Ducati Sporting Club UK > General > Idle Chat > 12v Garage lighting??

[ali]

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

[Rattler]

Genny????

[rockhopper]

Run an extension lead from the house.

Paraffin lamps are quite cheap as well.

[antonye]

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?

[antonye]

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

[phil_h]

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 !

[skidlids]

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]

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

[guest1]

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?

[Rob B]

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