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But what will late night TV and unsolicited media-mail catalog ad writers do if miracle solar-powered garden lighting finally gets put to rest? Replace it with something even more obnoxious. Be careful what you wish for!
No idea. I don't have cable so I haven't seen a commercial or home shopping channels in years. Can't tell you the last time I received a catalog in the mail.
Seriously, you might as well buy $2 solar lights from Walmart. They work just as well as more expensive sets. And you'll save yourself a boatload of money.
I have had much the same problem with solar lights to line the driveway. I am mulling over replacing those with photoluminescent paint along the edges, but I have not found much on the subject. I know this stuff is used in building stairways and along pathways in mines. Has anyone tried this for their home?
We never used solar lights before, but my wife wanted something to illuminate the way to the compost bin at night. During the day it is infested with hornets/yellowjackets grazing on the scraps. So we haul the compost out at night. It's an Amazon purchase and actually it has done quite well.
It puts down just the right amount of light. We'll see how much light we get out of it in the darker days of fall and winter, but we won't need it then, so we may unplug it.
I knew people who built a lovely off grid home on a remote cove in the Kodiak Archipelago, AK. Everything hauled in by boat or marine barge and constructed by hand. The only pressurized running water (collected rainwater stored in a cistern) in the house fed the kitchen sink. They could divert the faucet line to fill a small tank heated by house's wood fired cookstove and a waterproofed curtained alcove was built next to that for bucket bathing. There was a separate outhouse accessed by a footpath.
Solar lights don't recharge well during the part of year up here you might want exterior light most. The sun angle's too low or it is raining/snowing. In summer when the lights would recharge best it's never dark enough to need them. Then there's the never-ending battle with bears messing with anything that isn't set in concrete or bolted down. These clever folks lined the outhouse path with bleached clamshells off their beach and filled the rest in with white quarry rock. It reflected just enough light from the house windows to make artificial lighting unnecessary. Actually, it created a very cool effect! Oh, when I say "outhouse" I don't mean some cramped cobwebby scrap lumber closet, I mean a snug, insulated building with comfortable seating, simple light from candles or running off a marine battery, and wood stove heat! The whole house was very ingenious and surprisingly comfortable. Folks up here learn how to do it right.
Last edited by Parnassia; 09-19-2022 at 01:16 PM..
But watch out for glowingly positive or "sponsored" ones. They're probably paid for.
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