Hugh,
I’d like to tell you about a product I recently bought at Costco the other day. I have no stake in the company. It’s from Sunforce; it’s a 80 LED solar motion light. It has 900 lumens output from 80 white LEDs. It has a separate solar panel that’s connected by a 15 foot cord to a battery pack in the light fixture. It has a motion detector and a three position switch: on, off, auto. I charged the batteries for three days, per the instructions for the initial charge. I put the switch in “on” position, and it ran for about three hours. The output was not bright enough in my opinion to use as a outdoor security light (its intended purpose), but it would be a perfect backup indoor light. I now have one mounted to an inside wall with the solar panel in sitting inside one of my windows. I have it on “auto”, so when I come down the stairs at night it comes on. I’m going to continue testing it to see if there are any long-term issues, but so far it looks like it will be a perfect unit to have when the power goes out. Oh, and the best part is that it’s only $30. Also, for past discussions on American made tools, I am a machinist, and it’s hard to find American made cutting tools. One source I’ve found is Borite boring bars, made in the Detroit area. They don’t sell directly to the public but through dealers, like the big catalog companies like MSC. I’ve found the cheapest prices through an online dealer called OnlyAmericanMadeTools.com. Again I don’t have any connection to this company either. Thanks for all the great info that I’ve gotten from this site. – C.L.