Simple garden lights made with LEDs and mason jars
The Evil Mad Scientists made garden party lights out of LEDs, lithium coin cell batteries, and mason jars. The result is very nice, especially when you consider how easy they are to make.
To start with, we need LEDs and lithium coin cells. One each per jar. The best kind of LED for this design is an ultrabright LED with a diffused lens so that the light cast by the LED chip goes in *every direction,* not just in the direction that the LED points (which is what you get with LEDs that have clear lenses). Having easy access, we opted for the 10 mm diffused white LEDs from here, but you can get similar LEDs elsewhere as well.Quick, easy, temporary, and beautiful LED garden lights
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While I love LED throwies as well as these garden lights (their bucolic successors), I have to point out how wasteful these are.
A $1 CR2035 battery + a 49-cent LED in a jar is a lot more expense and a lot more chemical waste than, say, a tea-light ($4 for a bag of 100 at Ikea) in that same mason jar. Batteries (and non-rechargeable coin-batteries, at that) aren't so great to choose when there are much friendlier alternatives...
We have built a ton of these in our backyard too! We grabbed some sweet $3 canisters from IKEA for new styles and we use pretty much any old glass vase we find, adding a little solar panel to the top. I'll post photos soon.
I'd have to jump in here with Rich, My first reaction was- how are these at all cheaper or friendlier than other alternatives? I've been using candles for ten years now and I still haven't cleared out a giant bag we got when a neighbor died.
Like many people reading about this, I would like to see modified plans which include having the jar upside-down, incorporate a light sensing switch, and a solar cell.
Not that this isn't incredibly neat as it is!
Cngrtltns, nd nw y hv bnch f btfl glwng TRSH lttrng yr yrd!
Jss ppl, wld t kll y t by sm grdn lghts frm th str?
The reason to do this-- as opposed to solar lights-- is that it's much less expensive *and* much less wasteful, if you only need them for one event.
We're using a $0.25 battery and a $0.30 LED, for a total of $0.55, not counting the jar. The mason jars came from our kitchen, but you can even get new ones for $1 each. And, if you want hundreds of lights for a big event, you're looking at hundreds of dollars, not thousands of dollars.
This isn't quite the same as throwies, where you thow them somewhere and possibly walk away. We disassembled our jars the next day, and even the batteries are still good enough to use for other projects. There is no waste here. (Exception: about 10 feet of masking tape).
Also, we've heard from people that run outdoor events with lots of candles that they constantly running around re-lighting the things. These will stay lit-- even when it rains.
@jaythomas, #4:
Upside down? Holy crap! I never thought of that! I've had an idea kicking around my head about using glass-top resealable jars (the expensive kind that you clamp down) and mini solar cells, but cheap metal-cap upside-down jars would work a lot better! You are my new ShorDurPerSav!
Sorry to be the spelling demon around here. Missing a 'd' on 'and' in the title.
Try sandpaper on clear LEDs to add diffusion.
Also, some places have solar-powered LED lights for around $2.50 apiece. We get 6 or 10-packs of these things, as some of them die -- which makes great parts for other broken lights. We haven't bought any this year.
This isn't labeled as "environmentally friendly" or "waste-free" lights, so why do we have people complaining about it? If someone wants a fun way to make quick-and-dirty garden lights, here's a way to do it.
I appreciate the extra tip about using candles, but maybe next time we could all agree to be less accusatory and douchey about it?
Xopher@8: Thanks. I added the missing "d."
What's the lifespan for these LEDs when you don't have current limiting?
I know that I'm not supposed to, but comment #5 is ever funnier minus the vowels.
I agree that perhaps this isn't the most environmentally friendly way to do the job at hand, but you've gotta admit its coolness.
not bad if the battery is close to the forward voltage
I am making these to supplement my tiki torches. Awesome. Thanks!
I'd like a way to make the lights brighten and dimm like fireflies... that would be cool...
check out these jars
http://www.suck.uk.com/product.php?rangeID=50
diy version should be easy...
Windell's use of glass jars and the simplication factors in his lamp connecting are a valuable independent path to lights:> I consider this a prime example of minimalist design. It even in per step count ties or beats my past related tricks.
The oldest known to me ancestor of this was using Polaroid SX-70 filmpack batteries and Christmas Tree Light bulbs. The sheet metal "spring" from the filmpack became buss bar stock and reflectors.
We either set these out naked as campsite perimeter markers- hung from trees or thumbtacked to trees etc. Where they and the LED mason jar lights come to -no pun- common ground was our using sliced up 2 liter bottles to house the filmpack lights against rainy weather.
Later incarnations used the integral flasher LED device. One advanced mod was using a 6V flasher bulb that used to be cheaply sold in "Real" hardware stores. The use was by wrapping one "Bar" of the filmpack spring stock around the screw thread portion of the bulb. the other end of that piece was slid under the top layer of the filmpack's wrapper. The lead bump at the bulb base was touching the other contact dot of the filmpack battery.
It was an eye opener to many kids. Watching us folks at a campground turn their parent's trash and some bits from our toolkit into fairy lights!
One kid came up to me last year and said my showing that trick to them 15 years earlier directed him to get his EE! Maybe more kids will be directed so by these hacks we show off?
Re:#16- look at the various microcontroller prototyping boards. They can make your firefly trick easier. Last month's issue of Nuts&Volts had a cover project on LED Fireflies too. The ones in the article actually exhibit a feedback sync action- I know mods do not normally suggest links or plugs absent a Very Good Reason- but These two if any -should pass the test for adding worth to a post and BB.
The best link collection I have seen for microcontroller information is:
http://www.freeduino.org/
Is a collection of links to get started from.
them battery packs make handwarmers too; snap off the spring and short the terminal spots under the outer wrap with a piece. Gets toasty. Never had one pop, though possible with a fresh battery from an unused filmpack I suppose. Too bad everything went digital.
Nods on the handwarmer. We also used some filmpacks to make foxhunting transmitters out of thrift store cb radios. 2 filmpacks for 12v kept 23 ch cb's transmitting 5-30 mins depending on the model. Do note that using intentionally time limited batteries added a dimension of lowering RF output. Which added entropy to the searching.
And the reason for transmitter hunts connecting to the jar lights thread? We often had a few lights set up to final guide folks to the logbook. Which one dastardly sadist literally filled with the insects called fireflys. I simply must look up pricing of glowstick chemistry in bulk...
need to figure an LED wind-belt adaptation to light stairs as you descend them (by the vibration of your weight on the treads).
The keyword in the BB post should've been _temporary_.
That's the title that the Evil Mad Scientists used.
Otherwise, you're better off buying those solar powered garden lights, or rigging one up with some kind of circuitry with photosensors and a solar panel.
This is probably for a patio party that needs some temp lighting... using all those batteries for permanent use will simply be wasteful.
#16: There was an article in Make a little while ago about "pummers" - flickering (or gently pulsing) solar powered lights, using nothing more than a capacitor to store the energy. Another circuit/details here.
#20: ... and a link for those who haven't had the joy of foxhunting (in the amateur radio sense).
#21: Tak-kun, awesome idea. Why not throw it at the Makers? I'd figure you could probably hide pressure pads under the carpet...
Hey, this is agood job. I m really amased by this LED's jar lights.Its really a fantastic invention.It makes the cost also so less isn't it.
This are also gardenlights based on LED-throwies. But with ice instead of glass. :) Ice-Spheres