perksy
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| posted on 11/9/20 at 06:55 PM |
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Shed Lighting
New garden shed is now in place and all racked out with the overspill from the garage (shed size is 10' x 6' and has plenty of
headroom)
Now for the lighting, I know I should be running electricity to it for this, but I don't need 240 volts to it for any power tools
So I was thinking either solar or battery power?
Anybody come up with a successful solution to this?
Thanks
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Bluemoon
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| posted on 11/9/20 at 09:09 PM |
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Out of interest where did you get the shed from. In the market for garage over flow, but after somthing that will not fall appart while looking at
it!
I do have a solar light kit used it for camping was o.k. If all you need is a light and the shed has direct sun light (not in shadows) i would
recommend. Ours was a maplin kit so cannot recomend one as they don't exist anymore. Probably worth searching on amazon for genuine reviews..
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BenB
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| posted on 11/9/20 at 09:24 PM |
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How often will you use it? When I had a similar quandry just stuck a 100Ah leisure battery in my shed. 12v sockets for tools, an inverter, led
lighting and a wall mounted push-button-activated digital voltmeter to monitor capacity. Under the meter I've got a panel mount banana twin pole
connector and an adapter (two bits of copper pipe stuck into a piece of wood with a wire soldered on going to a banana plug). Every month or so I just
hook that up and charge using my car battery charger using an extension cable from the house Oh yes, 12v amp for music also...
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SteveWalker
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| posted on 11/9/20 at 09:33 PM |
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From a purely practical point of view - how about running 12v ac lighting from a safety transformer? The wiring can be run along a fence, buried
shallowly without protection, etc. because it is safe due to the extra-low voltage and isolation from both mains and earth. None of the hassles and
hard work of 240V.
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steve m
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| posted on 12/9/20 at 07:32 AM |
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How far down the garden is the shed?
As i ran waterproof and semi armoured cable in conduits around my garden for lighting and sockets,
Cables go through the dining room wall, and are plugged in with an RCD to the first socket
The RCD and plug are removed when not in use,
I was told, by a friend, a Qualified Electrician, (hes on this site ) and i worked for him, that although what i have done is not quite right,
It is no different to running an extension cable down the garden to run a chainsaw, or the like
Secondly, if thats not possible, get a good used car battery, some Led 12v bulbs as they burn next to nothing, and are very bright,
and switch and a solar panel, the whole lot wont cost more than £30
steve
Thats was probably spelt wrong, or had some grammer, that the "grammer police have to have a moan at
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Dingz
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| posted on 12/9/20 at 11:15 AM |
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I've got a 12v battery feeding a couple of led 'driving' lamps and a car radio. Fed by 2 solar panels 20W? pointing in different
directions south and west. Works fine for most of the year, in winter I have to charge the battery, the car radio is always pulling a small amount of
power for the station memory.
Phoned the local ramblers club today, but the bloke who answered just
went on and on.
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ReMan
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| posted on 12/9/20 at 11:37 AM |
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Ive got an old car battery driving 4 of these led lights even got a switch by the door like mormal
lasts forever
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4X-72-LED-Interior-Light-Strip-Bar-Car-Van-Bus-Caravan-ON-OFF-Switch-12-24V-Lamp/264740889659?hash=item3da3c9643b:g:8xQAAOS
w1EZeyX0y
www.plusnine.co.uk
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 12/9/20 at 12:12 PM |
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I got a new shed a couple of years ago, and thought that I wouldn't need an electricity supply to it - until my wife pointed out that I was
regularly running extension leads through the garage window, and that she had to use a torch if she went to get something in the evening.
I paid a fair bit for the shed, so I decided to go the whole hog and get a local sparky to wire it properly. Now there's a fused feed off the
main house distribution board to a small distribution board with RCD in the shed, 2 lights, 2 sockets inside and an external one with a cover. Way,
way better and a lot safer all round, and I've now got a proper wiring certificate from the electrical authorities.
I can't remember how much I paid, but it wasn't stupid money - about a half-day labour plus parts.
