Are solar patio/walkway lights any good?

[cantdrv55]

Are they bright enough or still really dim like back in the olden days when they first came out? I used solar patio lights back in the early '90s but ended up yanking them out because they didn't provide enough lighting. Has anyone installed these things lately? I'm looking to provide lighting for safety around steps, not just for accenting.

[TimT]

They are still not great, just rmember them when you get to snowblowing your walks.. they shoot pretty far from a snowblower

[strupgolf]

Right, I havent seen any that hold their glow long enough to see at night by. I put in some nice low voltage, love them, and the work great. Yea, you have wiring, but its easy.

[chuckw951]

Most of the ones you see at home depot are dim junk.

If you are really interested you could build your own. By a panel, battery, 12Volt fixtures and then run the wires. But if you are going to do that...you might as well just buy regular patio lights.

Then again it could be fun project. This publication and website has many links to products and vendors.

http://www.homepower.com/

[widebody911]

I put in a few of the solar-powered Harbor Freight ones to help me see to get between the house and the shop at night. They're "ok" - I can see where I'm going partly because I know the terrain - but if you are concerned about safety, hard-wire some lights.

[cantdrv55]

Thanks guys. Good thing I asked before I plunked down some cash on good-looking but ineffective solar lights.

[JavaBrewer]

Every solar powered landscape light I've *seen* was during the day. You need a flashlight to find them in the dark...

[JeremyD]

You can't hold a candle to them...

[Joeaksa]

Same here. Too dim to really do much. Have found mine on Ebay for a bargain and just run the wire and be done with it.

JoeA

[widebody911]

Whaddaya know, I had a couple digital pix from when I installed mine.

[911pcars]

The latest walkway lights (DIY type) use low-voltage quartz halogen bulbs, slightly more efficient and more light output than the incandescent types. Good fixture design helps too.

Is 110 VAC nearby? If so, how about a motion sensor-type wall fixture ($20-$30) controlling a couple of quartz halogen bulbs? Set the timer to 10 seconds ON>OFF, then quicken your journey from point A to point B.

Sherwood

[kqw]

Hard wired lighting is the way to go. Better still, I have seen lighting that is embedded in the concrete or bricks covered with a thick glass plate running up the driveway and walkways. Added advantage is that the snow melts over them..ha, ha

[RickM]

Originally posted by 911pcars
The latest walkway lights (DIY type) use low-voltage quartz halogen bulbs, slightly more efficient and more light output than the incandescent types. Good fixture design helps too.

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I thought most of the solar walkway lights were LED. It seems any other technology would kill the 2 AA batteries in no time.
I vote for the hard wired, low voltage lights.

I know I'll catch flack for this but the cheap plastic solar lights impress me as a bit on the walmartish / trailer trashy side.

[id10t]

I use one as a marker on each of the fence posts leading into my yard. Have had a few close calls wiht friends almost hitting the fence posts...

[fastpat]

I have four of the the copper finished ones that I bought at Lowe's. They're in full sun and run off two AA 900milliamp nicads at night. During the shortest days they ran out of juice at around 1AM, now they're on longer and will probably last all night in about another month. They put out a very white light with the LED they came with, and since there's no street lights out here, they light up the area as intended.

I have another type that are intended to be mounted on a wall or vertical surface. I'm using those to illuminate a stairway to my deck, one per step. They work pretty well too, but I'm not crazy about the orangish color of the light they put out so I may change the LED they came with to one that's closer to white.

These are not as good as the low voltage lights others have mentioned, so if you want a lot of walkway illumination they won't do that. I like the freedom they give you to locate light anyplace that has direct sunlight without the digging and running of wires and/or conduit.