a phone, there is none at the
cottage.)
* * What should I use, neon, led,etc? It needs to be wall mountable,
and be easily seen, though it need not be very bright or large.
* * Suggestions appreciated. I just want to be sure it has a long
life so a burnt-out bulb won't be confused with no power.
* * Thanks in advance.
* * * * *Frank

Leds have light directed as a spot and use little power as a directed
spot light source, my 1/4 watt HD $1.50 ledflashlight is bright as a
mini mag light, one 1 watt led can be seen maybe 1 mile, my 1 watt
bicycle led is the brighest bike lite ive seen. With a phone line you
could have a freeze detection dialer. Whith some looking you might get
a Radio Frequency system to warn him of many things, temp, intrusion,
leaks etc.

On Apr 27, 10:58*pm, frank1492 wrote:
I will be mounting this externally in view of the neighbor's house on
a seasonal cottage. I make few trips there in the winter, *but would
like to have the neighbor (all year round resident) be easily able to
tell me if my power is off. (He has a phone, there is none at the
cottage.)
* * What should I use, neon, led,etc? It needs to be wall mountable,
and be easily seen, though it need not be very bright or large.
* * Suggestions appreciated. I just want to be sure it has a long
life so a burnt-out bulb won't be confused with no power.
* * Thanks in advance.
* * * * *Frank

Over time, lights will be ignored.

Put in a relay that is held "off" by the electricity. After a
blackout, when the power comes back on, relay does not reset and that
allows the light circuit to come on. Then the neighbor will notice
that the light is on when it wasn't before. Then hook up your stereo,
too so they can hear the music you are blaring.

On Apr 27, 10:58*pm, frank1492 wrote:
I will be mounting this externally in view of the neighbor's house on
a seasonal cottage. I make few trips there in the winter, *but would
like to have the neighbor (all year round resident) be easily able to
tell me if my power is off. (He has a phone, there is none at the
cottage.)
* * What should I use, neon, led,etc? It needs to be wall mountable,
and be easily seen, though it need not be very bright or large.
* * Suggestions appreciated. I just want to be sure it has a long
life so a burnt-out bulb won't be confused with no power.
* * Thanks in advance.
* * * * *Frank

Essentially you are asking the neighbor to make a daily effort to
remember to check and to notice if the light is out. That way lays
trouble. The neighbor will have some resentment and/or just tune out
the always-on-light.

It would be hard to see that signal bulb during the day anyway. It
makes a lot more sense to have a battery-backed-up alarm and/or phone
dialer.

If you're stuck on your original idea, go with a colored LED bulb.

R

frank1492 wrote:
....
like to have the neighbor (all year round resident) be easily able to
tell me if my power is off. ...

What're the odds yours is off and his isn't?

--

Pat wrote:
On Apr 27, 10:58 pm, frank1492 wrote:
I will be mounting this externally in view of the neighbor's house on
a seasonal cottage. I make few trips there in the winter, but would
like to have the neighbor (all year round resident) be easily able to
tell me if my power is off. (He has a phone, there is none at the
cottage.)
What should I use, neon, led,etc? It needs to be wall mountable,
and be easily seen, though it need not be very bright or large.
Suggestions appreciated. I just want to be sure it has a long
life so a burnt-out bulb won't be confused with no power.
Thanks in advance.
Frank

Over time, lights will be ignored.

Put in a relay that is held "off" by the electricity. After a
blackout, when the power comes back on, relay does not reset and that
allows the light circuit to come on. Then the neighbor will notice
that the light is on when it wasn't before. Then hook up your stereo,
too so they can hear the music you are blaring.

Excellent observation about 'always on' lights being ignored.

Perhaps a battery-operated light that's held OFF by mains power.

