Solar LED Lights are the lights of the future they are brighter and they illuminate a bigger area of your garden. They come in lots of different shapes and sizes and can be used in many various places around the garden. Recently instead of the spike solar lights where you push them into the ground they also have a stick on lights that you place on the stairs to light the way for visitors or you can stick them on areas around pathways of your home that are normally dark at night.
As long as the solar panel gets at least a few hours of sunlight that will be enough to charge the LED battery inside the light. A tip to remember is to keep the panel clean and dust free as this will stop the sun from absorbing all of that free sunlight. Just once a week to check on the panels and if dirty or dusty a quick wipe over will rectify. And that is about all the maintenance that the lights needs. Other than that all that you need is a bit of sunlight and then you are able to have lighting that costs nothing to run. For other tips view the video below:
There are a few considerations when you are wanting to hi-light a certain area of your garden I have outlined a few hints and tips along with a few warnings that may help you when it comes to planning to light your garden.
Determine the area you wish to lit it up. This can be a pathway, garden areas or the entire patio and yard look for the recommendations on what distance the light will light up the area. This is then just a matter of doing a few calculations to work out how many lights you will require.
Visit your local home center and look at the options they have available for solar lighting there will be a variety of sizes and designs that will enhance your required area
Assemble the lights you have chosen according to manufacturer's instructions. Don't try to assemble lights that recommend the installation by an Electrician
Place the lights around bases of plants or trees for a magical look at night.
Ensure the lights are able to be fully charge by placing them is a full day in the sun to reach maximum brightness at night.
If the lights start to become dim after sunny day, check the batteries as these may need to be replaced.
Solar lighting can provide a way, hospitable environment for outdoors parties you may even want to look at solar fairy lights.
Driveways and sidewalks can be lit with solar lightning to help light the way along with deterring unwanted guests.
Solar lightning around the house discourages intruders as they would not have the cover of darkness also this may reduce insurance on your property..it may be worth to inquire about this as not all insurances will offer a reduced payment for introducing this added lighting to your home.
Solar Panel What is a good type of solar panel to get for my house?
I want to put a solar panel(s) on my roof. What components do I need besides the solar panels? solar power controller? wires? How do I hook it into my home's electrical system and about how much electricity could I generate and save? Would the panels pay for themselves over time? Any help will be appreciated. Thank you!
Solar water heating panels are often heavy, depending on their design.
Solar electric panels are rarely heavy - at mabye 3 lbs. per square foot, including mounting racks, they are not much heavier than typical roofing materials.
Whether the panels pay for themselves is a highly individualized answer, dependent on your state and local rebates (if any), how much sun your area gets, and the cost of your electricity. Just about any Californian can break even, but it can take 5-20 years. Prices are dropping, so this should get better next year (but federal tax credits expire - could be renewed, a Democratic president would be unlikely to veto).
A house that is conservative in electrical usage (this usually means no air conditioners in the summer or electric heat in the winter) generally has enough roof area to supply 100% of its electrical needs. We have 10% of our roof dedicated to panels, and it supplies essentially 100% for us.
The best way to get answers to your questions is to ask a few solar companies to do a free analysis and quote on your house. You can always say no.
If you're thinking of doing it yourself, that's possible, but not trivial. It's also possible that a professional could install it for less than you could if you bought the parts yourself and installed it yourself. We installed our own, but the experience is a little dated - from 2006. There's a video at the bottom of the page below, if you want to see what we did.
As home burglaries are on the increase the thief looks for a house that is literally in the darkness so that he can get on with stealing your home goods without being seen. Today there is an abundance of lighting choices to throw soft light on the path leading up to your home to lighting posts that have lights on the opt that shine there way up to the door. There is even a solar sensor light that would come on when anyone passes across the path.
Nowadays the cost is very low to install these types of solar lighting around your house. Not only from a security point of view but also to dramatically change the landscape around your home. Any feature like a tree, statue can have lights that high-light an area and make it a feature in your yard at night. Fairy lights are the ultimate in making an area special. Don't wait for a birthday or other event to put them up they look stunning and should be up for you to enjoy all year round.
As a precaution before buying your lights, read the packaging for do it yourself directions, if this is not on the packaging it would mean that you will need to have an electrician install the lights and that could cost you a few dollars but it is not worth disregarding the instructions as this may be dangerous if you attempt to install something that your not qualified to do.
Voltage Landscape Can you operate low voltage landscape lights from a battery and solar panel?
Thinking of replacing the transformer with a 12 vdc 50 Ah battery charging via a regulator and 30 watt solar panel. At most, maybe four 20 watt lights.
Thanks for the answers! The purpose is to temporarily put a few 20 watt low voltage spotlights out in remote areas of the yard to highlight small areas with pools of light without weaving a web of extension cords thru the yard. Mainly for Halloween and other yard events.
