A Full Moon Up Your Sideway (Maplin 30 LED High Power Solar Security Light)

Member Name: Nibelung

Product:	Maplin 30 LED High Power Solar Security Light
Date:	14/03/09 (352 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: No mains wiring needed - gentle rather than extreme lighting

Disadvantages: Couldn't floodlight a Subbuteo pitch.

Townies live in a world of light pollution.

Not only do we have a street lamp directly opposite our bedroom window (oh, so THAT'S what curtains are for!) but the man opposite insists on flooding his (illegally) paved-over front garden with 500 watts of halogen light every time a cat walks past - yes, I know it's there to light his way to the door when he drives home in the dark, but why don't people adjust the sensitivity of these 'PIR*' devices?

(*Passive Infra Red)

Anyway, it was with a degree of regret that I decided to do something similar to light the hard-standing at the top end of our drive right next to my house. For months, well possibly years, I've been finding a never ending number of cigarette butts all around my car and some on my windscreen.

At first I thought that birds must be rejecting them as nesting material and chucking them from the dizzy heights of my gutters, but after probably watching one too many CSI episodes, I realised that not many birds would make sure that they only chose the same variety of B&H cigarettes, unless of course there's such a thing as a Tobacco Tit, a Nitpicking Nightjar, a Pernickety Pratincole (look it up) or a Choosy Ouzel!

I can only conclude without resorting to surveillance cameras, that someone is finishing a crafty fag in our drive before entering a house where smoking is disapproved of. Harmless enough I suppose, but I still feel uneasy about a stranger hanging around in the gloom on my land.

Hence the security light.

However, I didn't want something to rival my opposite neighbour, and if possible I wanted to get away without yet more external mains wiring, which I think should be left to a qualified electrician, like bathroom wiring. Then, onto my mat, or rather into my e-mail inbox drops a flyer from www.maplin.co.uk, informing me that their High Power LED, Solar-Powered Security Light has been reduced to £29.99 from £39.99.

Now, LEDs might not sound like the stuff that could light a keyhole let alone a driveway, but things have moved on, as you'll know if you read my recent opinion on a bike headlamp! This is good news for power requirements too.

THE LAMP ARRIVES - PHANTOM BUTT CHUCKER OF OLDE WESTE LONDONE BE YE AFRAYDE, BE YE SORE AFRAYDE

Packed in a sturdy box, the package breaks down into two specific units.

1) The lamp unit itself and

2) The solar panel and 6 metres of connecting lead.

You also get a pack of correctly-sized screws and the flimsiest of instruction sheets.

Fortunately, the instruction sheet does go into considerable details as to how the thing (or rather both THINGS) should be fixed, supplying a template for any screw-holes that need to be drilled in advance. You have two way of affixing the main units. It can either sit on top of two protruding screws, dropping into place on two of those 'key-hole slot' affairs, or you can put longer screws right through lugs in the side and directly into the wall.

Fortunately, everything comes with a wide degree of 'swivel' to it, so much so that it could be fixed sideways-on to the area needing to be lit.

The solar panel is simpler, having a triangular base with a screw hole at each corner. The 6 metres of lead give you considerable leeway in positioning it, since irrespective of where you're trying to light, this needs to face south for maximum charge, preferably with a clear view to the sky (rather like a satellite dish).

Having done all this, it now comes down to adjusting the light - after all, having moaned about it, I don't want every cat, fox and squirrel in the area triggering it; just "The Phantom Fag-End Lobber of Olde Weste Londone", and possibly me and my own car as it approaches.

There are two adjustments that you can make. One is sensitivity, which is just what I was talking about - you need to 'play' with this until your own approach just about does the job. That way, smaller mammals won't.

The other is the timer - this can be set over a wide range on 'On Times' from 4 seconds to 30 seconds. This doesn't mean that it switches off after those times elapse, but more like 4 to 30 seconds after no more 'warm movement' was detected. Actually it doesn't need to be an animate object - anything with a high enough ambient temperature triggers it, hence an approaching car bonnet will do but you don't have to wait for your car to cool down - as soon as it stops moving the timing begins.

Compared to the light I have over the patio doors, I couldn't help thinking that there was one key adjustment missing. After all, the other light has an adjuster for light levels - i.e. how soon do you want it to operate after sun-down?

This lamp has no such setting, which left me wondering how it knows NOT to switch on in broad daylight.

Then it dawned on me (the idea, not the sun-rise!) that it only works when it isn't charging enough, i.e. when there's no light! Fiendish clever, these...errr........that's a point, I've no idea where it's made and I've gotten rid of the box. I think the smart money's on China.

IN OPERATION

You'd never suggest to your local football team that they floodlight their pitch with these, unless of course you were thoroughly ashamed of them, and preferred not to see what was going on around their goal mouth.

The light is still a little 'wan' owing more to a full moon than third rock from the Sun, but perfectly adequate for lighting an area previously in total darkness - mine is as it's shaded from the opposite street lamp by trees in my garden.

At first you think it hasn't seen you, as it takes a split second to react to your approach. Likewise, as with the light in the fridge where there's always that sneaking suspicion that it didn't go out, leaving you to open the door to check (!?), you do feel tempted to round the corner again just to see if you can trust it out alone on its own.

To a certain extent, if it triggers too often or for too long doesn't really matter, as once charged, it has up to nine hours battery life, which is an awful lot of 30-second 'lightings up'. Besides which, thanks to its position, it's not going to bother anyone (except perhaps my mystery guest who will hopefully take exception to having his/her cravings for tobacco spot-lit). It could have been worse - it could have been syringes.

PROS & CONS

On the 'for side', it doesn't need external mains wiring, and the solar panel can be sited some considerable distance fro the light to get maximum advantage from strong sun/daylight. If you can call it an advantage, it's not very bright. Up till now, these security lights have started to become a public nuisance with their 300 or 500 watt halogen tubes, and at least I've not joined those ranks in this case.

On the 'con' side, don't expect to be bathed in artificial daylight, like an alien abduction is about to take place as you're sucked into the mother-ship. At £29.95, it's now considerably dearer than many 'ordinary' floodlights, although this is more a reflection of how cheap existing electrical goods are getting. This would also be good for lighting the approach to a front door without blinding the incomer so that they then trip over the front step!

The instructions are woefully inadequate on any subject other than screwing it to a wall. There's no indication on how long it should be charged before you can expect it to work. This could lead to a lot of them being returned as 'dead on arrival', I'd guess. It took me a couple of winter days, one of them sunny to get it up to strength.

The internal batteries are Nickel-Cadmium, which is not exactly 'green', and these will need 'thoughtful' disposal at the end of their working life, but at least this does have replaceable batteries, unlike a lot of things, iPods included.

Summary: Rechargeable cordless security light with 30 LEDs