The street light at the entrance to my park is out and fixing it would involve cutting into the road and burying a new set of conductors. Not going to happen for awhile. My backup idea is to install several solar powered lamp posts in the the yards close to the entrance. Has anyone ever installed them? Do they work? Is the a particular manufacturer that makes a quality product? These we be installed in NE Ohio and the weather is pretty brutal in the winter if that makes any difference.
This is in Ohio and modern concepts such as conduit have never made inroads here. The existing lines are direct burial under the road and they’ve already broken before. In order to replace them, I’d have to cut the road, trench a couple of hundred feet, and then patch the trench. I don’t have that kind of money at this time and I was hoping to use solar lights as an alternative.
There are several ways you can do this depending on the abilities of the contractors in your area. I would search for directional drillers in your area and find out the per foot cost to directional drill a couple of hundred feet with conduit. usually about $5-$8/foot, but that could be higher or lower depending on the competition in your area.
The second usually cheaper route of trenching (~$2-$3/foot) up to the street and then directional drill under the street if you can find a contractor that does both.
The third option is trenching, cutting the street, trench, back-fill and patch street. You have to way the cost and aesthetics of patching your street versus the other options.
In terms of Solar, I have heard positive results from an aesthetics perspective, but will require more attention than electrified lighting.
Thanks, PFM. You’ve given me some direction. I’ve also found solar powered replacements for cobra heads and I’m looking into those. It really doesn’t look like there is going to be an inexpensive alternative for me.
We just installed Gamasonic solar LED street lamps at our park. They’re not cheap at ~$250 per lamp head but they’re very well made and work well. MUCH better lighting than our old natural gas lamps (which ran 24/7 by the way).
Yep, I did indeed contact them and the cost for the post and lamp totals about $1,300. I must also install a 3’ deep Sonotube of concrete to hold the entire contraption upright. This is cold country. I need at least 3 of these at the entrance to be of any value, and that is a lot of money.
I have been doing some shopping around and finding all sorts of options for solar-powered street lights. Actually, there are all sorts of options available and I have a ton of them from which to choose. There may even be one that attaches to the end of the arm on a standard light post. The ones from Gamasonic put too much light straight down and that is not what I am looking for.
You may have already looked into this, but at our park in eastern Ohio, the street lights are owned Ohio Edison. I put in a repair ticket online and two days later a tech was out to fix them.
Well, after too many hours online, it turns out that solar lights will not work at my latitude in the winter. There is simply not enough sunlight in the winter to fully charge the batteries and two vendors told me the same info. Bless their hearts for being honest. Take this as a warning to anyone thinking about those solar powered lights that keep getting promoted. The least expensive alternative for me is also the best long-term one and that is to cut, trench, and lay in conduit. I can do everything except patching the trench and the cost to rent equipment is reasonable.
robertHolt: I contacted OE years ago about taking over my lights and they wouldn’t do it for some reason I’ve long-since forgotten. Perhaps a follow-up call is in order.
Whatever solar street light you prefer, just make sure that it is easy to install, so you won’t need any professional help when installing it. It is essential to know that the solar power street lights differ in light output and brightness. Some LED light models are brighter, whereas some versions are designed to be dimmer. It is critical to inspect the lumens of the solar street fixture of your choice.