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Wanting a simple, inexpensive set-up to run a single light in a yurt.

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  • #16
    Originally posted by Gyro View Post
    Geez Russ...not sure why you are trashing this guy's product line. People pay a premium for the convenience and simplicity of plug and play type systems. I'm sure he offers great customer support too as he cares enough about his company and products to respond to someone calling his products "expensive junk" on a solar forum thread.
    1) Because you determine someting to be "good" we all have to bow to a product line that is quite overpriced?

    2) Customer service is great you guess - wow - NOT!

    3) plug and play? Where

    4 product description for a 12 volt lamp - generally meaningless and incorrect chatter.

    • Adds nothing to your power bill. Unaffected by power outages. true
    • 12V direct-current system is simple and safe enough to install yourself. Generally installs in under 2 hours with basic tools. Depends on how and where - meaningless statement
    • Includes 5 Watt solar panel, charge controller, 12 Volt 5 amp-hour battery, bright LED light fixture, and all required mounting hardware. A 5 whole watt panel
    • Can be controlled using integrated switch or by adding a remote control or motion sensor, or on a schedule by adding a timer.
    • With optimum placement of solar panel, light can be used 5+ hours every day (drains battery only as much as a day's sun puts in). Emergency use for 25 hours straight (completely drain battery) without any solar recharge emphasis on the optimum placement - such as in front of a bright lamp. Depends on weather and insolation
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

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    • #17
      Originally posted by Amy@altE View Post
      .... I think they should include info about how much light to expect from it, comparing it to an incandescent light wattage would be helpful. ...

      Amy
      I agree it would be better to provide the lumen output, wattage or incandescent comparison for those 12V DC Solar LED lighting systems instead of just using the words "super bright LED" and "bright LED".

      He does provides the lumen output and wattage for his 12V DC Exclamation Light as well as all of the AC lights so he is not afraid of being too technical with his customers.

      I feel the lack of providing the lumen and wattage information for the Solar LED systems and using the words "super" and "bright" is misleading. Especially when you look at the high costs for those products.

      His products may be high quality but not providing simple specifications could lead to the "unaware" or "easily fooled" into getting something much less than what they thought they should be getting.

      I know I can purchase a battery operated LED lantern with rechargeable batteries for a lot less than $250 and it is low tech and real easy to use.

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      • #18
        Russ

        Any ideas or solutions for the original post?

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        • #19
          Originally posted by Gyro View Post
          Russ

          Any ideas or solutions for the original post?
          I think your suggestion about the Maple Solar is a good one (although I did not see a cost for it). It comes down to how much light the OP really needs.

          General lighting only requires a few hundred Lumens. Reading requires about 800 to 1000 lumens. If I was the OP I would look for a low wattage LED light for general lighting which can be fed from a small battery and small wattage pv panel to recharge but would not spend more than $100.

          For reading I would go with a portable or (movable) light source that provides direct light on my reading material. There are a lot of relatively low cost LED table or desk lights that run off of batteries. If he just needs some light to see his laptop screen then you can go with a much lower lumen output.

          Everyone has their own comfort level for task and area lighting which can (and should) be achieved using multiple sources of light. No one solution fits all requirements.

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          • #20
            Originally posted by SunEagle View Post
            I think your suggestion about the Maple Solar is a good one (although I did not see a cost for it).
            Between 80$ and 200$ depending on the sales site and how bad they want to gouge the customer. The 80$ is probably worth it.
            [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

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            • #21
              Likely the simplest/cheapest option is to go with all easily attained off the shelf items for this. An off the shelf 12V Solar battery charger (doesn't have to be very large). Sealed Lead Acid batter, and some 12 volt LED dome lights (typical RV or marine fixtures). An inline fuse to protect things, and that's it. The panel will keep the battery charged when it can. The lights will provide very good light for the power usage. A larger battery will provide more sunless usage time.

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              • #22
                Why do you need the solar panel and CC portion at all? A simple 12V battery and 12V LED with some alligator clips would meet you needs, then just take the battery back to your home and recharge it for the next trip.
                1150W, Midnite Classic 200, Cotek PSW, 8 T-605s

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                • #23
                  Originally posted by thastinger View Post
                  Why do you need the solar panel and CC portion at all? A simple 12V battery and 12V LED with some alligator clips would meet you needs, then just take the battery back to your home and recharge it for the next trip.
                  I don't think it was clear how much stay time he had in the yurt. Plus, the cost of a solar panel with a very simple voltage limiting controller is worth it to me to simply not have to worry about it. Hell, I wired up my kids playhouse like this and I had power available 10 feet away.

