Review: Sumaote Motion Sensor Solar Post Cap Light 4×4

We installed a wooden fence a few years ago and used wooden fencepost caps. What a mistake! Many have split and become worn, but with a never-ending array of home projects to tend to, replacing them had been low priority. However, we recently had some sand delivered for a project and the driver pulled his truck up to our fence and then dumped the load, completely breaking one of our fencepost caps in the process. Because there was now a broken fencepost cap to deal with, along with the others that were well deteriorated, we decided to investigate alternatives and discovered these solar cap lights, Sumaote Motion Sensor Solar Post Cap Light 4×4. We had admired other people’s fences in our community topped with solar lights, so we thought we would give these a try.

The solar lights arrived very nicely packaged. They were individually wrapped in a sturdy box. Each light was intact with no damage and appeared to be well constructed. We immediately added the lights to our fence post but did not secure them with the included screw because we wanted to test them out for a week or two first. We had purchased solar string lights before that did not work properly or stopped working quickly, so we thought we would see how these do first. Although the lights arrived late in the day and only had a few hours to charge—not the 6 to 8 hours outlined on the instruction sheet–they worked beautifully and have continued to work well since. They provide quite a bit of light. The product specs indicate that each cap casts 400 lumens, which is the equivalent of about 30 incandescent watts. Looking at the lights, this appears to be accurate. The light is a soft white and lasts the whole night through. I am not sure if the same will be true in the winter when there is less sunlight, but even with minimal charging time, they worked well so we are optimistic.

It is nice to have this extra light in our yard, especially since we have small dogs and sometimes must go out into the yard with them late at night or in the wee morning hours. Prior to buying these lights, our backyard had been a bit of a dark void, so it could feel a little spooky at times. These lights enable us to see the dogs much better and even provide a bit of a magical feeling with their soft glow. Because these are motion-sensing lights, the lights brighten a bit when people get close to the round sensor on the cap, which is another nice feature.

The only issue we have is that our posts are 3.5 x 3.5 inch, and these are 4 x 4 inch, so they are a bit large for our fenceposts; however, they are fine secured with the screw and do not look odd. We debated building out the top of the post with some wood strips to make for a better fit, but we ultimately did not bother because we just do not have the time and read that a too tight fit is also not good for preserving the actual fenceposts. Basically, we are looking to get a few more years out of our fence, and while it is not pretty to look at, these new caps help elevate our fence a bit.

The posts came in a pack of 4 and we will likely be ordering more soon to replace some of our other really worn fencepost caps. We like that these are super easy to install—just press the button below the cap, pop the cap on the post, and secure with a single screw—making them manageable for people like us who are limited on time and not the most handy.