how lovely! what a lovely, simple idea! thank you for reminding us that the solutions are right at our fingertips!

cool!

cool- I think my aunt bought some decorative ones to put around the pool/garden. these could be used for inside party decorations too!

Can you read by the light? I get the impression that the outdoor ones are mostly to cast a glow or create ambiance or take away the darkness enough for a person not to fall on their head at night.

Anyone know the breakeven on the energy savings versus purchase price? William got his for $9 for 4, which is pretty freakin cheap, and my impression is that the cost and effort pay off pretty quickly. I estimate the "typical" purchase price is around $30 based on a previous poster's link. I rarely pay as much as $30 for an entire month's power (lights, tv, washer, fridge, etc.) so just ballparking the breakeven for me seems to take a long time. Add the labor required to move the lights in/out every day and potentially to create a stand for them and it's not a choice for me.

Obviously a personal choice. This idea is really creative and I think a great inspiration from walking through the store. I hope the idea really works out for those of you who go for it.

If you are going to buy yard lights anyway, then yes this is a good idea.

The problem is that you are looking at a very high ratio of extra plastic relative to the components you actually want to use. You get a net increase in overall material consumption, and of a particularly environmentally damaging material.

If you are doing this just as a way to do some form of solar energy for lighting then it is not such a great idea because you are still buying and consuming more resources than you would if you just bought a photovoltaic panel and hooked it up to a battery that you use to power your lights, especially if you use LED lights as are found in the yard lights you mention. Overall it would also be far more efficient to place the panels outside, run wires into the house, and have the battery inside. Consider that there will also be a net energy loss for either heating or cooling any object you bring into the house as it is almost certain to rarely if ever be at the temperature you desire in the house. So you have more energy loss by carrying any object in and out of the house, and for opening and closing the doors as you do so as well.

Of course if you could buy just a small light module like what is in the top of the yard light units then you would begin to approach the efficient method I just described, other than the heating/cooling losses I mention.