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                  • #24
                    Also hauling a battery back and forth in the winter may require that to be on his back, hence more weight. Might not be practical. I went through this exercise and decided on these as I did not like the noise of propane lanterns. I am currently runny the same batteries now for a year.

                    http://www.rei.com/product/849215/co...d|64530459760|

                    I am currently runny the same batteries now for a year. I have the rechargeable battery packs as back up but never use them. Keep the batteries fresh and they are bright enough. My wife uses two at once when she is reading. You can buy a lot of these and the C batteries to go with them for what a AGM, Panel, CC is going to cost you.

                    Just my $.02

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                    • #25
                      Originally posted by mschulz View Post
                      Also hauling a battery back and forth in the winter may require that to be on his back, hence more weight. Might not be practical. I went through this exercise and decided on these as I did not like the noise of propane lanterns. I am currently runny the same batteries now for a year.

                      http://www.rei.com/product/849215/co...d|64530459760|

                      I am currently runny the same batteries now for a year. I have the rechargeable battery packs as back up but never use them. Keep the batteries fresh and they are bright enough. My wife uses two at once when she is reading. You can buy a lot of these and the C batteries to go with them for what a AGM, Panel, CC is going to cost you.

                      Just my $.02
                      That lantern is what I was referring to in post #17. They are easy to use, not expensive and provide a lot of light where you need it.

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                      • #26
                        Wow. Hadn't checked this thread in a while and was surprised at what I found. Moderators, I always assumed, were supposed to be fair. Russ, whether you are right or wrong about Yeti, there is no reason to be mean about it. It serves no one.

                        Back to the original subject.... thanks to everyone for the help! I was impressed by the Yeti owner's response so took another gander around his website. Looks good. However, I ended up buying a UST 60 Day lantern well before I checked this thread. Thus far, I have six nights on this thing with no hint of slowing down...and that's on the cheaper Ray-O-Vac batteries. Works ok for reading when close to it...and it puts out an ok amount of light for general tasks when it's in the center of the yurt. However, I'd still like more light. Don't recall why I skipped over the Coleman Classic that was linked to. Perhaps I'll try one of those in addition to the 60 Day, I don't know. Right now, the 60 Day will be fine.

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                        • #27
                          Originally posted by fishugly View Post
                          Wow. Hadn't checked this thread in a while and was surprised at what I found. Moderators, I always assumed, were supposed to be fair. Russ, whether you are right or wrong about Yeti, there is no reason to be mean about it. It serves no one.

                          Back to the original subject.... thanks to everyone for the help! I was impressed by the Yeti owner's response so took another gander around his website. Looks good. However, I ended up buying a UST 60 Day lantern well before I checked this thread. Thus far, I have six nights on this thing with no hint of slowing down...and that's on the cheaper Ray-O-Vac batteries. Works ok for reading when close to it...and it puts out an ok amount of light for general tasks when it's in the center of the yurt. However, I'd still like more light. Don't recall why I skipped over the Coleman Classic that was linked to. Perhaps I'll try one of those in addition to the 60 Day, I don't know. Right now, the 60 Day will be fine.
                          Glad it all worked out for you. It is always a good idea to have enough light to read by otherwise your eyes start to hurt.

                          Comment


                          • #28
                            Originally posted by fishugly View Post
                            Wow. Hadn't checked this thread in a while and was surprised at what I found. Moderators, I always assumed, were supposed to be fair. Russ, whether you are right or wrong about Yeti, there is no reason to be mean about it. It serves no one.

                            Back to the original subject.... thanks to everyone for the help! I was impressed by the Yeti owner's response so took another gander around his website. Looks good. However, I ended up buying a UST 60 Day lantern well before I checked this thread. Thus far, I have six nights on this thing with no hint of slowing down...and that's on the cheaper Ray-O-Vac batteries. Works ok for reading when close to it...and it puts out an ok amount of light for general tasks when it's in the center of the yurt. However, I'd still like more light. Don't recall why I skipped over the Coleman Classic that was linked to. Perhaps I'll try one of those in addition to the 60 Day, I don't know. Right now, the 60 Day will be fine.
                            Nice work. You just saved yourself a bunch of $$ and maint.

                            Comment


                            • #29
                              Originally posted by fishugly View Post
                              Moderators, I always assumed, were supposed to be fair. Russ, whether you are right or wrong about Yeti, there is no reason to be mean about it. It serves no one. Poor fellow! Don't assume things and I was not brought up in the "everybody gets a ribbon generation".

                              Back to the original subject.... thanks to everyone for the help! I was impressed by the Yeti owner's response so took another gander around his website. Looks good. Expensive for what is offered - when you are selling over priced stuff it is necessary to be nice.

                              However, I ended up buying a UST 60 Day lantern
                              ​You got smart and bought something at a more reasonable price.
                              [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

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