Any firm recommendations for an external solar-powered PIR floodlight? I?m fed up throwing money at duds which turn out not to be waterproof or just peter out in a few weeks. Details of good experiences would be appreciated.
Floodlight? What size panel do you think you will need at this time of year. There are a couple of systems at a local new housing estate that give quite decent lighting at road junctions, but they both have ~ 3 square metres of panels and about a cubic metre of batteries and whatnot.
every chinky LED floodlight I have had has died...there is no hope ...going back to a 500w conventional bulb if I can find one.....
I've not had a problem with several metal-cased ones with and without PIR. Some from Screwfix IIRC. Try running a QI one on solar panels though!
I've only had one solar light that has lasted 5+ years without either the light, battery or the panel failing. This was purchased from Lidl/Aldi for, I think, approx £30. It has a relatively large solar panel and a bright floodlight BUT once triggered the light only stays on for around 30 seconds (not adjustable). It can be triggered again once the light goes off.
Ignoring the completely rubbish garden lights on a stick, with most solar light lights I've purchased the waterproof epoxy coating over the panel has failed allowing water ingress or has gone milky. With my Lidl/Aldi model the panel is sealed behind clear glass.
Yup, avoid solar powered flood lights!
See above.
I don't see how a floodlight can be powered directly from solar since you would either need a very big battery, or a lot of solar cells to charge it up in a dull day!
Brian
To my (and her) surprise my daughter has two LED PIR floodlights on her garage at the bottom of the garden and they work very well, even at this time of year. The batteries are within the casing so can't be very large. The whole thing is maybe 7" x 5" and 3" deep. They don't stay on for vey long of course, maybe ten or twenty seconds.
(Oh, it's a "new to her" house so we're just finding things out still)
They do have internal batteries, although not many people know that. Mine still seep to work on the evenings of dull days.
That's the sunlight leaking out...
Those would be dull evenings ?
Solar powered floodlights are waste of time. If they were viable every lamppost in the country would be solar powered. The only things I have seen out on the roads are solar powered monitoring stations and then they have had a large panel and an equally large box presumably to hold the battery.
Richard
As I said earlier in the thread my daughter has two on the garage at her recently bought house and they (much to our surprise) work really well. Of course they are only on for very short periods so the solar charging *does* provide enough power for them. Remember the query was for solar powered *PIR* floodlight which is a totally different thing from a street lamp which needs to be on for long periods.
Solar powered PIR floodlights are fine for intermittent use. I have one on the back of the house; if I go to the garage after dark it lights the path, Otherwise it stays off.
Hi Chris Thanks for that ? I think my use of the word ?floodlight? has misled people. I?m looking for a light for use exactly as your daughter?s ? to light a garage at night. Do you know where she got hers?
They were already installed when she moved in. Next time I'm there I'll take a look and see if there's a maker name or something. They look quite like this:-
How much light do you want?
Why does it have to be solar powered?
I have PIR triggered LED lamp at my back door which takes 3xC cells and typically lasts a couple of years on a set of batteries.
How much weather is it exposed to?
Mine is nominally IP64 with just a silicone gasket as the water seal.
I was so impressed with it I got one for the Village Hall too. It beats fiddling with keys in the pitch dark trying to lock up.
Only 1 watt, but of course if it is completely dark you don't need very much light to make a useful difference. I have three small mains units that cover quite a lot of area. The "garden path" one is 3W iirc.
Link please. Sounds like just what a neighbour is looking for.
Thanks. I'll pass the information on & discuss as I will probably end up installing.
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