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UK diy (uk.d-i-y) For the discussion of all topics related to diy (do-it-yourself) in the UK. All levels of experience and proficency are welcome to join in to ask questions or offer solutions. |
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#1
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solar garden lights
Can anyone reccoment some solar garden lights that actually do give
off some light,i bought some cheapies from buy and queue and i should have just set fire to a tenner and saved the journey,i dont mind forking out for some good quality as it is a lot easier than laying cable etc,thanks folks |
#2
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solar garden lights
leedsbob wrote:
Can anyone reccoment some solar garden lights that actually do give off some light, ? If its dark, and you need lights, it doesn't seem that solar energy will be available.. i bought some cheapies from buy and queue and i should have just set fire to a tenner and saved the journey,i dont mind forking out for some good quality as it is a lot easier than laying cable etc,thanks folks Well that goes for solar just about anything. If you are cruising in the carribean, maybe there is enough to charge the emergency radio batteries, but in the UK in winter? forget it. A couple of watts a square meter if you are lucky. |
#3
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solar garden lights
"leedsbob" wrote in message ... Can anyone reccoment some solar garden lights that actually do give off some light,i bought some cheapies from buy and queue and i should have just set fire to a tenner and saved the journey,i dont mind forking out for some good quality as it is a lot easier than laying cable etc,thanks folks The ones we use - and all the ones we've had from different sources - don't light other objects - but that's not what they're for. They're for marking routes and hazards such as paths and kerbs. In our case they mark the position of guy ropes on tents and caravan awnings to prevent people tripping over them and they do an excellent job. We also use one inside a tent or caravan during the dark hours to give sufficient light for when we have to get up. Mary |
#4
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solar garden lights
Mary Fisher wrote:
"leedsbob" wrote in message ... Can anyone reccoment some solar garden lights that actually do give off some light,i bought some cheapies from buy and queue and i should have just set fire to a tenner and saved the journey,i dont mind forking out for some good quality as it is a lot easier than laying cable etc,thanks folks The ones we use - and all the ones we've had from different sources - don't light other objects - but that's not what they're for. They're for marking routes and hazards such as paths and kerbs. In our case they mark the position of guy ropes on tents and caravan awnings to prevent people tripping over them and they do an excellent job. We also use one inside a tent or caravan during the dark hours to give sufficient light for when we have to get up. Try a clockwork torch. Mary |
#5
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solar garden lights
In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
leedsbob wrote: Can anyone reccoment some solar garden lights that actually do give off some light,i bought some cheapies from buy and queue and i should have just set fire to a tenner and saved the journey,i dont mind forking out for some good quality as it is a lot easier than laying cable etc,thanks folks These things are rather constrained by the laws of Physics. Unless you have massive photocells you need a *lot* of sunshine (or good daylight at any rate) to charge up the batteries to drive the lamps when it's dark. The better ones manage a bit of light in mid-summer, but this time of year - forget it!! I don't know whether anyone makes any which use LEDs to produce light. If so, they might have a *bit* more of a chance. -- Cheers, Roger ______ Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks. PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP! |
#6
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solar garden lights
Roger Mills wrote:
I don't know whether anyone makes any which use LEDs to produce light. If so, they might have a *bit* more of a chance. All the solar garden lights I've seen use LEDs. -- LSR |
#7
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solar garden lights
In message , Roger Mills
writes In an earlier contribution to this discussion, leedsbob wrote: Can anyone reccoment some solar garden lights that actually do give off some light,i bought some cheapies from buy and queue and i should have just set fire to a tenner and saved the journey,i dont mind forking out for some good quality as it is a lot easier than laying cable etc,thanks folks These things are rather constrained by the laws of Physics. Unless you have massive photocells you need a *lot* of sunshine (or good daylight at any rate) to charge up the batteries to drive the lamps when it's dark. The better ones manage a bit of light in mid-summer, but this time of year - forget it!! I don't know whether anyone makes any which use LEDs to produce light. If so, they might have a *bit* more of a chance. I've mostly given up on the cheap ones I bought from Homebase several years ago but they use two LEDs each. One was still managing a faint glow for a couple of hours yesterday evening. -- Si |
#8
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solar garden lights
"Roger Mills" wrote in message ... I don't know whether anyone makes any which use LEDs to produce light. If so, they might have a *bit* more of a chance. Ours all have LEDs. Mary |
#9
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solar garden lights
In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Mary Fisher wrote: "Roger Mills" wrote in message ... I don't know whether anyone makes any which use LEDs to produce light. If so, they might have a *bit* more of a chance. Ours all have LEDs. Mary Maybe the *all* do in that case? But they're *still* pretty useless - at any rate, ours are! -- Cheers, Roger ______ Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks. PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP! |
#10
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solar garden lights
"Roger Mills" wrote in message ... In an earlier contribution to this discussion, Mary Fisher wrote: "Roger Mills" wrote in message ... I don't know whether anyone makes any which use LEDs to produce light. If so, they might have a *bit* more of a chance. Ours all have LEDs. Mary Maybe the *all* do in that case? But they're *still* pretty useless - at any rate, ours are! shrug It depends what you want them for. We're happy with ours and there re no alternatives. Mary |
#11
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solar garden lights
On 31 Jan, 15:11, "Mary Fisher" wrote:
"Roger Mills" wrote in message ... In an earlier contribution to this discussion, Mary Fisher wrote: "Roger Mills" wrote in message ... I don't know whether anyone makes any which use LEDs to produce light. If so, they might have a *bit* more of a chance. Ours all have LEDs. Mary Maybe the *all* do in that case? But they're *still* pretty useless - at any rate, ours are! shrug It depends what you want them for. We're happy with ours and there re no alternatives. Mary Dismantled a non working one for a friend. Yes, its a small LED and a Ni Cd cell (probably the cheapest the manufacturer could get !). I didn't particularly investigate the charging configuration but memory says it wasn't anything more than a resistor. So as others have said, in winter you're going to get b****r all anyway and in summer you'll get enough light to show where the lamp is until the cell gets fed up with the crude charging (and discharging!) arrangement and stops working. Rob |
#12
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solar garden lights
Roger Mills wrote:
I don't know whether anyone makes any which use LEDs to produce light. If so, they might have a *bit* more of a chance. plenty do, they are still hopeless. Even those that work moderately for a short while in the lighter months soon fail due to float charging poor quality batteries. -- Cheers, John. /================================================== ===============\ | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \================================================= ================/ |
#13
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solar garden lights
leedsbob wrote:
Can anyone reccoment some solar garden lights that actually do give off some light,i bought some cheapies from buy and queue and i should have just set fire to a tenner and saved the journey,i dont mind forking out for some good quality as it is a lot easier than laying cable etc,thanks folks ways to get much more light output: 1. fit a reflective collar in winter so the panel gets more light - but remove in summer so the panel doesnt burn 2. fit a lot more LEDs, bigger NiCd and a bigger panel 3. Forget about ready made micropower things and make a solar light system from scratch. NT |
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