Solar lights for sheds

[Baggy]

Hi all

I am looking for a light for my shed, I do not have power to the shed yet (need to work out best way)

Has anyone used Solar lights for sheds?
http://www.thesolarcentre.co.uk/pages/solar_shed_light_review.html

assuming "yes" are they any good?
would like to carve by the light.

Mark

 

[Whittler Kev]

One of the big boys like Toolstation were selling a pack for the whole shed recently. I saw it in one of there promos

 

[Toddy]

My neighbour is complaining; he bought solar power lights for his shed and they're damn all use from late Autumn right through until Spring. He says the only time they worked in Winter was when the Sun was out and there was snow on the ground but cleared off the panels.

I think if solar garden lights don't work, then there's little chance of the big ones working to give enough light to carve with.

How about LED lanterns run off batteries ?

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Baggy]

One of the big boys like Toolstation were selling a pack for the whole shed recently. I saw it in one of there promos

Ah, missed that

 

[Baggy]

Hiya

My neighbour is complaining; he bought solar power lights for his shed and they're damn all use from late Autumn right through until Spring. He says the only time they worked in Winter was when the Sun was out and there was snow on the ground but cleared off the panels.

That does not sound great

I think if solar garden lights don't work, then there's little chance of the big ones working to give enough light to carve with.?

I have not tried the garden lights

How about LED lanterns run off batteries ?

That is plan B, maybe Plan A now

 

[Shewie]

How about one of these Mark? ...

http://www.maplin.co.uk/12v-50w-tel...nd-turbine-396269?c=froogle&u=396269&t=module

 

[ged]

Most solar powered stuff is little more than a novelty. Sometimes you'll need good light for carving, and sharps and the dark don't mix well anyway. I'd go for a lead-acid battery and a lot of 12V LED lights. Keep the battery well charged, you don't want to deep-discharge it. A deep cycle battery would be a lot better than something like a car or truck battery, but keep that well charged too.

Alternatively you can get very good light from pressure lanterns, but you also get a lot of heat and there's also the fire risk. You know your shed better than we do.

 

[demographic]

THESE LED striplights are supposed to be very good with good power and spread.

Obviously they aren't solar powered and need a twelve volt battery but solar lights are a bit...meh.

 

[Silverhill]

Echoing what Ged has said already, and based upon my experience of solar shed lights; don't bother as they are nigh on useless. Get yourself a decent lighting setup, and if you still want to go solar you can buy some decent panels to go on your roof.

 

[rik_uk3]

Not solar but one of these lights my big Juno 8 and runs a weekend on 4xAA's, they give off a surprising amount of light. I'm putting my Vapalux(s) away for emergency home use and will be using two of these to light up the parachute shelter, don't need the heat off the Vapalux now I'm using a coal burner.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12-LED-PA...Patio_Covers_Heating&var=&hash=item5f7885ed8c

 

[Toddy]

I bought ones like those in £land in the summer They're very, very good.
So good that after the last power cut, when I put them on the big candle sticks and they lit up the kitchen and living room with no bother, that I went out and bought enough to do every room in the house
I had been using them in my tent, and one gave more than enough light to read, do the crossword, etc., in the middle of the night, and to safely cook in the porch.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[nuggets]

How far is your shed away from the house ??? Would an extension cable not be a better option ??

 

[tiger stacker]

The parasol/ doughnuts can be found in poundland. Great lights ideal for tose who dont ahve mains power. Rolson make these

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rolson-6177...0JIA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323629791&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rolson-Tool...PINI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1323629852&sr=8-2

I love my solar lamps from ikea, they do a table lamp, a red strip lantern and a puck one. Great idea alas winter sunlight means light quality quickly diminishes. For the cost of them i could have bought loads of AAs and more parasols.

 

[rik_uk3]

The ones I have open in half so you can clip them round a pole, handy that. As some of you know I love my lanterns etc but these little LED jobs are so good, take up no space etc I'm switching over to using them now. Winter camping I may take a Vapalux but doubtful.

 

[Baggy]

How far is your shed away from the house ??? Would an extension cable not be a better option ??

That is an option, the shed is about 90ft away from the house

 

[Toddy]

Seeing if you can find a friendly electrician with a surplus roll of armoured cable if you've got as long a stretch as that to cover might be a very good idea.

If you can't find the parasol lights to have a try, I'll happily post down one of my cheap £store ones (I suspect the ones Rik mentioned might be better quality, sometimes I've got to roll the batteries in their sockets to get a good contact) for you to give it a go in the shed. If I take the batteries out it won't weigh much to post.

Good batteries make a big difference to the light output too, I find, but my rechargeable ones work well.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Dave Budd]

i've have/had a variety of solar shed and garden lights over the last 5 years that I've been working in the middle of nowhere. Mostly I've used the garden lights for lighting paths and the toilet (so students don't get too lost in the dark) and the shed lights for illuminating small group shelters for sitting around in at night. They have all be OK to begin with but soon give up the ghost. Mostly the batteries inside them stop working due to the constant use that they get from me, but I've not had a single solar light (the types with small batteries and panels) last for more than a few months.

On the other hand, my workshop is moslty solar powered (I'm totally off grid). It is rubbish, but I get by. In terms of lighting I am in the process of moving over to LED running directly from the battery bank that supplies my machines. I've also got some LED strips and spots that I just hook up to a spare 12v battery (from a previous solar setup that was damaged). As the battery runs a little low the light output drops and you end up with a weird ghostly light and NO good for fine work let alone carving! On the other hand, if you can keep it at 12v and the current good (so running through the solar regultor that fits between solar panels and batteries) then the light is plenty bright enough and very good to work by

The LEDs I use are from Brightlightz, they are the cool white 5050 strip lights I tried the warm white ones and they don't work for me but others seem to prefer them. I've no affiliation to the company but I've spent a lot of money with them and always had good service.

 

[Ben Trout]

I was given one of these earlier in the year:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/d-light-S25...B70O/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1324067689&sr=8-2

It might do what you want quite nicely. Fix the panel to the roof, run the lead through to where you want the light and put up a hook. During the summer leave the light out in the shed. In the winter bring it inside and charge it up with an old Nokia mains charger, then take the light out when you need it.

Mine did lighting in the Tentipi on summer camp this year and worked fine. It did throw a bit of a wobbly being left discharged for a couple of months, but has recovered fine. The lead on the solar panel is about three metres long.

 

[dean4442]

I have fitted these before and although not cheap they are very bright: http://www.qvsdirect.com/Brennenstuhl-80-LED-Solar-Powered-Outdoor-Floodlight-with-PIR-pr-24379.html
Colin