It could be one of those days when your creativity is on the high and with a bunch of solar garden lights laying around, you begin to wonder if you could use them to provide some lighting indoors too.
Because they’re lightweight and therefore portable, this makes the idea even more appealing, right?
But, is it even practical to use solar garden lights indoors for lighting?
Or, even charge them?
I’ll share my thoughts on these questions from working with solar garden lights and also provide insights into what you can expect.
Do Solar Lights Work Indoors?
Yes, you can use the solar garden lights as a rechargeable lanterns to light up any hard-to-wire areas inside your house.
Simply remove the stake used to fix it firmly into the ground and use your creativity to mount the remaining rechargeable solar light into a jar, cup, or any other holder where it can fit snugly and is easy to hold.
How Much Light Can You Expect?
Just enough light to light your way around and not more! It helps to think of the light from them as candlelight, bright enough for you to see what’s on your plate but not enough for you to read a book.
They’re also perfect as a gentle, warm light to light a living space indoors while you listen to your favorite music!
How Many Hours of Light Can You Expect?
Once fully charged, the solar garden light fixture can light for about 6-8 hours. Lights with higher capacity may be able to extend to about 12 hours especially if the low-light setting is selected.
This can be more than enough if you want to light up the dinner table or dark areas under the stairs.
All in all, it depends:
- on how many hours of charge it has received, and
- the capabilities of the light – size of the solar panels (watts) and batteries (mAh) used.
Can You Charge Solar Garden Lights Indoors?
Yes, solar garden lights can charge with the little available light indoors, even artificial light but beware that charging indoors is not as effective as putting in outdoors where there’s plenty more sun.
So, expect the solar garden lights to light briefly!
If I needed them to light indoors, I would put them out to charge using the sun for them to light for as long as possible.
Closing Thoughts
If you must use solar garden lights indoors, you’ll get the best lighting performance by charging them outdoors first.
You’ll need a creative way to safely support the light after removing the stake used to mount it in the ground.
Recommended Posts
