DIY project

[Bill Wright]

I?m hoping we?ll have fewer lost souls knocking on the door at one in the morning. ?Pizza for number 17?? ?Cab for number 11?? Also I?m hoping genuine callers such as the District Nurse will find us a bit quicker than has sometimes been the case.

The problem is that the numbers on our street are illogical. There's a big gap just before us, so anyone counting the houses is likely to think we're a lower number than we really are. To make matters worse a lot of people here stubbornly refuse to display a house number.

Click on a pic to enlarge, then move forwards and backwards. The last few pics show the finished result.

Bill

[Andrew Mawson]

Do you still need planning permission for illuminated signs? You always used to.

Andrew

[Nightjar]

You do, although I suspect that nobody is likely to care about an illuminated house number, even if it is, technically, advertising. I have had my house number painted on a light by my front gate for 20 years without anybody saying anything.

Colin Bignell

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Only when in red. ;-)

[John Rumm]

Over engineering at its best ;-)

[Graham.]

I modified a pound shop "Solar fence light"

into a illuminated house number.

The trick was to re-mount the LED further back in the housing so the lens is illuminated evenly, and seal it with silicone.

[Mike Barnes]

I hope you have another one for people approaching from the opposite direction. :-)

[Brian Gaff]

I think if its commercial you do around here, but since most people adorn their houses with lights at Christmas, I doubt it is an issue for other things as long as they do not cause nuisance to others, ie huge floodlightes aimed at other peoples windows all night!

Brian

[meow2222]

Make the leds follow the numbers and you'd need far less

NT

[Bill Wright]

It was fun to sit for hours soldering the 64 LEDs...

Bill

[Bill Wright]

I'm going to make a smaller one and recess it into the end of the wall.

Bill

[Bill Wright]

That's how my neighbour did it and it's s**te compared to mine. He's green with envy.

Bill

[Theo Markettos]

Better if you can hook up a detector to make it flash up 'no double glazing today' and 'don't even think about posting that catalogue' before callers step off the pavement...

Theo

[MattyF]

I tend to not have visitors at night, so I don't need a lighted number. During the day people often go to the house next door instead of mine. I have (let's say) the number 46 on my letter box, and 46 on the gate post, and a large 46 on my house. My neighbours have 46A on one letter box and 46B on the other, and a large 46 on their house even though they are NOT number 46. They don't want to remove that number or to add an A and B. What else can I do? Perhaps I could have a metre high 46 on my fence, but that doesn't really suit an old picket fence. Ideas? Could I have an arrow pointing to my neighbours that says "

[Nightjar]

[Bob Minchin]

Bill, Over time I think you might have a problem with water getting into your power supply box. Even with a seal round the lid, the pressure changes with temperature will act as a pump bringing in water vapour which will eventually condense inside the box. Far better if you can bring the PSU in doors and feed low voltage out to your leds. hth

Bob

[Bill Wright]

Cheers for that. Actually the PSU in in the workshop and the feed to the display is 12VDC.

I don't know what will happen in the display box re condensation etc. The LEDs generate a little bit of warmth. The box is completely watertight except for a few small holes in the baseplate.

Bill

[Nightjar]

All my weatherproof switches and sockets have a hole, about 5mm in diameter, in the base. I presume this serves the dual purpose of allowing the box to breath and to let any moisture out.

Colin Bignell

[Bob Minchin]

Ah! It was the picture of the brickwork that made me assume external mounting. External boxes are best used as water/weather deflectors and a small drain hole located at the lowest point for anything that does get in. The hole also acts as a vent to prevent any thermal pumping I mentioned earlier.

Bob

[Johny B Good]

That's exactly the right approach when you know you can't possibly make it all gastight. The heat from the electronics should obviate any condensation around the electrical circuitry and the drain holes will allow ventillation and drainage of any condensate elsewhere.