What a great list of suggestions! Thanks to all. Hmmm, now which one
to choose???
BTW I wasn't planning to have the neighbor check daily. I would
call them to check just before I was planning to come down.
As for their power being on and mine not, it could happen. I
agree odds wouldn't favor it, but this is a heavily pine-treed area.
Thanks again for all your great ideas. At present (although I
love the novelty of the relay idea) I am favoring an always-on LED of
some sort.
Will check HD.
Frank

On Apr 27, 9:58*pm, frank1492 wrote:
I will be mounting this externally in view of the neighbor's house on
a seasonal cottage. I make few trips there in the winter, *but would
like to have the neighbor (all year round resident) be easily able to
tell me if my power is off. (He has a phone, there is none at the
cottage.)
* * What should I use, neon, led,etc? It needs to be wall mountable,
and be easily seen, though it need not be very bright or large.
* * Suggestions appreciated. I just want to be sure it has a long
life so a burnt-out bulb won't be confused with no power.
* * Thanks in advance.
* * * * *Frank


Why not give the neighbor a break and you call him when the power goes
out, instead of him calling you?

Check out:

http://www.smarthome.com/70050/Sensa...-System/p.aspx

On Mon, 27 Apr 2009 22:58:15 -0400, frank1492
wrote:

I will be mounting this externally in view of the neighbor's house on
a seasonal cottage. I make few trips there in the winter, but would
like to have the neighbor (all year round resident) be easily able to
tell me if my power is off. (He has a phone, there is none at the
cottage.)
What should I use, neon, led,etc? It needs to be wall mountable,
and be easily seen, though it need not be very bright or large.
Suggestions appreciated. I just want to be sure it has a long
life so a burnt-out bulb won't be confused with no power.
Thanks in advance.
Frank
Use a multi-unit LED powered from a wall-wart. (low voltage). If the
LEDs burn out, they go slowly - a few at a time. Use a standard
transport vehicle lamp so replacement down the road is more likely to
be less painfull.

On Mon, 27 Apr 2009 21:41:32 -0700, David Nebenzahl
wrote:

On 4/27/2009 7:58 PM frank1492 spake thus:

I will be mounting this externally in view of the neighbor's house on
a seasonal cottage. I make few trips there in the winter, but would
like to have the neighbor (all year round resident) be easily able to
tell me if my power is off. (He has a phone, there is none at the
cottage.)
What should I use, neon, led,etc? It needs to be wall mountable,
and be easily seen, though it need not be very bright or large.
Suggestions appreciated. I just want to be sure it has a long
life so a burnt-out bulb won't be confused with no power.

Since bulb longevity is paramount, here's an idea: one of the
longest-lasting type of bulbs is an ordinary incandescent bulb, operated
well below its rated voltage. (They say that some of Edison's original
bulbs are still burning to this day.)

All you need to do is rig up an incandescent bulb to run on less than
full power. You could use a series resistor to lower the voltage, or you
could try running two 120-volt bulbs in series. They'd probably last
forever that way.
Or buy 220 volt pilot bulbs- - -. They ARE available for industrial
use (208 actually, I believe, is more common)

wrote:
On Mon, 27 Apr 2009 21:41:32 -0700, David Nebenzahl
wrote:

On 4/27/2009 7:58 PM frank1492 spake thus:

I will be mounting this externally in view of the neighbor's house on
a seasonal cottage. I make few trips there in the winter, but would
like to have the neighbor (all year round resident) be easily able to
tell me if my power is off. (He has a phone, there is none at the
cottage.)
What should I use, neon, led,etc? It needs to be wall mountable,
and be easily seen, though it need not be very bright or large.
Suggestions appreciated. I just want to be sure it has a long
life so a burnt-out bulb won't be confused with no power.
Since bulb longevity is paramount, here's an idea: one of the
longest-lasting type of bulbs is an ordinary incandescent bulb, operated
well below its rated voltage. (They say that some of Edison's original
bulbs are still burning to this day.)

All you need to do is rig up an incandescent bulb to run on less than
full power. You could use a series resistor to lower the voltage, or you
could try running two 120-volt bulbs in series. They'd probably last
forever that way.
Or buy 220 volt pilot bulbs- - -. They ARE available for industrial
use (208 actually, I believe, is more common)

yup, I used to have one as a test light that I got from my grandfather's
stuff... got busted in a move a few years ago It would glow on 120V
and light up bright on 240V

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

On Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:39:51 -0500, dpb wrote:

frank1492 wrote:
...
like to have the neighbor (all year round resident) be easily able to
tell me if my power is off. ...

