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Best Posts in Thread: Gravity Powered Lights

  1. Rye83

    Rye83 with pastrami Admin Secured Account Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Army

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    Brilliant idea.

     
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  2. Rye83

    Rye83 with pastrami Admin Secured Account Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Army

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    I did donate $70 but as Hans stated it was a donation, not a purchase. :wink: I think the product is a good idea and it can help a lot of people. I also like that they are manufacturing these things in the local economy and providing jobs to the same people they are wanting to hep. I would like to do something similar here in the Philippines but I just won't invest in a country that doesn't let me own all of my investment. Not going to help a country that is basically refusing help. Only thing they are interested in here are handouts, not helping themselves. (Of course there are good people in the Philippines that would like to see the hostile environment towards investors to change....but there isn't enough of them to make a difference at this point.)

    I think that the product has a market value (in the US) of about half of what I donated. I believe they would sell well in camping/outdoor stores for around $30-$50 (depending on location) and still give them good bit of profit so they can basically give these things away in Africa.
     
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  3. Notmyrealname

    Notmyrealname DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer

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    And let us not forget that your $70 helped pay to get this product fully functional plus may allow a free lamp being given to a needy family in Africa. Seems like you got something you like and can use and you gave something to mankind in general. WIN/WIN.
     
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  4. Rye83

    Rye83 with pastrami Admin Secured Account Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Army

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    Except bullets cost money. Lifting 12kg on pulleys is not all that difficult....and it's free, unlike candles and kerosene.

    I have a candle sitting on the coffee and kitchen table at all times....never know when the power is going to go out here, batteries for flashlights are expensive and the cheaply made Chinese solar lights available here are not very reliable in my experience (and at 1k/light they ain't cheap....or even close to being a good value).

    Yeah, they still sell those here. I believe I've seen them at Handyman. Problem is they are next to worthless if you are doing something that requires both hands.....and I don't want to stand there and squeeze the thing while my SO is cooking. :wink:

    I'll admit that for someone like me it just boils down to me being lazy/cheap/forgetful. I don't want to buy batteries, I certainly don't want to keep a flammable liquid in or around the house (or have open flames in the house), I forget to buy more candles until it's too late.....and I certainly don't want to sit there and squeeze or wind up dynamos by hand. :wink: But for the people this thing was designed for (the extremely impoverished) this thing could provide them with something we all take for granted....light. I think the only thing that would keep people from using it would be if the retail price was too high. I haven't seen anywhere on their site that says how much they will be charging for one yet. This seems to be the only thing they aren't covering on their website, everything else looks good to me.
     
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  5. Rye83

    Rye83 with pastrami Admin Secured Account Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Army

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    Received a post rating on this recently and just had a short brownout so thought I would update. I have had this installed for a couple years now and it is still working great. I keep my fire extinguisher and a couple Tanduay bottles filled with water in it for the weight. The light stays on for about 25 minutes. A bit longer with less weight in there (resulting in a dimmer light) or a bit shorter with another Tanduay bottle added (but a tad brighter).

    PXL_20210129_122508155.NIGHT.jpg

    PXL_20210129_122537762.NIGHT.jpg
     
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  6. Hans Boot

    Hans Boot DI Member Restricted Account

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    Read again Rt, you get one if you donate 70 US$ as part of the crowd-funding action. It is not a commercial enterprise selling these things for 70 US$ each. As I mentioned in an earlier comment the local population in Africa will most likely get these things for free thanks to the crowd-funding from Western countries (and entities like Shell and the other major sponsors).
     
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  7. Rye83

    Rye83 with pastrami Admin Secured Account Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Army

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    It's not intended to take you off the grid or be some type of solar alternative. I've watched quite a few videos of the product and they aren't trying to sell it as anything but lighting for people without power.

    From their FAQs:
    I really have no idea what those "other devices" might be (other than some small computer components that would be of no use on their own). Seems they don't really know and Google hasn't offered me much information either.

    I should get one around December (assuming it ever makes it from Africa to my home going through the postal service here :meh:). It's gotta be better than these crappy Chinese solar lamps I've been buying here in the Philippines.....considering all 4 I bought broke within a couple months.

    I don't think it is very complicated at all. It uses gravity to turn potential energy into kinetic energy. The technology has been around for a very long time.
     
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  8. Rye83

    Rye83 with pastrami Admin Secured Account Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Army

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    I only use it for brownouts. Not much use outside of that, much like a candle.

    The physical effort of pulling the weight up is very minimal. Minus the disabled, extremely frail or vertically challenged (they have to be hung quite high and the cord you pull isn't all that long) I don't see how someone could consider it a chore.

    That new product seems better suited for the disabled and vertically challenged folk...but I don't spend anywhere near 1 minute pulling the weight up. More like 10-15 seconds. Although I can see the benefit of not having to stop what you are doing every 25 minutes to go pull a cord for some light.
     
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  9. Rye83

    Rye83 with pastrami Admin Secured Account Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Army

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    Manufactured in Africa (somewhere), shipped to London and then forwarded on to the Philippines. The shipping took 3 months to arrive in Valencia.

    I was following the company and they made several announcements informing everyone who donated to the startup about what was causing delays. I'm satisfied that they decided to fix glitches instead of sending out an unfinished product to their contributers. :wink:

    BTW: My $70 contribution actually turned out to be a pretty good deal:


    https://www.walmart.com/ip/GravityLight-Self-Powered-Portable-Hanging-Lamp/601441565
    $80 + shipping and handling on Amazon and Walmart. :tongue:
     
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    Last edited: May 30, 2017
  10. robert k

    robert k DI Forum Patron Highly Rated Poster Veteran Army

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    For anyone who often has access to power but may be occasionally without power, I would suggest getting one of the cellphone power banks with a light on it. I have the EasyAcc U-Bright 6000. It will put out 40-50 lumens continuously for about 3 days. Obviously you will turn it off during the day so you have almost 6 nights worth of emergency light from a single charge. It will also charge phones and some tablets. I had mine in my pocket while shopping at Robinson's grocery store in the mall when power went out and didn't immediately come back on. It was total darkness because the Philippines does not seem to believe that a certain percentage of fluorescent lights in a commercial building should have emergency ballasts. I think I spent about $23 USD on it and it's one of the best investments I ever made. I have had good luck with EasyAcc products, they aren't the cheapest but I think good value.

    I just looked and I don't see the U-Bright 6000 offered anymore. There is a U-bright 5000 ($17 US) that puts out 3 times the light that mine did but only for 10 hours.

    There is a U-Bright 3350 that is old style like mine that sells on Amazon.com for $13 US. I might pick up one of these. To double my lighting in an emergency or in case my other gets damaged. Been reliable so far but nothing is perfect.

    I find the 40 lumens is ok for general purposes, beats candles, you would need to point it or reflect it at a page to read by but I would rather have more time with light than brighter light if the worst happened.
     
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