Garden Solar Lights

[Hopkirk]

Is there any point in them?

They don't actually produce any useful light.

[jno]

enough to stop me falling into the holly bush at night. And they look quite pretty. Not enough to play cricket by, though, I must admit.

[carrot99]

I did wonder if they are the reason I never get moths indoors at night anymore. I used to get big moths if I turned a light on in a room with a window open, haven't seen one for years.

[gness]

Depends on which ones you buy, Hoppy. We have some over the door which trigger when anyone approaches.....enough to startle any intruders or to get the key in the door coming back late from the pub..... ;-)

[Hopkirk]

Perhaps I'm just getting grouchy on my old age.

[Hopkirk]

..in..

[gingejbee]

^^I think Hopkirk's referring to those that you stick around the garden, path etc...the one's that give out less light than the average glow-worm. The one's that have to be in full sunlight 12 hours a day to have any hope of recharging...and which don't work at all in winter because the cold affects the rechargeable batteries.

[gness]

Nothing new there then, Hoppy.... ;-)

I guess so, Ginge. I've had those and they are pretty but not great for finding your way. The best ones we have clip into our window or are screwed to the wall. Positioned at the back of our house which gets no direct sun and is very dark at night they give a really good bright and widespread light to see us down the path and into the house once triggered.

[teacake44]

We've been importing tons of this crap from China for the last 10 years,and most of it ends up in the skips at the local council tips.
When they first come on the market they were reasonable quality, but as time moved on the rubbish entered. No wonder we are running out of landfill sites, this product is one of thousands products that are dumped after only a few weeks wear.

[Hopkirk]

Hey Teacake, you phrase it so well and hit the nail on the head.
Can you come and educate 'er indoors on the subject?

[teacake44]

I'm afraid you just won't educate some, they will always be a sales mans dream. China dump more crap round the world, than all the rest put together, even as I type this now there are boat loads of containers by the thousands being unloaded, and thousands more in transit.

[teacake44]

^ Oh and that's on top of the virus. :0)

[Gromit2]

I agree.
50% of them don’t work out of the box.
The rechargeable batteries are rubbish.
Those that do work are as dull as Grant Shapps.

Going to sack them next year

[fiction-factory]

Odd coincidence, Gromit2- another (former) poster called Gromit used to slagg Grant Shapps off too. I'm not a fan of his quarantine but I find him entertaining not dull.
I agree though the garden solar lights are generally too dull and not worth bothering with. We have one that is good but it was rather pricey in my view from a boutique garden centre

[bhg481]

They're useful as markers rather than a source of useful light. We have some we take camping and use them to mark guy-ropes etc to stop people tripping over them when they cut through our pitch in the dark. Ours just use AA rechargeable batteries which I was able to change when the originals packed up; we've had them 10 years or more. Horses for courses.