What're the odds yours is off and his isn't?


Happened at my brother's place. His (cottage/trailer) power went out
and everyone else had power. Some rogue hunter had shot THROUGH the
roadside service/meter panel, and the bullet continued on, through the
siding of the trailer and hit the main buss bar of the service panel
inside. That's what ended up taking out the power. Chances of that
happening? Likely a million to one, at best. But it happened.
His dialer and alarm system are backed up by a UPS with a large bank
of batteries so he was notified. (his alarm blows a large Fiamm
electric air horn which his neighbours for 2 miles in all directions
have no choice but to notice).
It's been a couple of years now with no breakins - seams the
neighbourhood scum have figured out even with the power out they won't
get in - and there are security cameras as well. Not worth the hassle
to try to get in.

On Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:35:22 -0400, jeff_wisnia
wrote:

frank1492 wrote:

What a great list of suggestions! Thanks to all. Hmmm, now which one
to choose???
BTW I wasn't planning to have the neighbor check daily. I would
call them to check just before I was planning to come down.
As for their power being on and mine not, it could happen. I
agree odds wouldn't favor it, but this is a heavily pine-treed area.
Thanks again for all your great ideas. At present (although I
love the novelty of the relay idea) I am favoring an always-on LED of
some sort.
Will check HD.
Frank



Well if that's all you want to do just install a line powered phone
answering machine at your place and call it when you're curious about
the power. If it answers, the power must be on.

That scheme was described in a recent Car Talk "Puzzler".

Jeff
But he has NO PHONE at the cottage.
A Cell dialler perhaps? Assuming he has cell coverage. MANY cottages
do not.

On Tue, 28 Apr 2009 19:24:17 -0500, wrote:

On Mon, 27 Apr 2009 22:58:15 -0400, frank1492
wrote:

I will be mounting this externally in view of the neighbor's house on
a seasonal cottage. I make few trips there in the winter, but would
like to have the neighbor (all year round resident) be easily able to
tell me if my power is off. (He has a phone, there is none at the
cottage.)
What should I use, neon, led,etc? It needs to be wall mountable,
and be easily seen, though it need not be very bright or large.
Suggestions appreciated. I just want to be sure it has a long
life so a burnt-out bulb won't be confused with no power.
Thanks in advance.
Frank

If you want a PILOT LAMP, go to an airport. All the pilots are
there.........


Yea, and some of us aren't too bright!!

Seriously, I'd go with a extra bright LED. Will save electricity and
seldom burn out. Use two if you want to be sure they are lit. If by
chance one does fry, the other will still work.

wrote:
On Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:35:22 -0400, jeff_wisnia
wrote:


frank1492 wrote:


What a great list of suggestions! Thanks to all. Hmmm, now which one
to choose???
BTW I wasn't planning to have the neighbor check daily. I would
call them to check just before I was planning to come down.
As for their power being on and mine not, it could happen. I
agree odds wouldn't favor it, but this is a heavily pine-treed area.
Thanks again for all your great ideas. At present (although I
love the novelty of the relay idea) I am favoring an always-on LED of
some sort.
Will check HD.
Frank



Well if that's all you want to do just install a line powered phone
answering machine at your place and call it when you're curious about
the power. If it answers, the power must be on.

That scheme was described in a recent Car Talk "Puzzler".

Jeff

But he has NO PHONE at the cottage.
A Cell dialler perhaps? Assuming he has cell coverage. MANY cottages
do not.

