Allotments 4 All
General => The Shed => Topic started by: wardy on November 12, 2005, 10:26:24
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Does anyone know how I can have an electric light in my shed which is not connected to the mains.
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You can run a light bulb if you get one with the appropriate voltage. Just rig up a 12-volt battery with a 12-volt bulb and a switch, and take the battery home to recharge it when it gets dim.
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Wardy Have you thought about a touch light. I have one hanging in my kitchen so that if my electricity cuts out (I HAVE PAID MY BILL) I have light in kitchen to get to fuse box. Since the new fuse box was put in if a bulb goes it "trips" the electric. Just an idea.
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I was discussing this very problem this morning on our allotments. The main problem with a battery is that is only going to be about 30-35 Amphour capacity, which for a 60W lamp is going to give 6-7 hours usage maximum. I think the best solution is a gas lamp, running off butane, one of the camping types. The alternative to this is a similar lamp which uses D type rechargeable cells, or one of the rechargeable torches with a lantern strip. These are popular in trade use, so you may find one at somewhere like B&Q or a trade supplier. You just take the lamp home with you for recharging. You will normally get a couple of hours use off a single charge.
Derekthefox :D
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buy an emergency light, there a floresent tube that need to be charged at the mains but when disconnected will run off a battery, the same things that you see in offices etc.
they are a tad expensive but all you need to do is take it home every now and again charge it up, then turn it off, take it to the lottie, turn it on and off as you wish and it will run off the battery, then charge it again. Should get a good few hours off it.
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What about the good old paraffin mantle lamp with a globe. - or a paraffin pressure lamp?
All my early youth was lit by those &, for 3 years in India, that's all we had.
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Same here, except that it was in a caravan outside Oxford. I still have an old Tilly lamp.
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Was at the plot this afto trying to pot on caulis but got too dark so lit my little paraffin hurricane lamp but it only holds about an egg cup full of fuel and the flame was not much bigger than a match flare ;D Like the idea of paraffin though but a bit nervous the shed might catch fire ;D
Will google for emergency lamp. As I say Adam my fluourescent torch was a tad rubbish (B & Q) and didn't illuminate much at all so will be on the look out for a better system.
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http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MENVIER-MAINTAINED-M3-EMERGENCY-LIGHT_W0QQitemZ7560745549QQcategoryZ41499QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
i think most last about 3 hours on a full charge, so should be enough for a couple of trips down to the lottie, if you remeber to switch it off when not using it.
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Ta for that info Adam - sounds great :)
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Those of you who were around in the seventies will remember the power cuts... I recall a member of the family had a Tilly lamp and I was very impressed at the time.
It seemed to give good light and heat too.
In the dark cold days of late Autumn and Winter this may be a very viable option
Derek
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Oooh, the words tilly lamp just brought my childhood flooding back. Lived in the wilds of Cumbria in one of the last places to get electrcity, so had calor gas lighting. But on christmas morning when we would get up earlier than the crack of dawn to see if "He'd been", my Dad would light the tilly lamp & we would sit emptying our stocking with the lamp hissing away in the background. Sigh!
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Hurracane lamps are still around. Ordinary wick running from paraffin.
Have thought about having a try at a wind turbine to rotate a small dynamo, like off a bike maybe. Snag is you have to work quick like during windy gusts. There must be a simple set-up where a battery can be topped up using a home-made windmill affair.
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Wardy when we go camping we use a gaz light and it really does the trick, we manage to play cards and drink a bottle of wine by it! ;D ;)
This sort of thing
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/products.asp?partno=2494
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This is the sort of thing we use for camping:(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y21/meatpaste/lantern.jpg)
but this looks like far more fun!(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y21/meatpaste/headlight.jpg)
Both available at www.towsure.com
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Went into Chesterfield on Thursday for a book for my ECDL course. The local flea market was on. I happened to go past a stall with a boxed Tilley Lamp on it.
I picked it up had a quick quint inside.
'How much, Duck'.
'It needs one of them cloth thingies', she said. 'It's 2 quid'.
Quick as a quick thing from Quicksville, I gave her £2. This lamp has been used probably once, boxed with instructions and the lighter thingy and bottle.
99.9% mint condition. I got a mantle for £2 from the Army Stores.
New price? £89.99 (the chrome one is the one I have)
http://www.tilleylamp.co.uk/.
We don't have a gas main to our house. We are all electric. So if we have the harsh winter as forecasted, and the power is cut off, we will at least have heat and light in one room. I've got a little Bluet stove to cook on if we need to.
Has anyone else had bargains from Car Boots or Flea Markets they are particularly proud of?
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Wardy. Can't imagine why your niece thinks that. You seem OK to me. You may have a crazy dog but you seem quite sane, having said that my family think I am a little mad. I suppose that accounts for me thinking YOU are NORMAL LOL.
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Wardy,
I had a system for giving my hens a few hours more light which worked well. Get a low energy fluorescent tube from a camping shop, connect this to a car battery, and connect the battery to a solar battery charger they sell for plugging into your cigarette lighter on the dash of your car, and put the solar panel on the roof or in the window.
Brian
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I have set up a Solar Panel and a couple of 185 AmpHour batteries and then wired up a set of low-voltage halogen bulbs - there is plenty of light in my garage (where I do all my work). I'm also in the process of constructing a wind turbine to help increase the power input. There are loads of devices/products out there to do just what you want - but at a price!
Try http://www.cps-solar.co.uk/uk2shop-13.htm - they do some solar battery chargers - then use one of those head-worn lamps - they will give shed loads of light ;D
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Bionic; Would like to see what you have gathered regarding turbine re-charging and all the bits that make up the circuit.
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Hi Wardy, I used 12 volt lighting off a battery when I was living in my caravan, it was worth getting a proper caravan battery as they don't mind being run down all the time (unlike a car battery). I also used solar panels to charge it in the summer. :)
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Then you need to be persuasive Wardy ! !!
Derekthefox :D
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Dear Wardy,
The solar panel I have is one to recharge a car battery through the cig' lighter socket, you plug it in and sit it on the dash where the sun will shine on it, and it tops up your battery if you are leaving the car for a while, I think it was about £20. The one you have found should work fine, but may be more money as it recharges so many sorts of battery.
Brian
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my uncle is a spark and my allotment is at the end of his garden., so we spilt ecerything really, so when we first started we made sure we have lights, power to the shed, and an alarm, not much more we need now, suppose a plumber would be nice....l
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Just a thought but, going back to my sailing days, had a wind generator on my boat. Produced enough electricity to run a television directly. However, when connected to a battery, produced 3amps per hour to feed it. Any chance of a nice, high, well stayed pole with wind jenny on top?
:D