DIY Emergency Lights

So I've been thinking about building some emergency lights for the basement for a while now. I was just at a conference and scored some jumbo white LED's from a DIY led throwies build and figured it was time to build the lights. A quick trip to the junk box for a few parts like some washers,nuts,screws,threaded rod,some angle iron and a light reflector from an old broken garden solar light.    

I figured I could screw them floor joist's in the basement so if the power goes out during a storm and we had to take shelter we could have light.

Now I need to get power to them a little wire and some screw terminals and little Perf board.

 So there up now for a test run!

We have light! It's just the right amount of light to see in the basement and it will run for a vary long time in a extended power outage. Now I just need a automatic switch to turn them on during a power outage well I guess will have to think about that for a wile and check the junk box. Not bad for 0 dollars! 

DIY Junk Box Flashlight

I decided to do this project because I wanted a small but vary bright flashlight, so that I could use to use up all the old smoke detector 9V batterys.  I change them every New year so I have a good supply of half dead batterys. This is what I came up with 3 white LEDs a chunk of pc board and a top to a 9V battery and some hot glue and some solder.

One Red Hot Solar Lamp

So the other day I was in the office of our environmental engineer we call her the "Green Lady" and she had the coolest little green desk lamp. when I say green I mean it was the color green and environmentally green too. It was solar powered, in the base of the lamp is a solar panel with a battery box attached to it that has 4 AA rechargeable batteries. I assume it has some type of charge controller but it might not. I asked her where she got it and she said IKEA for 20 bucks. I just had to get one and try it out but you know me MR. DYI I though of some ways to make one and even found some parts to start making one. Well before I could get the design going the "Green Lady" bought me this red one for my Birthday.

It's pretty cool I'm using it right now to light my keyboard. The solar panel/battery box comes out of the base so you can set in a sunny window to charge. The box is beveled so it sits at an angle to the sun to help it receive more sun it's a real good design.

It takes awhile to charge but it does provide a few hours of light as you can seen in the picture it puts out a lot of light. I'll post up dates after I have it awhile, so far it's a winner with me.