That "thwock" you may have heard was me giving myself a "dope slap" to
my forehead for missing the fact that the OP doesen't have a phone there.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

On Apr 29, 1:33*am, jeff_wisnia
wrote:
wrote:
On Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:35:22 -0400, jeff_wisnia
wrote:

frank1492 wrote:

What a great list of suggestions! Thanks to all. Hmmm, now which one
to choose???
* * BTW I wasn't planning to have the neighbor check daily. I would
call them to check just before I was planning to come down.
* * As for their power being on and mine not, it could happen. I
agree odds wouldn't favor it, but this is a heavily pine-treed area.
* * Thanks again for all your great ideas. At present (although I
love the novelty of the relay idea) I am favoring an always-on LED of
some sort.
* * Will check HD.
* * * * * Frank

Well if that's all you want to do just install a line powered phone
answering machine at your place and call it when you're curious about
the power. If it answers, the power must be on.

That scheme was described in a recent Car Talk "Puzzler".

Jeff

But he has NO PHONE at the cottage.
A Cell dialler perhaps? Assuming he has cell coverage. MANY cottages
do not.

That "thwock" you may have heard was me giving myself a "dope slap" to
my forehead for missing the fact that the OP doesen't have a phone there.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

If not LED use two 115 volt bulbs in series. Or use a 230 volt bulb on
115 volts.
Also myself and neighbour use a radio frequency baby monitor to
'listen' to the other's house when either of us are away.
If/when our intrusion alarm or smoke alarm were to go off the other
family will hear it immediately and investigate, We exchange keys and
keep an eye on each other's property, have done for years. Couldn't
ask for better neighbours although we rarely if ever socialize or
attend same church.

Tony Hwang wrote:

Last week end I was at local HD. Tehy had sale on LED bulbs which uses
2W. Had color choice of white, blue, red and changing multi color.
2 bucks each. I picked up a few.

An SKU or manufacturer part number please?

Our local HD only had a 2 fer $4.95 three led nightlight
bulb replacement. The help can only find stuff if we can
give them a number, the manager said it might be in the new
lighting department re-do in scheduled for June.

thanks

-- larry/dallas

On Apr 27, 10:58*pm, frank1492 wrote:
I will be mounting this externally in view of the neighbor's house on
a seasonal cottage. I make few trips there in the winter, *but would
like to have the neighbor (all year round resident) be easily able to
tell me if my power is off. (He has a phone, there is none at the
cottage.)
* * What should I use, neon, led,etc? It needs to be wall mountable,
and be easily seen, though it need not be very bright or large.
* * Suggestions appreciated. I just want to be sure it has a long
life so a burnt-out bulb won't be confused with no power.
* * Thanks in advance.
* * * * *Frank

There are LED lamps that just screw into a regular 120 vac Edison
Socket. I saw some the other day for about $8USD. Just screw into your
porch light socket. They use about 1 watt and there light output is
the equivalent to a 20 watt incandescent bulb.

Jimmie

On Apr 28, 10:20*am, "HeyBub" wrote:
Pat wrote:
On Apr 27, 10:58 pm, frank1492 wrote:
I will be mounting this externally in view of the neighbor's house on
a seasonal cottage. I make few trips there in the winter, but would
like to have the neighbor (all year round resident) be easily able to
tell me if my power is off. (He has a phone, there is none at the
cottage.)
What should I use, neon, led,etc? It needs to be wall mountable,
and be easily seen, though it need not be very bright or large.
Suggestions appreciated. I just want to be sure it has a long
life so a burnt-out bulb won't be confused with no power.
Thanks in advance.
Frank

Over time, lights will be ignored.

Put in a relay that is held "off" by the electricity. *After a
blackout, when the power comes back on, relay does not reset and that
allows the light circuit to come on. *Then the neighbor will notice
that the light is on when it wasn't before. *Then hook up your stereo,
too so they can hear the music you are blaring.

Excellent observation about 'always on' lights being ignored.

Perhaps a battery-operated light that's held OFF by mains power.

You're right. I just quickly googled and found this. Plug in
something like this and aim 1 light right at the neighbor so it won't
be missed if it comes on.

http://www.webstaurantstore.com/emer...0%20%20WH.html

Alarms work better when they come "on" in a problem. That's why the
bank's alarm rings when it is robbed. It doesn't ring all of the time
except to go quiet in a robbery. Same for alarm clocks, bus flashers,
etc. etc.

