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Designers Edge L-949 10 LED Rechargeable Solar Panel Shed Light Model |  | Brand: Designers Edge
Category: Home Improvement
List Price: $27.99
Buy New: $15.99
as of 11/20/2009 19:41 CST details
You Save: $12.00 (43%)
New (9) from $15.99
Seller: I Need Stuff
Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 344
Media: Tools & Hardware
Number Of Items: 1
Batteries Included: Yes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 12 x 12 x 3
MPN: L-949
Model: L-949
UPC: 090529619982
EAN: 0090529619982
ASIN: B0013HPNRY
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Super bright 100,000 hour LEDs | | • | Glass protected multi crystal solar panel designed for outdoor applications | | • | 20-Foot Extension cord allows solar panel to be placed in direct sunlight | | • | Features two power settings | | • | Can be wall or pole mounted up to 20 feet away from fixture |
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Product Description
Bring light to your dark shed, without having to connect to your local power grid. This LED shed light features 10 bright LED's that are powered via a solar panel. The panel can be placed in direct sunshine with the included 20-foot extension cord. Mount the light on the ceiling or wall for maximum flexibility, or use it as a utility light for a work bench. A pull chain allows easy on and off. A switch on the body lets you select between 10 LED's that last 2 hours, or 5 LED's that last 4 hours. The LED's have an average rated life of 100,000 hours, ensuring years of continuous use. The solar panel has a glass cover for protection in wet locations. Includes three AA rechargeable batteries and all mounting hardware. This fixture is approved for damp location use as defined by the National Electric Code. Please consult your local electrical code for details. DL # 274093.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 16
 It's acceptable but needs improvement- not bad for the price November 7, 2009
Mr. Steve W. Robertson
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 now would you? 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 trash along with the NiCad batteries.
The product comes with 3 AA NiCad batteries. I recommend that you immediately dispose of them 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 get rid of 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.
 Great light for the shed! October 22, 2009
Nick Ryan (Orange Country, California)
This is a great light for the shed. It has a good pull switch which is easy to use. The extension cord from the solar panel is quite long and that makes it usefully if you have a large shed. I have the settings on this for the 10 LEDs because I don't spend that much time in the shed. When I do go in the shed then I want as much light as these 10 LEDs give. If you have the light on in the daytime then you can not really tell that it is on but you can tell when it is pitch black in there. The light is a white bluish light which is great because it does not attract any bugs. The light is well made and it looks like it can stand a few drops. I like how there is a indicator on the light when it is getting charged by the sun. When the sun is setting the light is still gets charged a little. The red indicator slowly dims until the sun is completely gone. I would of also liked if the end of the cord had some kind of a glowing substance on it. It is hard to find unless you have it right by the entrance of the shed.
great item August 6, 2009
Susan E. Becker
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Installed easily. Bought it to light my pigeon loft which is 16 x 20 for feeding in morning. Provides enough light so I'm not stepping on birds. Works very well. Would recommend.
Light runs forever, just not that bright May 30, 2009
Bobby McGee (Los Angeles)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
First i would like to say this clearly states "Shed light" but i am currently using it in a small garage. Right out the box the batteries came charged and ready to use, so i first drained them by leaving the light on to see how long it would take to drain then charge. It took maybe about 10 hours for the batteries to drain.... 10 FREAKIN HOURS OF JUICE!! partly due to the fact the LED lights are weak. I would love to see them upgrade to stronger LED's even if it means 1 hour of run time. Who really needs this to be on for 10 hours in a shed/garage? after one sunny day the batteries are charged and the light is ready to be used. I'm sure in a small shed this works really well, in a 10x12ft garage this gives me enough light to locate what i need and be on my way. I might swap out the LED's for stronger ones, but i guess that would defeat the purpose of buying this item which comes as a set (panel and light)
Decent light; be careful with installation April 13, 2009
J. Lu (New York, NY)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
The light output is decent and the installation steps are pretty straightforward. However, there are two issues to take note of.
1) The screws included are not very good. They strip pretty easily. At one point, while trying to attach the light to the wall, the heads stripped badly with the screw only 1/2 way in. I have to use a hacksaw and cut the screw from behind and used my own set of screws.
2) The battery access door is on the back of the light unit. When attached to the wall, you can't get access to the door without unscrewing the entire unit. Normally, you'd need to replace the battery once a year, so unscrewing it from the wall would be a pain. I'm going to look into finding an alternative way to mount the light, which keeps the battery door more accessible.
Aside from these two points, everything else is good and I'm relatively happy with this light.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 16
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