12v Garage lighting??
 

Mornin' all.

It's gettin awful dark in my garage these days, but with no ac power in there I'm pretty short on options. I've been using a rechargeable 12v flourescent tube but I need to keep dragging it back to my house all the time for charging.

Can anyone recommend a better way of lighting? I've got a nice healthy car battery and, if needs be, a 300w invertor. Looking to keep cost under £100 if poss so banks of NASA made solar panels not probably possible!

Cheers,

Ali

Genny????

Run an extension lead from the house.

Paraffin lamps are quite cheap as well.

You can buy halogen downlighter kits from any DIY place, like B&Q, and these will all run off 12v. You normally get a voltage converter with them so you can wire it up to the mains.

Either get some loose fittings and bulbs, or buy a kit and throw away the converter.

Last set I bought was 12.99 from B&Q for 3 downlighters and the transformer.

I think some of the bulb are rated as low as 6VA, so equivalent to a 50W bulb, and should last a while off a car battery. You'd probably need to recharge the battery every time though, but would be easier and give more light?

eg...
http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/...01113&ts=36365

12V halogen lamps are ok if you need a spot for a worklight, but they are juicy and so hot you can easily burn yourself on the b'stards..
If you want some less juicy lighting then caravan fluorescents are quite useful !

A caravan battery will probably give you the longest periods between charges, providing you are sensible with the loading and every so often you will have to drag it back to the house to charge it.
A suitcase style generator is a good option, we use a very quiet one at the race meetings, cost a bit more than the likes of the B&Q type gennys, but paying more gets you quality as well as quieter running. Honda are a popular choice, can also then use a drill etc and only need to carry a petrol can every so often

AK built the tricolour, mostly at the stables.
Used caravan leisure batteries (lasted almost the week) for strip lighting & the occasional 'spot lamp' running off car, when more was needed.

C:)

First off - get a tin of white paint and paint the inside surfaces.
(don't bother using mirrors or silver foil - unless you want specific spot enhancement)

lamps - as all have said - fluorescents will usually give better consumption depending on wattage.
to work out your average time on a halogen,:
20watt 12 volt is 1.7A
given a 13Ahr battery you should have less than 7.5hours worth of light.
Also, your halogens don't take kindly to under running on voltage so you'll probably blacken the lamps if you don't overrun them to 12.8volts+ every so often.

There is an alternative in LED lighting. You'll find em in a few electrical distributors marketed as garden lighting - the newer ones have an LED cluster giving a fair wack of light where you need it, for low running cost and little heat - but can cost between 14 and 39 squid a piece.

OR....buy a wind up torch?

What they all said plus a LED head torch. Brilliant bit of kit and you can keep it under the sadle for those "Oh Shxt," side of the road moments too.

Rgds, Rob

no Rob, that sort of moment is for ones husband, or AA card:P

Thank very much all. No shortage of help around here! :D

The only question is; does anyone know how to wire up flourescents tubes to a 12v supply? I would have thought the starter widget needs 240v to get the tubes into life?

And Rob, I've always got a couple of Petzl Tikkas in the house/car. Completely invaluable, don't know how anyone spanners without them...

Ali my Race van has 12 volt flourescents in it so may be worth trying a carvan/camping outlet

I've wired up many flourescents in garages and they only take a 240v feed into a transformer, so I reckon you should be able to bypass this and go straight in on the 12v side.

B&Q do excellent 1.5m flourescent tubes in a holder at under 9 quid each - they're 58w but you can get lower wattage ones if you want.

Or just get 12v ones from somewhere like TowSure - I've used them loads of times for trailer parts (rolls eyes) and they're both cheap and very quick to post stuff out.

Awning Strip Lamp C/W Plug (13wt)
Twin tube light 13" long with 15 ft. of cable and crocodile clip type connectors. Comes complete with magnetic discs so it will stick to any metal surface. Has two 12 ft. 8 watt fluorescent tubes that give a 16 watt illumination.
£12.75

http://www.towsure.com/default.asp?t=480&p=0&d=33

That's the monkey!! :D Top work Antony. Thank god I've got you lot here to stop me from having to engage brain.....

Just been to a tailor to have my sling covered in black for a job interview. Sad or what!

Ali

Ha!!!

I've just been for a job interview with a black sock on in my bold white aircast/orthopaedic boot - I toyed with the idea of a black covering but couldn't be arsed!