7 Emergency DIY Lights You Can Easily Build
Great lighting goes hand in hand with excellent interior and exterior designs. It creates depth and height and, if well done, draws attention to a home’s focal features, whether indoor or outdoor.
But what if you only need just enough light to illuminate your home in emergencies? Well, you could always purchase some cheap lights or DIY a reliable lighting feature you can use whenever you have emergencies. If you decide to go with the second option, here are seven emergency DIY lights you can easily build for inspiration.
1. Emergency Lighting System
Candles, flashlights, and rechargeable bulbs are all great options whenever there’s a blackout. The only issue is that you have to scramble your way through the dark to find them whenever power is out. That’s why you should ditch them for an emergency lighting system. It automatically goes on whenever there’s a power blackout, saving you the stress of searching around for commercial lighting sources.
You will need six white LEDs, resistors of various capacities, a switching transistor, three AAA batteries, a battery holder, a printed perf board, a DC power supply and power connector, N-channel power MOSFET, and an insulated project enclosure. Check out the Instructables guide for more details.
2. 3D Printed DIY Emergency Light
If you’ve got access to a 3D printer, you can print nearly anything, including a nicely designed DIY emergency light. Depending on how fancy you like things, you could create an ornate design or make something simple and functional like this square 3D printed light, as shown in the Hackster guide.
The square design, based around a custom PCB, means it fits well on nearly any surface, while the LEDs are bright and well-illuminating.
3. 9V Battery Emergency Light
A good lighting source is necessary if you are always chasing after adventure, whether camping in the mountains or hiking deep in the forest. But great lighting for campers and adventure-seekers is usually either compact and expensive, or bulky and affordable, so DIYing an emergency light that fits your exact needs is the way to go.
This pocket-sized emergency light is good for inspiration. It’s small enough to carry without adding weight to your already-heavy gear, yet despite its size, it lights up brightly and can run for up to five hours.
4. Easy Homemade Solar Lamp
There are so many advantages to using solar lighting. To begin with, it is sustainable, so it'll help to reduce your carbon footprint. Solar lighting is also practically maintenance-free since most of it relies on LED fixtures for illumination. Going the solar way is also cost-effective, so the money you’ll save should provide extra motivation.
If you’d like an idea to kickstart a solar-powered project, here’s a nocturnal solar light bulb designed to automatically turn on whenever it detects darkness.
5. Emergency LED Light Bulb
Want the simplest emergency DIY light you can build? Here’s one made on Instructables. It’s based on a simple circuit, a pair of remote batteries, and a joule thief (minimalist self-oscillating voltage booster) to ensure all the energy from the batteries is channeled and used exhaustively.
6. Multifunctional Work Light
Need quality lighting for your DIY workshop at home, or your formal home office space? Check out this Hackster project for inspiration. Based around an ATtiny85 microcontroller chip, this multifunctional lighting piece relies on four AA batteries for power, yet it lasts long enough for you to get more than a single task done.
Not only that, you can also dim the brightness or choose between warm, cold, and headlights-level of brightness, which makes it perfect for a poorly illuminated work desk area where you may need adjustable lighting. Additionally, it’s rechargeable. If you are planning to create a cozy desktop setup, consider adding this light to improve your working environment.
7. Light With Solar Charged Battery
Solar will always be a good way to go when creating emergency lighting, and this DIY project is an excellent one to try out. Instead of the usual, directly solar-powered light, this one has a separate solar-charged battery.
It’s based on the 5252F chip, which charges the battery all day and converts 1.2V power to over 3V for the light. The 5252F also detects when it’s dark, and turns on the LEDs used here. In addition, it turns the lights off when the day breaks. Check out the Hackaday guide to build one.
Tips for Working on Solar Lighting Projects
As fuel prices increase by the day, renewable energy sources like solar and wind are fast-becoming preferred energy sources. If you’ve decided to make any of the solar-based projects above, keep the following tips in mind.
The Perfect Solar Installation Starts With the Perfect Building
Solar projects are finicky. One simple wiring mistake and your setup won’t work. And it’s costly and time-consuming
to have to repeat multiple times. So, to ensure you don’t get frustrated, get the design right, right from the start. Review the given circuit well in advance and ensure you have all the necessary supplies to make the process smooth-sailing.
Eliminate Electrical Risks
Every solar project, regardless of how simple, will have several components required to convert solar power into an electrical charge. If you mishandle any of the components, you could end up with an unexpected shock, thermal burns, or even nerve damage. Be careful to avoid such instances. For instance, wear protective clothing, and begin all your solar-based DIY projects by de-energizing the circuits you’ll work with to prevent shocks or burns.
Stay Alert
Whether you are working on the light with the solar-charged battery on our emergency DIY lights list above, or any other similar project, always stay aware of your surroundings. This will make it easy to catch and rectify anything that might be off before it gets out of hand, or puts your safety in jeopardy.
Build Your Emergency DIY Lights
You don’t have to fumble in the dark or rely on your smartphone every time power is out. Build any of the DIY projects above and you’ll have a perfectly capable lighting piece that’ll ensure you are never in the dark if there’s a power blackout. Some of these lights will even detect when the power is off, and turn on automatically. Don’t hesitate to replicate or tweak one of these projects to get the emergency DIY light you’ve always wanted.
