Christmas lights

[redpoint5]

Solar lights suck. They're never bright enough, or stay on long enough. Then the batteries loose capacity and finally die after 3 years. Solar accent lighting will never save you money in the long run because the cost of the solar panels exceed the value of the very low power consumption.

The right way to power LEDs is DC, but the results with household AC are fine.

[Fat Charlie]

Solar lights are DC powered- every set I've had has been loaded with rechargeable AAs in them. If they suck it's becuse of the cheapo battery they supplied or an undersized panel. The 70 foot string of multicolored on my back deck is still going strong when I get up in the morning, maybe China's shipping higher quality stuff these days.

I've got a set of multicolored and a set of white (both LED) on switched outlets in my basement, it's a very nice effect. There's a shorter set of non-solar multicolored ones on a fake tree down there, powered by three AAs. I hate using them because I hate a permanent install that uses disposable batteries and am too lazy to cycle rechargeables through it. I can't wire it in because it's too close to the hot tub- the damn nanny state doesn't want electricity that close to water.

My wife suggested putting a solar set on the tree and putting the panel outside. I'm thinking about soldering a couple 2 wire automotive connectors together and running them through a length of PVC then filling the pipe with spray foam. Drill a hole in the wall, plug it with the connector pipe, then mount the panel outside and plug it in to the connector. Inside, wire the solar light set to the connector pipe and Bingo: the AA battery gets its solar charge while being protected from the below zero temps that we get in the winter, the house is still sealed and I have the lighting I want without having 110v running loose near the hot tub or changing batteries all the time.

[samwichse]

I've been using LEDs the last 5 years (Costco warm white strands with a plastic covering shaped like traditional mini lights covered with cut in crosshatching).

The light is brighter than the old incandescents we had. After 5 years, no bulbs have burnt, and the light is nicely distributed. Plus they take practically no power (40 watts/100 for the incandescents, 7 watts/100 for the LEDs).

What's not to like? It's pretty much the task LEDs were designed for .

Sam