Hello from a new member!

P

PepsiMax

New elf
Joined
Oct 19, 2015
Messages
1
Hi everyone,
Just wanted to intro myself.
I'm a 23 year old girl from NSW who works jobs, volunteers weekly, and studies at uni as well-but who also LOVES Christmas lights (on a budget).
I've been dabbling round with very very basic Chrissie lights for years, and figured its time I get a little bit (just a bit!) more involved and complicated.
So I found you guys! :)
I'm just gonna read some of the recommended 'reading material' for newbies, but I have a question that I don't think will be answered in them- (actually, I have 2 questions!);
1) I'm looking at rope lights to line a garden wall, and was wondering if you could get connectable solar powered ones? I've seen solar powered, and I've seen connectable, but never both qualities in one. Is there a reason for this??
2) Maybe I dreamed this up, but I swear there was a time in the last 5 years, when one could buy an outdoor power outlet that was solar powered. But a google/ebay search is not turning up any useful results. Any one know of anything like this? (it would really solve my lack of connectable solar powered rope lights problem) Or am I just crazy and inventing things that seem so convincing that I think they are real? :S
Thanks all, I look forward to many more chats leading up to Christmas!
Kindest regards,
Maxine (aka PepsiMax)
 
Welcome to ACL

Solar lights are not commonly used here and ropelights aren't that common either. We use RGB strips because they can be made whatever length you want and you can make them connectable. Solar power just doesn't work with the types of displays we have because the voltage and current supplied are too low for central power distribution. For this same reason it is not likely that you're going to find connectable solar lights; their power system simply can't handle extra lights and there would be too much voltage drop if it could. I'm surprised that pog has found those; they must have a higher voltage and power capacity.

If you're wanting to use solar power and computer control then it could still be done with a DC controller and relays but you'd forfeit the ability to fade the lights up and down; they'd just be ON or OFF. Your DC controller wouldn't be solar powered. It's not worth it IMO; My sets of 200 store-bought LED lights draw about 7 watts each.

There is a category of RGB light called pixels. These draw more power but they're brighter and most of them let you have full control of the colour and brightness of every single light.

Don't buy the light sets with a multi-function controller and only two wires going to the lights.

You're going to struggle to get things set up for this year if you want computer control; the first year is the hardest. Don't give up on the idea though. It will be worth it regardless of when you manage it and the sooner you start learning, the easier it will be.
 
G'day Maxine, welcome to ACL. You've come to the right place for information and inspiration. There are many talented, friendly and helpful members here. You sound like you're very busy with work, studies and volunteering and it's great that you're finding time to light up as well. It brings a lot of joy to a lot of people.
I'm not sure about your solar rope lights. It's something I haven't looked into. I'm not saying they're not available in some form, I just haven't come across them. If they're available, I'm sure someone here will know about them. As I13 suggested, solar lights aren't widely used here, but that doesn't mean they can't be incorporated in some way. Again, I'm sure there are members who may be able to help here. As i13 also suggested, there are other options that you may want to investigate. If you can post up a pic of you're canvas (house) and what you'd like to achieve, it will help others to help you too. This is one of the busiest times of year for ACL members as they are getting ready for lights on.
It's great that you have found ACL and I'm sure youRe CLAP (Christmas Lighting Addiction Problem) will now intensify.
 
Hey Maxine,


Welcome to ACL, you will certainly find a lot of useful information on these forums, and maybe even a little bit of useless information.


Solar lights are a great set and forget way to start decorating your house at xmas time, you can put then out in your yard, set them to Auto mode so that when the sun goes down the lights come on and when they run out of juice the lights go off, when they are new this can be as long as until the sun starts to come up. I ran Solar icicle lights on my house for a good 2 to 3 years, unfortunately though after the first year the battery starts to go, doesn't hold as much charge, lights don't stay on as long at night and they also start looking a little dull. After the third year they start looking very second hand and your lucky to get a good 4 hours off a full charge.


I have certainly spent enough money changing from incandescent to LED to Solar and now to Pixels so it is certainly a progression and depending on how much time effort energy and money you have to throw at it depends on what you can do. My basic display with solar stuff still had people stopping out the front and commenting on how awesome it looks, people appreciate what ever you can put up.


Good luck with this year.
 
Welcome.gif

to ACL Maxine
 
Back
Top