How to light a room without electricity – clever ways
Many gardeners and suburbanites try to use various “technologies” to get lighting for outbuildings such as the shed, garage, basement, as well as garden areas and paths near the recreation area.
There are simple technologies that use an ordinary water bottle mounted on the roof of the shed or a special compound of several components as a light source…
Figure 1 shows the mounting design of a 2-liter PET bottle secured in the spacing of a cut-out hole.
The bottle is inserted into the hole in the roof from the bottom up. It is then carefully sealed with polyester resin. This installation arrangement will protect the room from atmospheric precipitation, that is, it will make it watertight.
It has been observed that plastic lamps work best with black hubcaps. As a result of technical measurements, it was found that the brightness of the lamp also depends on the intensity of sunlight. Thus, the power of a two-liter bottle is roughly comparable to an electric lamp of 40-60 watts. Such a need may arise during the construction and arrangement of the site, when there is not yet a permanent source of electricity.
The original and simple idea of decorating a dacha lamp by painting the glass with multicolored fluorescent paints (Fig.
2), applied to the inner surface of the glass in the form of irregularly shaped spots. Accumulating daylight during the day, the lenses gently glow different shades of neon blue, yellow, or pink at night. By placing glass containers of different heights and diameters, colored with appropriate phosphors, you can create a bright color group in the garden, which will illuminate the path to the recreation area (Fig. 2), house or flower bed.
Even traditional household items can become a decorative addition to the interior. These can be items with existing perforations that can create points of light of unusual beauty.
For example, an ordinary vegetable grater, colander or colander will turn into a finished lamp shade.
You can use a decorative lantern for lighting. This will require an ordinary 0.5-liter can filled with a strongly carbonated beverage. Adding 4 tsp of ordinary baking powder, and then 12 tsp of 30% hydrogen peroxide, the jar is sealed and shaken vigorously until a chemical reaction occurs. The resulting substance is very bright glowing in the dark.
There is another simple recipe for luminous water. For example: 20 ml of pure water, some laundry detergent, 10 ml of hydrogen peroxide (3%), 5 ml of luminol solution (3%), a few crystals of potassium permanganate.
Thus, an old jug turns into a garden lantern (Fig. 2) or a night light. And if you put them in a wooden or metal case, and then hang them on a tree branch or install them along a walkway, you create a cozy lighting atmosphere (Fig. 3).
The idea of generating electricity from potatoes is interesting (Fig. 4). The scheme is quite simple – copper and zinc electrodes, plus boiled potatoes, which independently produce electricity.
At the same time, the use of salted potatoes increases the battery charge by about 10 times. Therefore, before “inventing” such a source of light, you should first cook the potatoes and not use them raw. The life of potato batteries ranges from one or two days to several weeks, and the cost of such batteries is many times lower than the store ones.
Such potato lemon batteries need to be changed every two or three days. In this situation, the potato plays the role of the electrolyte, so you can use other products such as: B. lemon, banana, orange (Fig. 5). And copper coins can be used as electrodes.
Another way to decorate the garden is phosphorus powder and paints based on this powder. And you can create luminous objects yourself. Ordinary natural stones are also suitable for dyeing.
You can also paint flower pots, garden sculptures and other small architectural forms.
This method is also called “memory powder lighting.”
The luminous substances vary in brightness of luminescence, water resistance. Thanks to a small portion of transparent glue, varnish or liquid glass, the luminescent substance is “attached” to various materials and becomes a source of light emission. This bright decoration can be attached to any surface such as stone, metal, concrete, wood, plastic, etc. To do this, the surface is cleaned, washed and dried. Then it is painted with a roller, a piece of foam rubber or a brush. Note that the surface prepared for painting is dark and therefore absorbs a significant portion of the radiation energy. Therefore, it makes sense to first prime the surface or remove the whitewash, and then apply the composition.
This bright color can also be used to decorate garden paths (tiles, paving stones, bricks, etc.), to highlight borders, individual stones in the garden or on the lawn, on well walls and at rocks in the plot.
The attached pictures show the different uses of LED lamps built into paving stones (Fig. 6), as well as freestanding lamps in the recreation area and on garden paths.
Interesting sources of light in vertical installations with lamps SLR, which are installed in bushes, various arches, under which rectangular blocks of LED paving stones are mounted. This design in the garden creates a kind of light game in which the evening walk along the walkways turns into a walk through a fairy tale forest (Fig. 7).
To summarize, we can say that the possibilities for obtaining a universal convenient, uncomplicated and absolutely safe source of light both in the house and for street lighting in the suburban area are sufficient.
The organic garden: how to ingeniously light the garden without electricity?
The coming mild summer evenings encourage more free time in the garden. For this reason, it is worth taking care beforehand of suitable lighting that will accentuate the character of the home landscape. Solar powered garden lights are perfect for this purpose!
Solar lights – are they worth it?
Solar lights are especially recommended as lighting in an already established garden or in a garden that does not have the ability to connect to electricity. Not only can they help to illuminate the garden, but they can also help to reduce the considerable energy costs of conventional lighting.
Thanks to the longevity of photovoltaic cells (their lifetime is up to 20 years, and the LED can last up to 100,000 hours), solar lamps appear to be an energy-saving alternative to standard garden lighting that requires connection to the grid. These devices get their energy from renewable natural sources, so that the ecological nature of the garden is not disturbed.
In addition, the solar lights have a built-in “twilight sensor” that automatically turns on the lamp after sunset. This solution eliminates the need to install separate fixtures to turn garden lights on and off.
How do solar lamps work?
Solar lamps are based on a photovoltaic cell (a transducer required for photovoltaic conversion, in which solar energy is converted into electrical energy); it is charged during the day, with the electricity remaining in a battery. After dark, the lamp switches on automatically and gently illuminates garden paths, stairs, patio and other elements of the garden architecture.
On the market you will find a wide range of solar lights with original design.
Źródło: www.pinterest.com
Where can I place solar lamps?
Choose a place with strong sunlight to install the lamps. Remember – for the lamp to shine at night, an appropriate amount of solar energy must be retained during the day. Placement in shady places makes it impossible to fully load the battery, which greatly reduces the lamp’s operating time (when properly charged, the selected areas of the garden should illuminate continuously for about 8 hours).
Also pay attention to the placement of artificial light sources (street lights, stalking lights, etc.). Placing solar lights next to them will disrupt the correct operation of the twilight sensor and will not automatically turn the lights on.
How to take care of solar lights?
The proper operation of solar lamps depends largely on the degree of contamination of the solar cell. Precipitation of dust, sand and other contaminants reduces its permeability to sunlight, resulting in the battery is not fully charged. Consequently, the life of the lamp farm is reduced. In the extreme case, a dirty and long-dormant bulb can fail. To get the element in good condition, wipe it down regularly with a damp cloth.
Most solar lamps are also adapted to cold winter weather. Like the contamination mentioned above, snow can shorten the life of the battery, so the best solution is to store the bulbs for the winter in a storage room, garage, or other indoor area. However, if you choose to leave them outside, keep them clean. Keep the lamp under a layer of snow for at least 12 hours after thawing (until the battery is fully charged).
If you want to light your garden easily without incurring excessive costs, look into solar lights. Energy savers, require no cables and are weatherproof. They are also an attractive decorative element. They are also ideal for lighting the parts of the garden that you want to highlight the most: paths, flowerbeds, walls or ponds.
