Ikea Solar Lights for the Bus
6April 14, 2014 by Mike Oscar Hotel
I’ve thought a lot about night lighting for the bus. Nowadays, you can go a lot of different directions because there are a lot of different options. I thought about buying PV panels and battery banks and hooking up some sort of advanced system, but who has the time (or, in my case, brains) to do that?
The Mrs. loves Ikea. While I like their products, I hate their stores. If I need to follow lighted arrows to get out of your house, I’m not coming over anymore, I assure you. Really, it’s a claustrophobia thing for me. When I’m in Ikea, I feel like I’m trapped or I’m in some sort of cattle run. I also feel like Hannibal Lecter might just jump out from behind a display of folding chairs. Ridiculous, I know. And it stinks, because I love their products and their prices.
Anyhow, the Mrs. and the mother-in-law brought home a plethora of solar lights. They are rated for two year life of use and you can easily replace the batteries, of which I will buy more soon.
Some of the lights are strong enough to read by, some are not. What matters to me is that we’ll have enough light to navigate the bus and not stub our toes. The string lights will work well for that. The cone lights will work well for table play and for eating after dark.
In addition, we’ll likely buy some regular battery powered lamps to play cards by and whatnot. You must remember, the bus is going to Santa Lucia. There are no street lights, no lights from town…..no lights at all, really.
What do y’all use for alternative lighting? I’m looking for more suggestions.
Pax Domini Sit Semper Vobiscum,
Mike Oscar Hotel
The Tiny Homesteaders 
Diane bought me an L.L. Bean camp lantern that runs on D batteries. I can use rechargable batteries in it but want to know this?…can I get a solar powered battery charger to repower the batteries in the day time? I know that this lantern has several brightness settings so it could be used as a night light after a reading lamp, but what about a solar charger for batteries? Again, the best as you prepare the bus for her forever home in Santa Lucia. Rick
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Mike Oscar Hotel posted: “I’ve thought a lot about night lighting for the bus. Nowadays, you can go a lot of different directions because there are a lot of different options. I thought about buying PV panels and battery banks and hooking up some sort of advanced system, but who”
Propane/gas lights.?? The ones that use the green Coleman canisters can also be adapted to the 20 lb bottles or with a fitting can be refiled from the 20 lb bottles and and are considerably quieter, cleaner burning and a whole lot less trouble than the old liquid fuel ones.
Conventional AA, C and D cell batteries winds up being rather expensive over time and provides limited light. They do make conventional household screw in incandescent bulbs that are 12 volt for marine and RV use. You can run them of a deep cycle marine 12 volt boat/RV battery. Over here you can get all that at Hamilton marine supply stores. Probably not to many of those in Colorado but you might want to check out an RV camper retailer or on the web to see what they have. Come to think of it I think I have seen the 12 volt bulbs at Walmart. You can recharge the battery at home or in a pinch with the bus engine alternator. And they should be good for the week end.
We have propane lights in our cabins back in Maine. I’m not really a fan. Mostly because I’ve toasted my hand too many times.
I know we have marine shops out here and I hadn’t thought of them. I’m going to check them out. RV World, too. Got a big one not too far from our house. Off to google marine shops. Thanks for the suggestion!
We have solar lights on the path down to the rabbitry. I got them for 50% off at Rite Aid (wait for the post-Memorial Day bargains). I think they ended up being $1 each. They worked awesome for the summer AND they made it thru the winter and kept on working! Now *that’s* a bargain!
I saw this somewhere else, so I can’t take credit, but we went to Wal-Mart and bought 97 cent solar yard lights. Then I went to Dollar Tree and bought tall flower vases. All you have to do is set the lights outside (if they can’t draw enough light though your windows) and bring them in and set them in your vases at night. Easy Peasy! Depending on your container, you might want to drop a few rocks or beads in the bottom to keep them from tipping. I’m sure you could just bust the sticks off too to make them low profile. 🙂
I’ve thought about that. Sometimes you can get them for a buck a piece. I have one I bought five years ago that still works! The only thing I’ll need to look for is the ones with shut off switches.