The Solar LED House Number will not work very well if installed in an area where it is shaded...for obvious reasons :-)  We looked around to see where best to mount the unit. 

After a little discussion, we decided it was best to attach it to the vertical post of the railing. It faces South, gets sun all day long, and is visible to the delivery guys walking up the steps.

The mounting bracket was exactly 3.5"... the width of a standard 2x4.  It is nice when designers take into account building standards.  It just make everything fit so much better :-)  The mounting bracket is also the backplate of the solar unit. 

The solar unit is secured to the bracket by two stainless steel screws from the bottom.  The space is a little tight, so be sure to have a screwdriver with a thinner shaft.  The barrel on the one we are using here was a bit thick and we had a little difficulty aligning properly with the slot.

Once mounted the unit just blended into the railing.  We are really pleased with how this installation looked when we were done.  It took a total of about 10 minutes from start to finish.

We'll hang around until after the sun goes down to see how it looks in the dark.  We really love the design and implementation of this product.  We wonder what innovative things will emerge next from Matterinc's design studio.

8:30 PM....

We weren't sure if there was enough sunlight to charge up the battery for it to work last night, but apparently there was.   It is one of the best under $20 upgrade you can do for your house or office! 

The image above is the LED at about a distance of 8 ft.  The number is clearly visible.  The next two images are from about 20 and 40 ft.

Even at 40 ft, the number is still visible.  This is quite amazing for two small LEDs.  When the battery is fully charged, the runtime for the unit is supposed to around 8 to 10 hours.  It will be interesting to see how this unit performs in the New England weather.  Will it still work every night after a few overcast days?  Lucky for us, it is suppose to rain this weekend...check back on Monday for an update!

After 3 days of rain...

The weather in Boston for the past several day have been cloudy and rainy.  It was a good test of charging ability of the solar panels used by Matterinc for its LED House Number.

The solar panels had no problems charging the batteries during the past three cloudy and sometimes rainy days.  The LEDs came on as soon as the sun went down.  We don't know if they stayed on all night...none of the interns were willing to come before sunrise to check.  We even tried enticing them with free donuts...

House numbers is not something usually associated with high technology...until now.

Matterinc has designed a product which is both a design and functional upgrade for the front entry.

In the FirstLook review, we will check out the materials used and the overall quality of the piece.  In the Installation review, we'll show you just how simple it is to install a Solar LED House Number.

Reviews:

1. FirstLook

2. Installation

3. InTheWild

Review Summary:

Initial Impression- Well designed

Usability- Solar, no fuss

Durability- 1 year warranty.

Price- $17 per number