Deck Prism From Mystic Seaport for Do It Yourself Basement Lighting Project
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 10.18.05
Problem: south-facing rear deck covers basement window well. Result: anyone going to basement workshop for a tool must temporarily flip on overhead compact fluorescent electric lights. [As noted previously on TreeHugger, rapid on/off cycling reduces the operating life of compact flourescent bulbs.] Our do-it-yourself solution goes back a century, to the original deck: "all hands on" type. Solution: order a $20 reproduction sailor's deck prism from Mystic Seaport to install in the wooden deck boards, inset just above the window well. Made of pure glass, it'll outlast many decks. These look as if they could be made of recycled glass; and my electricity bill won't be touched. Two questions remain: why did we ever turn such an efficient lighting tool into a paper weight; and, why I was even thinking about solar cells and LED lights right off the bat?
Does someone have a picture of how these look installed? I'm having trouble imagining how they will actually provide any light. They look pretty small. Does anyone have any experience of them?
If you have a background in the physical sciences some good comparative data are here: http://www.wybron.com/Newsletter/prism_fall_2000.pdf
If you are interested in the mounting appearance, look here: http://www.rockisland.com/~marshall/decklite.html
I guess that would work great, in the day time. When there's sun on the deck.
Oh well. Guess it's back to good old fashioned electrical lights for me.
I still think that not allowing ellipsis is a pretty stupid anti-spam filter.
I found this site by Googling "deck prism." They've got pics, several diff't models and an installation guide. Pretty cool:
http://www.boatdeckprism.com/
But for nighttime, or when there's not enough light to see by, the owner could use a small, battery tap light. I've got one that I use for tent light while camping, and I put it on my dorm wall during college for a little light in the middle of the night that wasn't blinding.
I like the deck prism idea. I bet it would give a decent amount of light. In my house, we use a solar tube in the bathroom, and I don't have to turn on the light during the day at all unless it's unusually dark and cloudy. Even in Seattle, that doesn't happen too often.
This could look very nice in a first floor tile pattern. Thereby passing light into a basement and acting as an interesting talking point at parties. The only problem would be finding one long enough to make it past the floor joists.
Either way very interesting.