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nick205
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| posted on 13/9/20 at 09:12 AM |
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I replaced my garden shed a couple of years ago when we converted our integral garage into an extra bedroom. As we had a sparky in doing the
electrics for that I got him to run electric from the house to the shed. Strip light and 3 double sockets in the shed. Added about £140 labour +
parts to the price.
It makes the shed so much more usable and worth having. Wife and kids have no fear of going out there on a dark evening to get things.
IMHO better than battery solutions.
I also have an electric mower which I now run from a socket in the shed.
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rusty nuts
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| posted on 13/9/20 at 10:13 AM |
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The cheap LED fittings from Toolstation are good value
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coyoteboy
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| posted on 13/9/20 at 10:56 AM |
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I dealt with 2x 60w incandescents in my garage for a while, installed by the previous owner with conduited armoured cable. I got sick of struggling to
see and installed second consumer unit, breakers and cat6 cables, plus 4x 5ft batten lights and some movable spots. It's actually a nice place
to be now.
If I were doing it again, I'd put in the effort again, but I suspect the same result could be done with LED and a local battery bank. But who
has a shed and does only stuff not requiring power?
[Edited on 13/9/20 by coyoteboy]
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gremlin1234
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| posted on 13/9/20 at 12:54 PM |
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if you are running mains out to the shed, I suggest you take the opportunity to also run an ethernet cable
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perksy
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| posted on 13/9/20 at 05:49 PM |
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Thanks everyone for your comments, Some good ideas there for me to think about
The shed in just over a metre from the house
It was made for me locally and fitted all in for a very good price and I'm very pleased with it (Tanelised tongue & groove)
The chap is on ebay under KH property services
[Edited on 13/9/20 by perksy]
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steve m
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| posted on 13/9/20 at 06:27 PM |
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1 meter away from the house ?
just run an extension cable, from the house with a plug in rcd
Thats was probably spelt wrong, or had some grammer, that the "grammer police have to have a moan at
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cliftyhanger
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| posted on 13/9/20 at 07:06 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by steve m
1 meter away from the house ?
just run an extension cable, from the house with a plug in rcd
Spot on. Except hopefully the main board is already RCD protected. Get an outside socket fitted, and extension lead into that. 13A will be enough for
most stuff (I ran my garage, including 150A welder, 3HP compressor eand all manor of power tools off an extension lead for a couple of years. (welder
OR compressor at any one time)
Mains cables up a garden get expensive, 500mm in the ground is hard work.
And worth mentioning, if your main board is RCD protected (usually 30mA) you should not use another 30mA RCD in the garage/shed. Rely on the house
board, or use a 10mA version.
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BenB
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| posted on 13/9/20 at 09:22 PM |
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I had a bog standard extension cable going to my shed door once for about four years. Ran it under the hedge so had to be careful cutting the hedge
but with the plug inside the house and the reel in the shed only the cable was exposed to the elements so nothing happened to it. In fact I still use
that reel to charge my shed leisure battery nowadays.
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nick205
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| posted on 14/9/20 at 09:04 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by gremlin1234
if you are running mains out to the shed, I suggest you take the opportunity to also run an ethernet cable
Very good call.
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SteveWalker
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| posted on 14/9/20 at 11:26 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by perksy
The shed in just over a metre from the house
[Edited on 13/9/20 by perksy]
At that distance, I'd not bother with armoured cable, cable reels, etc., I'd just run a piece of Unistrut (with a capping piece to keep
the sun off the cables) or even a steel conduit, above head height. It's close enough and presumably is a non-steel structure, so no need to
have to worry about different earths and should just be able to export the house earth.
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coyoteboy
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| posted on 14/9/20 at 04:03 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by BenB
I had a bog standard extension cable going to my shed door once for about four years. Ran it under the hedge so had to be careful cutting the hedge
but with the plug inside the house and the reel in the shed only the cable was exposed to the elements so nothing happened to it. In fact I still use
that reel to charge my shed leisure battery nowadays.
My neighbour keeps doing this (though at head height in a piece of used garden hose)..
I keep tripping their house and getting a face full of sparks.
Cowboys.
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