Hello again

I'm thinking of buying some solar powered garden lights. Argos has a set of
three for around £30 and I am wondering if anyone knows if they work OK.

Thanks for any replies,

Aileen

On Tue, 22 Apr 2003 07:16:32 +0100, "Aileen Howard"
wrote:

Hello again

I'm thinking of buying some solar powered garden lights. Argos has a set of
three for around £30 and I am wondering if anyone knows if they work OK.

Thanks for any replies,

Aileen


They work no problem, just dont expect them to light your garden up
like a beacon. They are only a quite dull glow. We have them all
around our lawn and they light up for about 2-3 hours after dark.

"Aileen Howard" wrote in message
...
Hello again

I'm thinking of buying some solar powered garden lights. Argos has a set
of
three for around £30 and I am wondering if anyone knows if they work OK.

Mine came from Homebase and I have yet to see them light up in the evening,
despite some remarkably sunny days!

--
Brian
"Happy St George's Day. It either is, just was, or soon will be."

"Aileen Howard" wrote in message
...
Hello again

I'm thinking of buying some solar powered garden lights. Argos has a set
of
three for around £30 and I am wondering if anyone knows if they work OK.

In general, if they use a light bulb, you will probably only get a dim light
and that for a fairly limited period. In my late mother's garden, where
there was street light scatter, you had to look at the light to see if it
was on. In a country garden on an overcast moonless night, the light might
have been useful. The solar powered LED path markers ought to work better,
but only expect them to mark the edges of the path, rather than light the
path itself.

Colin Bignell

In article ,
nightjar writes:
| "Aileen Howard" wrote in message
| ...
| Hello again
|
| I'm thinking of buying some solar powered garden lights. Argos has a set
| of
| three for around £30 and I am wondering if anyone knows if they work OK.
|
| In general, if they use a light bulb, you will probably only get a dim light
| and that for a fairly limited period. In my late mother's garden, where
| there was street light scatter, you had to look at the light to see if it
| was on. In a country garden on an overcast moonless night, the light might
| have been useful. The solar powered LED path markers ought to work better,
| but only expect them to mark the edges of the path, rather than light the
| path itself.

Frankly, why not spend your money on a chocolate teapot? Equally
useful, and rather tastier.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer ^W^W^W^W uk.rec.gardening, I
heard Aileen Howard say...
Hello again

I'm thinking of buying some solar powered garden lights. Argos has a set of
three for around £30 and I am wondering if anyone knows if they work OK.

Thanks for any replies,

I bought a set for a tenner a few years ago. They give out sufficient
dull, yellow light to let me see where the steps are in my back garden.
Never had any problems with them not lighting up and they last at least
7 hours at night in the winter.
--
Fenny
It's better to be alone than in the wrong company

Chris Norton wrote:

On Tue, 22 Apr 2003 07:16:32 +0100, "Aileen Howard"
wrote:

Hello again

I'm thinking of buying some solar powered garden lights. Argos has a set of
three for around £30 and I am wondering if anyone knows if they work OK.


They work no problem, just dont expect them to light your garden up
like a beacon. They are only a quite dull glow. We have them all
around our lawn and they light up for about 2-3 hours after dark.

We've had a small plastic globe version lighting a step for about three
years. As you say, it's a dull glow and it's a shade of orange I detest,
but it works.

regards
sarah


--
"Great is truth, but still greater, from a practical point of view,
is silence about truth." Aldous Huxley

(Nick Maclaren) wrote in
:


In article ,
nightjar writes:
| "Aileen Howard" wrote in message
| ...
| Hello again
|
| I'm thinking of buying some solar powered garden lights.
|
| The solar powered
| LED path markers ought to work better, but only expect them to mark
| the edges of the path, rather than light the path itself.

Frankly, why not spend your money on a chocolate teapot? Equally
useful, and rather tastier.


Only if you live somewhere with streetlights!
My mother has the solar powered path lighters, and in the darkness of a
village that proudly owns a total of 13 streetlights, they allow her to
find her unlit steps when dogwalking late at night. They do make a real
difference on moonless nights.

A chocolate teapot would not do this, though I suppose she could eat it for
consolation if she walked into a tree in the dark.

Victoria

In article ,
Victoria Clare writes:
|
| Frankly, why not spend your money on a chocolate teapot? Equally
| useful, and rather tastier.
|
| Only if you live somewhere with streetlights!

