Thank you, Steem Fam!

in #thankyou5 years ago (edited)

You may or may not remember at the beginning of the crypto price crash I was trying to do an Upfundme to raise funds for a solar lamp and solar panel, so that I could become a little more self-sufficient and eco friendly ( Sustainable Goals Upfundme Day 9 ). My income is very sporadic and small, and most of my electric bill is: appliances, lights, and computer. I thought since I can't do much about the appliances since I live in an apartment, I could at least get my computer and light solar powered, right?

But the prices kept dropping, which meant that I had to keep upping my Steem goal if I was going to be able to buy the things, so eventually I just put it on hiatus until prices recovered. Except, they didn't really do that, or Steem hasn't yet, anyway, so I made an Executive Decision.

I decided to just get the lamp and not the panel, since I had enough for that, and also since I had gotten a laptop for my birthday last year, I figured I would probably need a more powerful solar panel to charge it versus what I needed for just my phone and Kindle before.

So ...#upfundme complete! Thank you to everyone who helped me! :D

I actually did this a few weeks ago because I wanted to use it a bit so I could review it.

Pros:
->The light is very bright when you turn it up all the way (there are two settings). The photos don't really do it justice, because you know how cameras make it seem darker.
->There are multiple ways to charge it (solar, hand crank, batteries, plug in to USB or car port).
->It's pretty durable and sturdy. You could definitely go camping with this.
-> When fully charged, the bright light lasts for several hours.

You can read by it for sure - this is my book probably eight feet away from it

Cons:
-> The solar and hand crank - the two off-grid, "green" charging options - are slow to charge.

You might recall me getting a "solar" battery pack that takes OVER A MONTH to fully charge via the solar panel; it's not that bad. But leaving it in the sun for two days only gave me full light for about half as long as it lasts when it charges plugged in for a few hours.

When I tried the hand crank, I had read somewhere that turning it for ten minutes equalled one hour of light. So I put on a twenty minute DTube video and got an upper body workout. Well ...it lit, but not at full strength. The lower setting of light, not the upper setting.

Again, it really is brighter in person, lol

So, if you just want a low light to see your way around, yes, totally functional. But if you wanted a lamp to read/sew/work by for several hours, every night, you're going to need more to charge it up than just the panel or the crank.

I suppose that's to be expected really, since most solar lamps are used to light paths or go camping or as emergency backup and such, not as house lighting per se.

Brightness wise at full charge, you could legitimately light a tiny house with two, maybe three (which is kinda what I was going for, since I usually work by one lamp at night anyway) of these. So it's nice! It just needs a little oomph in the charging department. ;)

Currently, I have it charge in tandem with my über slow battery pack and don't use it every night

If I do eventually get a powerful panel and battery pack that will work for my laptop, I could probably plug it into that, too. But if I'm going to go that route, I want to get a really strong panel, because ultimately I'd like an ebike as well, so I can have some transportation besides my feet and the bus (I don't have the stamina for powering a bike myself anymore; the last time I tried, I thought my chest was going to cave in, and that was a few years ago; the health issues have gotten worse since then). So that's definitely a "someday" kinda purchase - maybe when crypto moons, lol.

But for now, I have a nifty, bright solar lamp! One step at a time, one step at a time. :)

Thank you again to my upfundme voters and contributors, @novacadian, @kpreddy, @crimson.spectrum, @shikika, @cecicastor, @marblely, and @lyndsaybowes!

Have a great day, everyone! <3

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I'm so glad you treated yourself to the lamp, and that was one hell of a review on it too. I'm glad it's (mostly) awesome! How's those guns now after that work out? What way to the beach? heheee

Welcome to the gun show! LOL...
Thank you again for contributing to my fundraiser! <3

You are so welcome! Huggles!

Really pleased you got your lamp and good to read the reviews!
I'm two minds about those solar powered batteries, maybe they will get better 😊

Yeah, I think it's just, what's in my price range isn't good quality; good quality exists but it'll cost ya (and be much bigger in size, lol). In the case of the lamp though it's much better than the battery pack as far as the panel goes - it's a smaller panel and charges faster than the battery one does. So again, quality varies.

Every little helps my friend. Nice review it looks like a handy thing to have around.
Keep up the cranking 😁

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Hahaha, soon I will be buff like Ahnold! ;)

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You could ask a few friends round for a keep fit afternoon. Share the load as many hands make light work🤣🤣🤣

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We keep one of those lamps in the window so it's ready for emergencies. Maybe we should try using it as a primary light source in the evenings as a way of keeping the electric bill down.

Your cranking workout has me thinking... Why isn't there more exercise equipment that charges batteries?

A quick google search reveals that there are a couple of companies doing this. But the results sound under-whelming:

If you exercise an hour per day for 30 days at 100 watts per hour, you’re shaving 30 cents per month off your electricity bill.

Better than nothing, I guess.

Wow, that does sound underwhelming. O.o A couple of years back at the 350.org climate march, they had a row if stationary bikes that powered the PA system for the speakers, and that worked, but it was 6-8 people biking at once. :)

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Glad things are working out a little better for you @phoenixwren,
I wish you continued success. Steem on!

Thanks very much!

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I've noticed that solar panel technology is getting better. I had a small battery charging panel several years ago that took a long time, and required strong, direct light to charge. A battery pack I got a year or so ago will charge in indirect (even fluorescent) light.

Now the large panels just need to get more efficient and affordable.

Hopefully by the time I can afford a big one they will be even better and cheaper than they are now. :D

Yay! Congrats on getting the new solar lantern! It does add character to the room, doesn’t it? And I like how bright it is! It feels so good to be able to use natural source as a form of energy. I have a little solar radio and lamp gadget too and it works wonderfully :) But yours is very much nicer and brighter.

Oh that's nice to have the radio part too! Great for emergencies especially.

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