7 Emergency DIY Lights You Can Easily Build
Great lighting goes hand in hand with excellent interior and exterior designs. It creates depth and height and, if well done, draws attention to a home’s focal features, whether indoor or outdoor.
But what if you only need just enough light to illuminate your home in emergencies? Well, you could always purchase some cheap lights or DIY a reliable lighting feature you can use whenever you have emergencies. If you decide to go with the second option, here are seven emergency DIY lights you can easily build for inspiration.
1. Emergency Lighting System
Candles, flashlights, and rechargeable bulbs are all great options whenever there’s a blackout. The only issue is that you have to scramble your way through the dark to find them whenever power is out. That’s why you should ditch them for an emergency lighting system. It automatically goes on whenever there’s a power blackout, saving you the stress of searching around for commercial lighting sources.
You will need six white LEDs, resistors of various capacities, a switching transistor, three AAA batteries, a battery holder, a printed perf board, a DC power supply and power connector, N-channel power MOSFET, and an insulated project enclosure. Check out the Instructables guide for more details.
2. 3D Printed DIY Emergency Light
If you’ve got access to a 3D printer, you can print nearly anything, including a nicely designed DIY emergency light. Depending on how fancy you like things, you could create an ornate design or make something simple and functional like this square 3D printed light, as shown in the Hackster guide.
The square design, based around a custom PCB, means it fits well on nearly any surface, while the LEDs are bright and well-illuminating.
3. 9V Battery Emergency Light
A good lighting source is necessary if you are always chasing after adventure, whether camping in the mountains or hiking deep in the forest. But great lighting for campers and adventure-seekers is usually either compact and expensive, or bulky and affordable, so DIYing an emergency light that fits your exact needs is the way to go.
This pocket-sized emergency light is good for inspiration. It’s small enough to carry without adding weight to your already-heavy gear, yet despite its size, it lights up brightly and can run for up to five hours.
4. Easy Homemade Solar Lamp
There are so many advantages to using solar lighting. To begin with, it is sustainable, so it'll help to reduce your carbon footprint. Solar lighting is also practically maintenance-free since most of it relies on LED fixtures for illumination. Going the solar way is also cost-effective, so the money you’ll save should provide extra motivation.
If you’d like an idea to kickstart a solar-powered project, here’s a nocturnal solar light bulb designed to automatically turn on whenever it detects darkness.
5. Emergency LED Light Bulb
Want the simplest emergency DIY light you can build? Here’s one made on Instructables. It’s based on a simple circuit, a pair of remote batteries, and a joule thief (minimalist self-oscillating voltage booster) to ensure all the energy from the batteries is channeled and used exhaustively.
6. Multifunctional Work Light
Need quality lighting for your DIY workshop at home, or your formal home office space? Check out this Hackster project for inspiration. Based around an ATtiny85 microcontroller chip, this multifunctional lighting piece relies on four AA batteries for power, yet it lasts long enough for you to get more than a single task done.
Not only that, you can also dim the brightness or choose between warm, cold, and headlights-level of brightness, which makes it perfect for a poorly illuminated work desk area where you may need adjustable lighting. Additionally, it’s rechargeable. If you are planning to create a cozy desktop setup, consider adding this light to improve your working environment.
7. Light With Solar Charged Battery
Solar will always be a good way to go when creating emergency lighting, and this DIY project is an excellent one to try out. Instead of the usual, directly solar-powered light, this one has a separate solar-charged battery.
It’s based on the 5252F chip, which charges the battery all day and converts 1.2V power to over 3V for the light. The 5252F also detects when it’s dark, and turns on the LEDs used here. In addition, it turns the lights off when the day breaks. Check out the Hackaday guide to build one.
Tips for Working on Solar Lighting Projects
As fuel prices increase by the day, renewable energy sources like solar and wind are fast-becoming preferred energy sources. If you’ve decided to make any of the solar-based projects above, keep the following tips in mind.
The Perfect Solar Installation Starts With the Perfect Building
Solar projects are finicky. One simple wiring mistake and your setup won’t work. And it’s costly and time-consuming
to have to repeat multiple times. So, to ensure you don’t get frustrated, get the design right, right from the start. Review the given circuit well in advance and ensure you have all the necessary supplies to make the process smooth-sailing.
Eliminate Electrical Risks
Every solar project, regardless of how simple, will have several components required to convert solar power into an electrical charge. If you mishandle any of the components, you could end up with an unexpected shock, thermal burns, or even nerve damage. Be careful to avoid such instances. For instance, wear protective clothing, and begin all your solar-based DIY projects by de-energizing the circuits you’ll work with to prevent shocks or burns.
Stay Alert
Whether you are working on the light with the solar-charged battery on our emergency DIY lights list above, or any other similar project, always stay aware of your surroundings. This will make it easy to catch and rectify anything that might be off before it gets out of hand, or puts your safety in jeopardy.
Build Your Emergency DIY Lights
You don’t have to fumble in the dark or rely on your smartphone every time power is out. Build any of the DIY projects above and you’ll have a perfectly capable lighting piece that’ll ensure you are never in the dark if there’s a power blackout. Some of these lights will even detect when the power is off, and turn on automatically. Don’t hesitate to replicate or tweak one of these projects to get the emergency DIY light you’ve always wanted.
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