|
|
Author |
|
Message | |
|
dpack
Joined: 02 Jul 2005 Posts: 46168 Location: yes
|
|
|
|
|
Nick
Joined: 02 Nov 2004 Posts: 34535 Location: Hereford
|
|
|
|
|
dpack
Joined: 02 Jul 2005 Posts: 46168 Location: yes
|
|
|
|
|
dpack
Joined: 02 Jul 2005 Posts: 46168 Location: yes
|
|
|
|
|
dpack
Joined: 02 Jul 2005 Posts: 46168 Location: yes
|
|
|
|
|
Slim
Joined: 05 Mar 2006 Posts: 6609 Location: New England (In the US of A)
|
|
|
|
|
dpack
Joined: 02 Jul 2005 Posts: 46168 Location: yes
|
|
|
|
|
Nick
Joined: 02 Nov 2004 Posts: 34535 Location: Hereford
|
|
|
|
|
Mistress Rose
Joined: 21 Jul 2011 Posts: 15932
|
|
|
|
|
dpack
Joined: 02 Jul 2005 Posts: 46168 Location: yes
|
Posted: Sun Jun 21, 20 8:13 am Post subject: |
|
i have had a think about it
how many "social" lights? over how much area?
is it just the one safety light for that step or are any others a good idea?
how big an area overall and roughly what shape? ie is it just the replaced deck area or should access to doors etc around corners or along paths also be lit?
all or nothing vs split system?
with safety light/s on one switch and the socialights on another(it might be you want to watch the stars but not fall down the step
would it be sensible to consider load to be required for consecutive evenings and perhaps also be able to do weekends of all nighters?
that one is vital as that is what determines storage size and recharge capacity
is there a place to install the pv panel, facing south and open sky is good ?, is there space to angle it to point at the average elevation of the sun? other orientations can be managed but poor ones cost more in panel capacity.
the panel and battery etc could go anywhere(within reason) but close to the lights is best(sparky reasons you don't need to worry about)
i can amble about in total darkness in dangeroosly off grid in places i do not know, many folk can fall over their own feet in light shade, a few malts and i have trouble finding my feet let alone using them
too bright can be as bad as too dim and a mixture of both in the proper places is best
lv seems ideal and there are off the shelf bits that can do it with style, fairly simply and at a reasonable cost
the ability to take the battery to the mains/transformer to charge it if required( a dark sky/warm weather time might not give a full recharge during a weekender at easter but a couple of hours on a mains charger would and would avoid the need for a daft huge pv panel even though a smaller one would be adequate most of the time. the lights go out a 11pm would not be ideal at a social)
tis a slightly complex equation but i recon it can be done at a reasonable price and with a only a few man-hours to install the bits,
it is not quite the same as mains sparking but it does have a few issues, i will get to them later, if you can wire a plug and install a wire tidily tis a fairly easy diy job for a nice afternoon
is it reasonable to assume you don't need these lights in winter or would they be useful for bonfire party or apres ski themed new year parties?
if so the option to take the battery to a charger is required unless you get daft big pv panels
ps a bespoke hard wired rig is probably cheaper than a selection of decent stand alone lights with pv/battery integral to the lamp and it will work a lot better, stand alones are under spec for both pv and battery capacity for what you need |
|
|
|
|
Nick
Joined: 02 Nov 2004 Posts: 34535 Location: Hereford
|
|
|
|
|
dpack
Joined: 02 Jul 2005 Posts: 46168 Location: yes
|
|
|
|
|
dpack
Joined: 02 Jul 2005 Posts: 46168 Location: yes
|
|
|
|
|
Nick
Joined: 02 Nov 2004 Posts: 34535 Location: Hereford
|
|
|
|
|
dpack
Joined: 02 Jul 2005 Posts: 46168 Location: yes
|
|
|
|
|
|