When searching for products to assemble a new mailbox and post for my mother, she and I both wanted to put up something that would stand out and not look like every other bland mailbox you pass by. For some reason, she was very displeased by the thought of having to put numbers on the box. She felt like it was defacing the box already and taking away from its appeal. I expressed to her the importance of people being able to find their address, especially if emergency services were called and had no idea where they were located. In an attempt to sort of "beautify" the numbers, I thought it would be nice to have a post light that would shine down on and illuminate floating metal numbers placed vertically on the post. I had seen solar post lights at the "big box" home improvement stores, but they were all sized to fit a standard 4x4 post (actually 3.5"x3.5") and the mailbox post we had chosen was a recycled plastic/vinyl post which was not a standard size (4.25"x4.25"). I also wanted to find a light that I felt would be durable and last for many years without much need for attention. My searching led me to the Trex post lights from Ultra Bright Tech. They were a bit pricier than others I had seen, but they were the closest fit to our post and the reviews were very positive. I was looking for a quality light after all, so the extra cost was also to be expected. So I finally purchased the light from Ultra Bright Tech.

WORTH EVERY PENNY SPENT! We love the light and it adds such a special touch to an often overlooked part of the home that just sits, mostly forgotten, at the end of people's driveways. The lights are BRIGHT, which I was also trying to achieve as much as possible with a solar light since running a low-voltage line to the mailbox location would have taken a great deal of extra work. We have kept the light on at brightness level 5 (out of 7 steps) and so far, even though it was installed at the start of summer with longer days, the light has lasted the entire night, every night, even following mostly overcast and rainy days. Compared to other lights we have outside that operate with a photocell, this light activates much later than the others, so you can tell they have put a lot of thought into the design in order to maximize the time the light is on at night by having the light turn on just a bit before it gets too dark to see. Even though the light waits for a very low level of light to turn on, extremely well-lit nights by a full moon and a rather bright security light on my dad's shop that is close don't deter the light from remaining on. The many different customization settings of this light is just the cherry on the top of everything else. There are seven different brightness levels and three colors; white, amber-yellow and deep royal blue, Changing the settings using the magnet is straightforward and just clever. We leave the magnet attached on the inside back of the mailbox for easy access (and to avoid it getting misplaced in some drawer in the house). Bottom line, even with the growing popularity of these types of solar lights with improvements in solar and battery technology, you're not going to find lights as unique and well-built as these. I would and have recommended them to people every chance I get and my mother has received several compliments on the light, as begrudging as she was about putting it and the numbers on the box to begin with. (A quick note, I sadly have no pictures of the final product with numbers installed, just the template before we finally ordered them a month later, but I did have several of the mailbox with the light so you can see how the project turned out!)

When searching for products to assemble a new mailbox and post for my mother, she and I both wanted to put up something that would stand out and not look like every other bland mailbox you pass by. For some reason, she was very displeased by the thought of having to put numbers on the box. She felt like it was defacing the box already and taking away from its appeal. I expressed to her the importance of people being able to find their address, especially if emergency services were called and had no idea where they were located. In an attempt to sort of "beautify" the numbers, I thought it would be nice to have a post light that would shine down on and illuminate floating metal numbers placed vertically on the post. I had seen solar post lights at the "big box" home improvement stores, but they were all sized to fit a standard 4x4 post (actually 3.5"x3.5") and the mailbox post we had chosen was a recycled plastic/vinyl post which was not a standard size (4.25"x4.25"). I also wanted to find a light that I felt would be durable and last for many years without much need for attention. My searching led me to the Trex post lights from Ultra Bright Tech. They were a bit pricier than others I had seen, but they were the closest fit to our post and the reviews were very positive. I was looking for a quality light after all, so the extra cost was also to be expected. So I finally purchased the light from Ultra Bright Tech.

WORTH EVERY PENNY SPENT! We love the light and it adds such a special touch to an often overlooked part of the home that just sits, mostly forgotten, at the end of people's driveways. The lights are BRIGHT, which I was also trying to achieve as much as possible with a solar light since running a low-voltage line to the mailbox location would have taken a great deal of extra work. We have kept the light on at brightness level 5 (out of 7 steps) and so far, even though it was installed at the start of summer with longer days, the light has lasted the entire night, every night, even following mostly overcast and rainy days. Compared to other lights we have outside that operate with a photocell, this light activates much later than the others, so you can tell they have put a lot of thought into the design in order to maximize the time the light is on at night by having the light turn on just a bit before it gets too dark to see. Even though the light waits for a very low level of light to turn on, extremely well-lit nights by a full moon and a rather bright security light on my dad's shop that is close don't deter the light from remaining on. The many different customization settings of this light is just the cherry on the top of everything else. There are seven different brightness levels and three colors; white, amber-yellow and deep royal blue, Changing the settings using the magnet is straightforward and just clever. We leave the magnet attached on the inside back of the mailbox for easy access (and to avoid it getting misplaced in some drawer in the house). Bottom line, even with the growing popularity of these types of solar lights with improvements in solar and battery technology, you're not going to find lights as unique and well-built as these. I would and have recommended them to people every chance I get and my mother has received several compliments on the light, as begrudging as she was about putting it and the numbers on the box to begin with. (A quick note, I sadly have no pictures of the final product with numbers installed, but I did have several of the mailbox with the light so you can see how the project turned out!)