Or where there is massive sky glow, which accounts for over 99%
(perhaps 99.9%) of the UK population. I don't think that there is
anywhere left in the south east or midlands where the sky glow isn't
oppressive, and precious few places outside those.

| My mother has the solar powered path lighters, and in the darkness of a
| village that proudly owns a total of 13 streetlights, they allow her to
| find her unlit steps when dogwalking late at night. They do make a real
| difference on moonless nights.

I can see that, in a VERY few cases, they might have some use.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I'm thinking of buying some solar powered garden lights. Argos has a set of
three for around £30 and I am wondering if anyone knows if they work OK.

I bought a pair with blueish-white LEDs for about £12 in a
hypermarket. They're placed about 8ft apart next to a narrow path. The
light output is comparable to moonlight, so it's enough to avoid
stumbling in the dark. The lights remain on until at least midnight
even without a full day's sunshine.

On Tue, 22 Apr 2003 07:16:32 +0100, "Aileen Howard"
wrote:

Hello again

I'm thinking of buying some solar powered garden lights. Argos has a set of
three for around £30 and I am wondering if anyone knows if they work OK.

Thanks for any replies,

Aileen

I also am considering some of these to illuminate some steep garden
steps. B&Q have some with motion sensors. Would these be any better
for lighting the steps when needed? Anyone got ant experience of
these?

Alan

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

In article ,
Victoria Clare writes:
|
| Frankly, why not spend your money on a chocolate teapot? Equally
| useful, and rather tastier.
|
| Only if you live somewhere with streetlights!

Or where there is massive sky glow, which accounts for over 99%
(perhaps 99.9%) of the UK population. I don't think that there is
anywhere left in the south east or midlands where the sky glow isn't
oppressive, and precious few places outside those.

'Oppressive' is a very subjective assessment and quite different from
'useful for seeing by'. I've spent more than a few nights standing out in
the Sussex countryside without being able to see my hand in front of my
face, at least, not without night vision equipment.

Colin Bignell

In article ,
nightjar writes:
|
| Or where there is massive sky glow, which accounts for over 99%
| (perhaps 99.9%) of the UK population. I don't think that there is
| anywhere left in the south east or midlands where the sky glow isn't
| oppressive, and precious few places outside those.
|
| 'Oppressive' is a very subjective assessment and quite different from
| 'useful for seeing by'. I've spent more than a few nights standing out in
| the Sussex countryside without being able to see my hand in front of my
| face, at least, not without night vision equipment.

It isn't as subjective as you might think, but that is getting off
group - I suggest looking up some of the references to the various
problems associated with it.

Despite the fact that people are supposed to lose night vision as
they get older, I haven't seen darkness recently in the south of
England except when it has actually been raining or there has been
thick fog or low-level cloud. If you are referring to such
circumstances, that could well be so.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

nightjar wrote:

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

In article ,
Victoria Clare writes:
|
| Frankly, why not spend your money on a chocolate teapot? Equally
| useful, and rather tastier.
|
| Only if you live somewhere with streetlights!

Or where there is massive sky glow, which accounts for over 99%
(perhaps 99.9%) of the UK population. I don't think that there is
anywhere left in the south east or midlands where the sky glow isn't
oppressive, and precious few places outside those.

'Oppressive' is a very subjective assessment and quite different from
'useful for seeing by'. I've spent more than a few nights standing out in
the Sussex countryside without being able to see my hand in front of my
face, at least, not without night vision equipment.

For how long ? Most places I have been in the UK you can see well enough to
walk by sky glow even on a moonless night after only ten minutes. If you lack
the patience then yes it is too dark to see anything, but the eye is
tremendously adaptable if you give it time. Dark adapted an LED torch using
just 50uA current is usable (thats about 2 years of continuous light from AA
cells). Some modern torches for emergency use now incorporate LEDs on low
standby current as markers so that they can be found easily in the pitch
dark.

Even in remote arid regions and after the end of astronomical twilight I can
still see my hand in front of my face as a silhouette against the night sky.
It takes around half an hour for your eyes to become fully dark adapted.

Solar lighting is pretty much an expensive toy as presently sold to the
public. The most recent set of bankrupt stock I saw were still not worth
buying for the batteries they contained at 30% of rrp.

Regards,
Martin Brown

Frankly, why not spend your money on a chocolate teapot? Equally
useful, and rather tastier.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.


Where do you get a chocolate teapot from Nick???

Natalie