In ,
JIMMIE wrote:

On Apr 27, 10:58*pm, frank1492 wrote:
I will be mounting this externally in view of the neighbor's house on
a seasonal cottage. I make few trips there in the winter, *but would
like to have the neighbor (all year round resident) be easily able to
tell me if my power is off. (He has a phone, there is none at the
cottage.)
* * What should I use, neon, led,etc? It needs to be wall mountable,
and be easily seen, though it need not be very bright or large.
* * Suggestions appreciated. I just want to be sure it has a long
life so a burnt-out bulb won't be confused with no power.
* * Thanks in advance.
* * * * *Frank

There are LED lamps that just screw into a regular 120 vac Edison
Socket. I saw some the other day for about $8USD. Just screw into your
porch light socket. They use about 1 watt and there light output is
the equivalent to a 20 watt incandescent bulb.

A 25 watt incandescent produces 180-230 lumens, and a 15 watt one
produces usually 100-120 lumens. I have yet to see any LED lamps on the
market achieving this sort of light output with one watt, though I have
seen a lot of claims that I find hard to believe.

===================================

Many white LEDs fade at a significant rate with use. Some better high
power ones will fade by only 30% in 50,000 hours if they are kept
sufficiently cool. Many low power white LEDs will fade 30% or more in
6,000-10,000 hours. I have known one white LED nightlight to fade by
about half in about 4,000-4,500 operating hours.

Most red, orange, amberish-yellow, green, blue-green and blue LEDs have
good prospect of lasting the 100,000 hours that is widely claimed for life
expectancy of LEDs, as long as they are not overdriven and not allowed to
overheat.

UV, violet, purple, pink, pastel, and "phosphor yellow"
(generally less orangish than "school bus yellow", sometimes a hair
greenish) tend to have issues affecting life expectancy - expect 50,000
hours or less from most of these. Many UV ones with epoxy or plastic
bodies have UV output fading significantly in mere hundreds of hours at
"full power", and many similar violet ones fade significantly in several
hundred to a couple thousand hours. Many UV and violet ones with
all-inorganic construction are only rated to last 50,000 hours.

Pink, lavendar/purple and other colors depending on phosphors will
likely last 50,000 hours optimistically, maybe merely 6,000-10,000 hours.

===================================

The 3-LED "C7" Feit Electric unit appears to me likely to last the claimed
50,000 hours or at least get a majority of the way there despite having
white low power LEDs. The LEDs in that unit are operated at highly reduced
current, maybe about 3.3-3.4 milliamps, about 16.5-17% of the usual 20
milliamp "characterizing current" of most low power LEDs where life
expectancy is maybe 6,000-10,000 hours when doing well. 3.3-3.4 milliamps
is about 11% of the rated maximum current of most of such LEDs.

The LED nightlight that I found to fade by about half in about 4,000
hours has the LEDs passing current close to 30 mA.

- Don Klipstein )

"jeff_wisnia" wrote:

According to this site Shelby was manufacturing bulbs before Edison did:

http://www.centennialbulb.org/index.htm

Edison was a two-bit hack; his fame came from marketing other people's
inventions and taking credit for them as his own.

Jon

On Mon 27 Apr 2009 07:58:15p, frank1492 told us...

I will be mounting this externally in view of the neighbor's house on
a seasonal cottage. I make few trips there in the winter, but would
like to have the neighbor (all year round resident) be easily able to
tell me if my power is off. (He has a phone, there is none at the
cottage.)
What should I use, neon, led,etc? It needs to be wall mountable,
and be easily seen, though it need not be very bright or large.
Suggestions appreciated. I just want to be sure it has a long
life so a burnt-out bulb won't be confused with no power.
Thanks in advance.
Frank


A virtually foolproof solution would be to use a 2-bulb fixture and wire
the two sockets in series. Use 2 60-watt bulbs. They will last almost
indefinitely and provide sufficient light to be visible to the neighbor.

--
Wayne Boatwright
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oil and potatoes both grow underground so french fries may have
eventually produced themselves, had they not been invented. ~A.J.
Esther