Designers Edge L-949 10 LED Rechargeable Solar Panel Shed Light
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List Price: Our Price: $16.65 You Save: $40.34 (71%) Availability: Usually ships in 2-3 business days Category: Lighting See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Designers Edge L-949 10 LED Rechargeable Solar Panel Shed Light
Customer Review: Installed in a Run-in Shed
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased and installed this light this month (January 2011) and so will have to come back with a follow up review, but here are my initial impressions:
We bought this light because we did not want a motion detector, but a pull switch. My wife and I consider the light provided to be more than adequate. We installed this in a run-in shed for horses, in a space where we store hay and blankets, etc. We do not need to engage in fine hand motor skill type work. The space is 5'(w) x 20'(d) x 15'(h). We may install a second light in the actual space where the horses hang out, which is much larger of course, being 30' wide, same depth and height.
Before installation, I noticed that the three rechargeable batteries were AA, and only 600mA a piece. I am marking down the initial score I have given this product due to the provided batteries. I replaced them with Eneloop batteries (purchased from Amazon) which are 2000mA a piece. That will dramatically increase the light time. So far, we have not run the batteries to empty.
We like this product. it was easy to install and does what is says it will do.
I will revisit at the six month point if I remember, which will probably mean that something went wrong.
Customer Review: Installs Easily
Summary: 3 Stars
The panel installed easily.The light is not very bright at all, even in total darkness. I guess it is better than no light at all.Customer Review: It's acceptable but needs improvement- not bad for the price
Summary: 3 Stars
I purchased this item for a 10x15 shed. A lot of people of commented on the amount of light this thing throws out so let me start the review with that.
This shed light is powered by 3 AA batteries that get recharged by the solar panel. The solar panel does not provide any direct power for the lights and that is not what it is designed to do. If you expect 3 AA batteries to provide the same amount of power and therefore light as a 120 volt AC shop light you are going to be disappointed in this product, or ANY product that provides light from 3 AA batteries. If you expect it to provide the same amount of light as a flashlight powered by 3AA batteries then this product is going to deliver exactly what you expect out of it. In my 10X15 shed this product delivers about as much light as a night light. The light it emits is an unnatural blue color but it is adequate. It will keep you from tripping over stuff and help you to make out the difference between a lawn mower and a leaf blower in otherwise complete darkness. It is not suitable for performing detailed work and is not a substitute for lighting that would normally require an electrical connection. When used during the day with the shed door open, using this light does not increase the ambient light inside the shed at all- normal daylight completely washes out the shed light. This light is very useful at night.
The product documentation is severely limited but installation is fairly common sense. The screws that come with the unit are inadequate drywall screws and the Phillips heads will strip when you try to drill them into real wood. For some reason it also comes with drywall anchors as if your shed is going to be finished with drywall. If your shed has drywall it probably also has electricity and you wouldn't be reading this review. The product comes with a large threaded L bracket that is not in the documentation. It looks like it can be used as an alternate mounting bracket but you would have to partially disassemble the solar panel to use it. I threw it in the recycling along with the NiCad batteries.
The product comes with 3 AA NiCad batteries. I recommend that you immediately recycle them responsibly upon opening the box and use NiMH batteries. For one, NiCad batteries have a memory effect that modern batteries do not and they are poorly suited to solar chargers due to the charging cycles associated with a dubious power supply. Secondly, the flawed design of this shed light requires you to unscrew the "permanent" mounting in order to change the batteries. While NiCad batteries would have to be replaced annually NiMH batteries should last many years in this configuration and also can supply 6X the amount of power (longer running time) than NiCads.
Another flaw of this product is that the 3/16" cord running from the solar panel to the light unit has an approximately 1/8" plug but unfortunately it has a useless L configured plug that will require you to drill nearly a 1" hole in your shed to fit it through. I'm not sure what was going through the engineer's mind when this ridiculous feature was added but hopefully the manufacturer will fix this problem if the product is ever updated.
While the LED lights in this product have a very long running time (especially if you recycle the NiCad batteries as I recommend) most people don't need to spend hours in their shed. They would go in, fetch what they need, and then turn the light out. This product would be a lot more useful if it provided much more light for a shorter period of time. I think a running time of 1 hour per day is way more than adequate. I would prefer to have 4x the amount of light for 1 hour than I having ¼ the light for 4 hours in a shed light.
I purchased this product knowing all the limitations and I am happy with it. It performs exactly as I expected and it functioned right of the box. Some of the design elements are cheap and you should plan on having upgraded batteries and screws on hand before you attempt to install it. You will not want to unscrew the light and reinstall it to swap out the NiCads later, especially if you attempt to use the cheap included screws that will most certainly strip.
The fact that you have to completely uninstall this unit in order to change the batteries highlights another feature that it is missing. It is not portable at all. A great feature it could have had was to be portable- imagine if the power went out and you knew you had a portable light source in your shed that could be quickly snapped out of its housing and used elsewhere. Or if you had some dead AA batteries you wanted to charge with your solar charger. The manufacturers really missed the boat on this one.
Customer Review: It's done OK by me
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased this item to put in my barn. So far it has worked fine. Easy to install. 16' cord was plenty for me. Reading other reviews, it could have been made better, but hey its GREEN and only about $ 25. If it works for me thru the spring, I will be more than pleased and will have felt I will have gotten my money's worth.Customer Review: Junk
Summary: 1 Stars
What a piece of JUNK!!!!!! I can see that there are two rows of lights inside, but only one row will light. It looka like there should be a switch to choose between one row or two rows of lights but the instructions don't give any advise on that. I won't be buying anything else fron Designers Edge in the future!!