What's your favorite non-electric lighting?

[mudhugger]

I won't have solar hooked up right away and I'll need to be picking up some lighting soon. I've got a 20' and young kids who can play board games forever, even after my eyes in dim lighting are giving up the ghost. What do you all use and love if you don't have power to your yurt? By non-electric I don't mean to exclude lighting that is stand alone solar-powered, or battery-powered...it just can't plug in.

[Jafo]

If you're not afraid of some minor electrical tinkering, you can easily wire this up to a 9v battery:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HSF65MC...rldwidecreatio

I myself use something similar, except they are reclaimed LED light strips used in commercial signage. I have wired mine into my solar battery bank, but have used them before by simply tying the wires directly to a 9v battery. If you have an old switch and 9v battery receptacle laying around, you can fancy it up a bit.

Coleman makes some pretty decent LED lanterns. We have one at the yurt that we use from time to time. They last a long time. This one here is rechargeable via a USB charger:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VTJJ5J8...rldwidecreatio

[darcyoh]

Luci solar lanterns. The luxe versions have the nicest color of light, but get the outdoor 2.0s. They charge faster and last much longer on brighter light. I use them permanently, no need for wired electric.

[mudhugger]

Thanks for those suggestions!

[Yurtmaniac]

Something that we used to do when we would get stuck with the truck late at night in the outback is to fill water bottles with bleach and have them in the back of the truck for a couple hours during the day, then at night put them on the roof and you get a cool lighting effect. Here is the page about it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liter_of_Light

[mudhugger]

Oh interesting! @YurtManiac

[Wintergreen282]

Some people find an old leaky camper for cheap, then pull out all the good stuff. My propane refrig is from such a tear down. Plus lighting, wiring, tanks, sinks. All good for a small space.

When I bought my yurt second hand, it had a small solar set up. One panel, small controller, small inverter (which I do use, but try not to - so loud!) and 2 walmart deep cycle batteries. It powers small DC lights (add ons for cars), recharging electronics and small rechargeable batteries, and a small DC fan for hot spells. Not a lot, but it works year round wo/needing a generator to top off . Heat water and cook on a 2burner propane stove, make good use of solar showers, sun oven, wood stove, Joe Jenkins style composting toilet (awesome!)

It all adds up to very comfortable Glamping. But not the life for everyone for sure. Thinking "outside the box" and being a "less is more" type person helps. Lol. I've written about it a lot in other posts - as have others. A lot of good info on this site if you dig. Much depends on you, your life, your situation. Yurts aren't houses. Thinking they are or can be only gets you into trouble (IMO). -- Cindy

[Wintergreen282]

Those small, DC, added on to front of the car, lights you find in any auto store work pretty well, but you have to rig them up so they can be beamed right on the game board, book you're reading, etc. They do rotate and swivel on a little frame, so work well. Quite bright!

[Bob Rowlands]

Yurts AREN'T houses. Folks need to understand that if they are leaving an apt., condo, or house for a yurt. A yurt is a tent- a real good tent, the best imo- but it's a fact they aren't houses. They certainly ARE good enough dwellings to raise families in, and have done so for untold centuries. Here in America we are used to houses though and there is a decided difference. Spend time in a yurt and you'll know what imma talkin 'bout.

[hierony]

So I had the opportunity last night to sleep in a yurt not my own (a 20 ft

Shelter Designs

in Northern Idaho). Could still hear the wind outside and the sunlight coming in the crown ring woke me up a few times in the early am... Yurts are not stick-framed houses.

The yurt last night had just an outlet strip plus lights on an extension cord. My current lighting setup has 8 LED bulbs running on AC. My next gen lighting (already half made) will have a bunch of 12v LED bulbs wired in pairs (series) for a 24v system. You could just get a handful of the 12v bulbs and hook them up to a 12v battery and get at least some dim lighting if not nicely lit.

Here are links to the components I've used so far:
bulb
socket
plug
battery