I wanted to tell you of my recent discovery regarding outdoor lighting. After Hurricane Sandy here in NJ, we were left without light for about 10 days. As a result I realized how dark the night is. We have a dark road compared to other areas in our county, but this time it was totally dark. No house lights, no street lights, no light pollution from the highway. Total darkness. I had battery operated lights but really wondered what I would do if I intact had run out of batteries and could not get them. Especially since people were buying them up left and right because we had mass power outages. That experience taught me to think about a lot of things before the next disaster. Food cooking and light. No I did not buy a generator. Nor did I stock up on batteries. I had a crank radio that we cranked up to listen to the radio reports about what was going on. Since there was little to no communication available. Then I realized the radio was also solar powered. ( that radio in a bit) Remembering those tacky solar power, very dim, lights people place along their exterior path ways made me think about getting some. But what was the cost? After all they are dim and not bright at all. Well a little looking after the power came back on, and I found solar powered lights that were quite bright. 12 Lumens in fact! Yes LED (Light emitting diode for those who do not know and call them led lights) stick in the ground path way or spot lights. They are completely solar powered and positionable. I bought a few to see how they worked. They stay on almost all night with total brightness after being fully charged. I have been up early a few times and see that they have gotten dim by around 4 am. All in all they really are nice.
I am always trying to reduce or eliminate my energy usage because of the cost, so I found new ways of using these lights to benefit me if I need in the future. First things first. I DID NOT place them along my pathway like some kind of landing strip to guide planes to. I am cheap but have some sort of taste, hopefully good. I placed three in the front yard:
-One was placed by the mail box to light my walk way. Remember it is movable so I aimed it at the steps and the walk way and it looks great.
-I positioned the second in the garden aimed down the other path to the rear door. Fantastic!
-The third light lights up the full front of the house so none will be able to trip and fall going from front to back.
They look like professional lights on the house (how Jersey) and do a great job at illuminating my walk ways. I loved them so much I bought 4 more to light the back patio. I also positioned them in the gardens to aim on the walking area and give the whole place a lit, bright, welcoming feel.
These light do not necessarily have to be stuck in the ground as utilitarian lights like they are intended. Get creative and you'll find other uses for them.
1. Buy the fancy ones and place 5 or 7 of them in a bucket or planter pot to make a bouquet table light.
2. Add flowers or a potted plant and you have a lighted party planter to enjoy year round.
3. Bring them inside to make a funny cute light bouquet in the house when the power goes out or to illuminate a dark stairwell.
They need sun or daylight to charge fully so remember to bring it back out they next day to recharge. The cost savings will add up. Last night we were outside and I felt happy with the way the house looked and was proud of my small investment that saves me big. To check out my savings, I found a website that estimates our cost per kilowatt hour in cents and for NJ it was 15.93 cents per kWh. Check it out on line at [http://www.wikihow.com/Calculate-Kilowatts-Used-by-Light-Bulbs] for the amount you will use or just look on the back of a light bulb package. In terms of LED light bulbs, 40 watts is 450 lumens, so buying LED bulbs will take a little education. I figure I save about $40 per year just leaving off two bulbs one in front and one in back. Not a lot of money but every little bit ads up and these look so cool. I am investigating other solar powered things on line an have found so many cool toys. But like anything my frugal sense stops me from buy gadgets I really don't need. What I did buy, the other family members are using and loving. And they are of course EATING THEIR WORDS about how ridiculous I was buying "stupid" stuff. They can also eat their words in the dark if so needed. lol.
Love to all.
Suz
for information on where I purchase my items, write to suztheadvicelady@gmail.com :)
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