The Cottage Smallholder

Nice one, Mutley.

I think your thread is fine in this forum. Let's leave it here.

We leave our Christmas lights (mains) up in the sittingoom all year around. Reason being that the lighting in general is not great and the string of fairy lights is long enough to go around all four walls. It really brightens things up when we switch them on. I never thought about saving money but I guess they cost a lot less to run than the wall-mounted lights. And are far more fun too.

Ive spotted these solar lightson the EcoHamster website. Very nifty. What I'm wondering is if I could make our guardman lights into something similar - I'm thinking of getting the old lens of a car front light or even a sheet of glass. I want to reflect as much light as possible (kitchen foil?). This could sit on a sunny window sill all day and be used at night. Far less palaver than bringing the lights in and out each day.

Any ideas?

SOL - I think that solar powered stuff is just in its infancy. The technology is still a bit inefficient IMO. But that should not stop you (or us) from testing cheap devices. I love the idea of moon lamps (or whatever they are called). Ours do not last the whole night through but it is a bit like the thrill I found when email replaced Royal Mail postage a few years back. It's all heading in the right direction. I look forward to the day or night when solar power can heat up my winter nightly hottie to a comfortable degree without having to switch on the kettle.