Westinghouse makes quality outdoor lights. Great deal at $2 each, and if they are placed right, they can really make your house or garden look great at night.

These look pretty craptacular. Anyone know if switching the 350mah battery out for a 2000mah eneloop would be worth the trouble?

lichme wrote:Westinghouse makes quality outdoor lights. Great deal at $2 each, and if they are placed right, they can really make your house or garden look great at night.

These are only $2.49 a piece.

Anybody know what kind of light these put out? Is it the stark bluish alien type light or the warm yellow human type light.

Ben's Outlet: $29.99 vs. $19.99 tonight:
http://bensoutlet.com/products/westinghouse-10-piece-solar-light-set

They sold it last November for the $19.99 price tonight, but obviously the price went back up.

Does anyone know where I can get solar lights with a singular remote solar panel? You see the front of my house doesn't get a lot of sun light. And if I could get one with remote solar panel, I can place the panel elsewhere where there's sun and lights in the shaded areas. TIA

I would not recommend ANY solar garden lighting set, no matter the brand. I have bought 3 different sets from different manufactures and they all ended up in the recycling bin within 6 month. Here are the reasons they fail:
1. The included cheap Ni-Cad batteries do not last. They may work initially, but they wear out quickly. I switched them to NiMH batteries with same results. The batteries simply can not tolerate the cycles.
2. The cheap solar panel used will worn out quickly. I live in Southern California, so the sun is brutal in summer. The sun simply cooked it to death: they started to peel and dis-color within months, along with its efficiency.

The only type of solar light I use has lithium-polymer battery and cost a LOT more. Oh, it is not a garden light, but a solar motion light.

wonbadan wrote:I live in Southern California

That alone is the source of the majority of your problems.

simonwang wrote:Does anyone know where I can get solar lights with a singular remote solar panel? You see the front of my house doesn't get a lot of sun light. And if I could get one with remote solar panel, I can place the panel elsewhere where there's sun and lights in the shaded areas. TIA

http://www.target.com/p/smith-hawken-2-pack-solar-rock-lights-sandstone-brown/-/A-12902908

I have these and they are much brighter than the usual solar lights. I live in Oregon and my set has lasted thru summer and winter. The lights come on each night even after many rainy days. There is one remote panel for each 2-light set. It attaches to each light via a 6' cord. You can see the reviews are mixed. I've had good luck. However, it is true that the plugs are very loose and fall out easily.

I've had some experience with these and other solar lighting and believe a number of these offers stem from overstock that didn't sell through normal channels. Seems like these batteries have a finite shelf life and I wouldn't be surprised if one or more of these lamps is non functional or very short lived.

Replacements are generally 'AA' or a 2/3's size 'AA' as I recall. Think replacement batteries will run about $2-$3 ea.

Has anyone else had the same experience or know a good source for quality repl batteries?

Lastly, they're very dependent on the light received to the run time in the evenings.

readymade wrote:Anybody know what kind of light these put out? Is it the stark bluish alien type light or the warm yellow human type light.

Yes these cast a lovely blue hue barely brighter then stars above. No human lights here.

In for 3 sets.

Light up my life.

readymade wrote:Anybody know what kind of light these put out? Is it the stark bluish alien type light or the warm yellow human type light.

Being that the boxes are written in French, I would guess the bluish type.

wootmeharder wrote:These look pretty craptacular. Anyone know if switching the 350mah battery out for a 2000mah eneloop would be worth the trouble?

I have a different version of these from Westinghouse-- two batteries per, metal housing, YMMV-- and they on average lasted 2-3 years on the original batteries. The batteries seem to be the main failure point. I replaced the batteries with eneloop (after the originals died) and after 2 more years, they're still working. Pitting of the solar cell from sun and wind exposure (we live in NM) seems to be the next worst failure mode (this degrades how much solar energy gets collected and thus how long the light will last into the night.

We have 18 solar lights in our yard, so it's a pretty good sample. Our lights were 4x more expensive at the time, so this is a pretty good deal. In fact, we paid about the same amount for just 2 solar spotlights, so on that basis alone I'll be buying a set.

Anyone know what the lumen output of these lights are?

I bought the exact same set for 20 on eBay with free shipping, no tax. Honestly for 20, you cannot go wrong. They light up my path nicely and also prevent stray cats from doing their business on a patch of dirt.

I drove around my neighborhood and these seem comparable to others and I bet they paid more, except the electricity powered ones.

I passed on earlier offering of this and was going to buy from Home Depot but found questionable sets at best for $20+.

In for one set; if I don't like the look on the walkway I can always use the top part and make solar jars for the deck.

In for one, just cause I want the guts for a cute DIY project I have in mind.

Driving back to the house after Hurricane Sandy, while several washed away, four remained, and all four still light. In for two.

... I DEMAND that we bring Stacey in on the home.woot stories. :D

(Okay, so they're discontinued, so what?! I bet she would be an EPIC New BFF for Chastity if she moved out to Cali with Greasy Joe. Stacey gets to dream, can't I?)

mapenny wrote:Driving back to the house after Hurricane Sandy, while several washed away, four remained, and all four still light. In for two.

