60 Days Later: I Still Haven’t Had The Need To Recharge Ring’s Solar Powered Wall Light
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After decades of apartment living, I recently purchased a home in a suburb close by the beach. The previous owners threw in an outdoor deck and a sprawling backyard into the deal as a sweetener, which somewhat cut the bitterness of current mortgage rates.
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Unfortunately, thoughtful as they were, previous owners had poor upkeep game so the house also came with inoperable floodlights and path lights littered around the property. I need a quick solve to my outdoor deck problem. Fortunately, I had a Ring Solar Wall Light tucked into one of my moving boxes.
Why did I have a Ring Solar Wall Light just sitting in a box? It’s not a narratively satisfying answer, but I review gadgets for a living and many of those gadgets had historically had an afterlife in my apartment closet. The Ring Solar Wall Light was no exception. It was covered in dust. I had not had the authority to freely install outdoor lights anywhere outside of my ground-level dwelling.
I installed the Ring Solar Wall Light on the railing of my deck a week after moving in and I believe it has since paid for itself.
The Ring Solar Wall Light is bright. Really bright. Blinding the raccoons bright. So when I noticed that the battery level had dropped to 44% a week after installation, I lowered the light intensity to 33%, enough to illuminate almost the entire 18’ x 11’ deck. I figured that would buy some time. It bought more than that; heading into day 60, the battery level is steady at 65%.
Therefore, it’s not adding to your monthly electric bill like your other lights. The savings may not seem huge, but you have to look at the bigger picture of how it actually will pay for itself with the savings you’ll get with electricity consumption.
The average floodlight bulb is rated for 60 watts. Knowing that, as well as the $0.18/kWh rate that my electric company charges, the total cost of running a single floodlight would amount to $3.94 a year. All told, it would take a smidge over 15 years for it to match the cost of buying the Ring Solar Wall Light.
However, you have to also factor in the cost of installing a floodlight in the area where you need it. I’m no electrician, which is why I’ve used Angie’s List for quotes on other home projects. They quoted me $330 for the installation.
On the subject of savings: I like saving time and work. It was a straightforward process with installing the Ring Wall Light Solar onto the deck railing. It took a couple of screws and about two minutes to get the mounting plate in place, then another three minutes in the Ring app to finalize the installation.
Now I’m thinking about getting more Ring Wall Solar Lights. I figure it would be no hassle to install one. The truth is that the light also provides a bit of peace of mind in regards to home security. I’m still adjusting to the suburban dark and I like that the Ring has an integrated motion sensor that sends me notifications (the outdoor motion sensor can be purchased separately for $25).
Of course, there’s always a wrinkle. This one is small but still worthy of note: in order to use Ring’s various smart lighting options, you have to purchase Ring’s Smart Lighting Bridge. The bridge provides access to Ring’s smart lighting solutions, including to its other solar powered lights. It doesn’t end there either because there are other lighting solutions and home security cameras that can complete your lighting needs.
Pros
Bright light intensity
Easy to install
Long lasting battery life
Motion sensor helps to deter intruders
Cons
Requires a separate bridge to work
Motion sensor helps to deter non-human intruders. Foxes are cute.
Ring Wall Light Solar
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$60 at home depot
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