What do you want these landscape lights to do? If you want impact by lighting the front of the house or trail lights when walking down a path? What's available now in solar doesn't give off much light so what you will have is little blueish light that doesn't give off much. So, if you need the light to focus on a particular place then I think solar would not be the best. Know what you want it to accomplish and take time to look at others lights. Your not going to get the same results from a battery or solar like you will get from the transformer.
Solar Accent Looking for mobile solar power solution?
I've seen hand held solar power devices (similar to wind power devices) that can charge small batteries.
I am looking to experiment with solar panels used within accents (trim) around home, yard (decorations), possible used within car bodies - to charge batteries.
This would not be used to power anything exclusively - but to add to the overall power collection.
there are solar panels out there are produce 12 volts. I have one. It cost me 100 bucks. You can buy that in Scientific (if i remember right). All you have to do is look for the power rating you want. Also remember that the power rating is at max power. So if you want to get 1 volt then you should look for something that is around 8 volts and use a circuit board to reduce the energy to 1 volt other wise you will blow up the battery.
I am on a very tight budget. I want to decorate the walkway between my garage and house. So far, I've spruced it up by getting a beautiful bench at a garage sale that I cleaned up and put by the door, a very high-end looking welcome mat that I found on clearance, and it's a little more inviting now.
I need ideas for the actual "walkway" though. I want to repeat a certain object for a "pathway" effect. Any pocket-friendly ideas?
Thank you in advance.
You can make your own stepping stones using concrete - a few aluminum throw away pans, some small painted rocks from the yard, marbles, broken pieces of dishes, glasses, bottle caps or what ever you like.
Pour the concrete into the pans
Let it set until firm
push the decorative peices down into the concrete
let dry 24 hours
pop it out and viola !! fancy new walk way
Landscape Light Do landscape photographers use light meters??? are they high up on a NEED basis?
??
It could be that my use of the view camera for a lot of that work makes me think the answer is yes, or it could be that the reason I use one now a lot is also the reason.
So, yes.
The hand held lets you know the contrast, what the need is for detail in the shadows are and the high light area. This way YOU get to decide on the right exposure for the image you want to make.
If you do know how use the meter to do the above then get one. Other wise if you doing digital or 35mm film get one when your ready to enjoy the meter and the entire thought process it brings to your images.
Light Lighting how do i change from recessed lighting to a standard light fixture?
i want to take out the recess lighting and put in a normal light but i need to figure out how to put in the bracing for an electrical box to install the new fixture.
you can buy ceiling boxes with brackets on them that will nail ot the studs. The problem may be the drywall hole after you have taken out the recessed lighting.
You may have to cut out a section of the drywall and replace the section with a new piece and cut out the opening for the ceiling box. All this will depend on how big the recessed lighting hole was to begin with.
When I do this I will find the stud and cut the drywall one half the thickness of the stud on both ends and then install 2 2X4's on the sides. This will give me a good spot to nail the drywall up and not have to worry about it sagging. Good luck
Light Solar What kind of metal that solar light will earn the energy?
Forgive my poor grammar. So, I did like to know what kind of metal that solar draw from the sun?
I would like to hear from you.
TY!
Maybe they don't understand my grammar
I have to guess what your question means, sorry.
Aluminum foil makes a very good reflector for concentrating heat. It is not as durable as other metals but reflects better.
Yard Deck How close to a 100 year old oak tree can I build a deck (must have many 4 foot deep concrete footings)?
We are planning a deck for our yard. On one side of the yard, we have a 100 year old Oak tree. In MN, we must have footings that are at least 4 feet deep. We do not want to injure the oak tree in the process of building our deck.
The roots of the tree spread well beyond the range of the upper canopy. Most of the important roots are located in the top 18 inches of the soil. So long as you are not digging trenches you should be fine constructing your deck near the tree. When the roots are cut they will bounce back back rather quickly.
Just do not dig any long trenches or add soil on top of the existing soil level.
Landscape Wall How do i clean a landscape rockery / retaining wall?
I have a retaining wall in my backyard that uses 1 and 2 man size rock. When it was first put in the rock had a light blue-grey color, now after about 10 years the rocks have a dark charchol color to them. I want the lighter color back. The color change is not from dirt, but more of a fading. I don't think pressure washing will help, so I am wondering if anyone else has ever try to bring back the "new" look of their rockery. Did you use some kind of acid/minerals/chemicals?
The rocks are in a wall and are 1000-1500 pounds, they can't be moved or the wall will fall down, plus I am not that strong
pressure washing is the only way to do this, as the change in color can only be 1/8 of an inch to 1/4 of an inch saturated.
Mount Light Does the electrical code allow me to mount a light switch outside a room?
I have a laundry room with a single hard to access switch on the inside; the switch is behind the door. I'd like to turn it around so the switch is accessed from outside the room, as one is walking in. There is only one entrance to the room, through a door that cannot be locked.
You could add a switch opposite the one that is already there and put it on the same circuit. That way either one could turn it on but both would need to be off to turn it off. I don't know about code, but that would be the easiest solution. Or a three way. That will meet code I am sure. Plus, you will not have to repair the hole where the old switch was for it will still be there. Hope the information helps!