The others likely blew inland and ended up in others yards and probably still work as well

wonbadan wrote:I would not recommend ANY solar garden lighting set, no matter the brand. I have bought 3 different sets from different manufactures and they all ended up in the recycling bin within 6 month. Here are the reasons they fail:
1. The included cheap Ni-Cad batteries do not last. They may work initially, but they wear out quickly. I switched them to NiMH batteries with same results. The batteries simply can not tolerate the cycles.
2. The cheap solar panel used will worn out quickly. I live in Southern California, so the sun is brutal in summer. The sun simply cooked it to death: they started to peel and dis-color within months, along with its efficiency.

The only type of solar light I use has lithium-polymer battery and cost a LOT more. Oh, it is not a garden light, but a solar motion light.

I read somewhere else that Ni-Cad's are preferable over NiMH or Li-Ion for solar lights as they charge quicker given the low current passed to them and are better for low drain devices (solar LED lights, remotes, radios, etc). NiMH and Li-Ion/Polymer batteries are good for high drain devices (camera's, Radio Control cars/planes, etc).

Every solar light I have taken apart uses Ni-Cad batteries so the question becomes: is that intention and thus optimal or just a way of providing cheaper components?

Either way, I can't imagine a higher mAh Eneloop or the like would hurt, but realize there is no way these cheap solar panels will ever charge them up fully during the day. The runtime/light-time is dictated by the quality of the solar panel, not the batteries. These cheap solar panels can't provide 2000 mAh's worth of energy during the sunlight hours and are more like 500 mAh worth of energy at best. The longevity of the batteries would of course benefit from better quality batteries.

Do squirrels like to chew on these as much as the ones I pitched last season?

wonbadan wrote:I would not recommend ANY solar garden lighting set, no matter the brand. I have bought 3 different sets from different manufactures and they all ended up in the recycling bin within 6 month. Here are the reasons they fail:
1. The included cheap Ni-Cad batteries do not last. They may work initially, but they wear out quickly. I switched them to NiMH batteries with same results. The batteries simply can not tolerate the cycles.
2. The cheap solar panel used will worn out quickly. I live in Southern California, so the sun is brutal in summer. The sun simply cooked it to death: they started to peel and dis-color within months, along with its efficiency.

The only type of solar light I use has lithium-polymer battery and cost a LOT more. Oh, it is not a garden light, but a solar motion light.

Spot on comment. You stole my thunder. The way to go is a low voltage system. I've had mine in place now for over 10 years with no problems and unlike the solar lamps I had before(3 sets), they actually put out some real light.

wootmeharder wrote:These look pretty craptacular. Anyone know if switching the 350mah battery out for a 2000mah eneloop would be worth the trouble?

My educated guess is the solar cell will never charge a 2000mah battery.

Also, I have a 12-pack of these lights of another brand, beware that while the LED and solar cell works fine 5+ years later, the battery is what doesn't hold up to the heat, the cold, or the constant charge/discharge - expect to replace that battery yearly.

We use these while camping. They are excellent for marking a site and in a pinch they can perform secondary duty as an emergency source of light.

R&D wrote:We use these while camping. They are excellent for marking a site and in a pinch they can perform secondary duty as an emergency source of light.

What a great idea! Really!

Received mine yesterday (2 sets), and installed them around noon.
I noticed while assembling them that they all lit when turned upside down once the light sensor was in the dark, so they were all 'pre-charged' (NiMH)-- at least minimally. Placed them around the pool and in full sunlight for the remainder of the day and when it got dark (around 6pm) they all lit up as anticipated.
So, all that to say:
1) batteries appear to be 'fresh'
2) the light is a pale blue (fine for my use around a pool)
3) the spot light will not allow you to send up the bat signal, but they did light the 7-8 ft palms I put them at the base of faintly, yet still well enough to see the tops on a dark moonless night like yesterday
4) instructions claim you can get about 1000 cycles from Ni-Cd, 500 from NiHM, 800 from NiMH LSD (low self discharge... not THAT LSD), and clearly state you may use higher capacity batteries.
5) Surprisingly, lights stayed on overnight (12 hours) with no noticeable dimming.
6) replacement batteries can be had cheaply from Harbor Freight, especially if you watch their sale flyer and apply a 20% off coupon on top of the sale price. Plus you will be able to get a FREE 25' tape measure, utility scissors, screwdriver set, LED flashlight, or multi-meter with another coupon!
7) Each light worked out to about $2 since the $5 shipping was spread out over several items ordered all on the same day.

As always, YMMV...

I realize this will most likely never get read, but thought it might come in handy if these ever come up again (and if they do I am in for 3 sets this time!)

Finally got around to opening the set I purchased; we have snow on the ground, so there is no hurry. Discovered that there are only 2 ground stakes in the box. Guess I'll call Westinghouse, but expect to spend for*ever* on hold, and will be amazed if they come through.

chey2 wrote:Finally got around to opening the set I purchased; we have snow on the ground, so there is no hurry. Discovered that there are only 2 ground stakes in the box. Guess I'll call Westinghouse, but expect to spend for*ever* on hold, and will be amazed if they come through.

Check again. I think the stakes are inserted into the stems for the single lights and the 2 you are seeing are for the spots.