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| Driveway Lamps by Commander Tansin A. Darcos 05/29/2013, 6:19pm PDT | ||||
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I have driveway lamps inserted into the walkway in front of my house. Here's what they look like at night, with a million candlepower spotlight to highlight them.
Driveway lamps have a 1 square inch solar cell in the top. This charges the battery every day, and shuts off the lamp. When there is no power coming from the solar cell, the battery kicks in and lights the LED. This lasts as much as 6 hours, from just past dusk, say around 8pm when there's no more light, until the battery runs out of charge, or the light level rises enough to be visible, then the cycle starts all over again. Apparently the only thing you have to do is change the battery once a year. I wouldn't know, I didn't have the ones before that long, the previous set got stolen by some guy the landlord hired to cut the grass. The white streak on the top right is a passing car. There are two types here, the red-white-and-blue PVC plastic $1 lamps from Dollar Tree (usually only around for the 4th of July holiday, they never have any the rest of the year), and the $2 stainless steel ones (available all year long) from Target (as well as $3 one available all year long from Home Depot; this was where I first saw them). I find, amazingly enough, that the cheap ones have better light storage, the Target ones usually go out by 2 or 3 am, the $1 ones are often still lit at 4 in the morning. (I just sometimes happen to be awake, I do not stay awake to see when my lamps go out!) The Target ones have a bit of swank, there is an on-off switch on the bulb side of the top, the Dollar Tree ones have a little pull-tab to block the battery so it doesn't discharge while in transit. It's much harder in the near dark to see what they do, they just give off enough light to light the surrounding area of the lamp, but you can see them from as much as 20 feet away, they give just a bit of charm to a walkway (and make it easier to see, too). I also have a couple of really nice ones that were $3 from Target, they're solid cylinders with a light near the top, one in black, one in white. They also have a spotlight one, these are $3 same as the ones that Home Depot sells. The spotlight one I have aimed at the front doorknob so if I or someone else comes in, it aims light right at the lock where you push your key into, very helpful. |
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Driveway Lamps by 05/29/2013, 6:19pm PDT  |
