Replacing your Solar Lights
Posted by Marylou Biederman in Lighting
When you need to replace a solar light or two, there are a few tips that never fail to pay—pun intended. Keep in mind that solar lights usually use nickel-cadmium or nickel-metal hydrate rechargeable batteries. If it’s the batteries that need replacing, make sure to responsibly recycle them—instead of throwing them in the trash, which defeats the whole purpose of using eco-friendly solar power.
If the batteries are not that old–check them out on another device, and if they check-out good, then it could be your light-sensor. Not all solar lights have one, but most garden/consumer variety generally do. They switch the light on and off at dawn and dusk. If you are not familiar with photo sensors, resistors and capacitors take the solar lamp to a local electronics shop and let them determine if it is the light sensor or something else.
Not the batteries?
If it is indeed an issue with the solar board, why throw-out otherwise good garden lights? Another reason they could need replacing is if the LED bulb simply stops working. Depending on the cost and size of the light fixture, it may or may not be advantageous to replace the whole thing. Obviously, if it’s a cheaper lamp, then the cost to buy a new one probably outweighs the pains of trying to fix it. If this is the case, replace it (or them) with more durable, weather-resistant models.
For larger, more permanent installations, it is more cost-effective to replace only the part that has died or is malfunctioning. For light sources, stay away from incandescent bulbs—as they are extremely inefficient as solar lights. Halogen bulbs are a spot more efficient, but not by much. The bulb you really want will be LED—the energy efficiency is greater than any other.
Which brings the last point to light—choose a bulb that has the highest light to heat ratio—that means that the more light that is gained from conversion than the inevitable heat, the more efficiency will be gained.
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