Lighting options for shed with no electrical.

[JoelT]

I've though about some passive solar heating for a greenhouse using water. Seems that it takes a prohibitive amount of electricity though to generate much any type of heat.The sticky thread at the top has some useful formulas for working through those ideas.

 

[schweizer]

Tractor battery? Yes definitely, great application!

Heating? Not a chance. The battery would be drained long before any useful heat was made. That's one of the cardinal rules of living w/ batteries -- no resistive heating loads.

Marcus

 

[dodge man]

Amazon.com: Cooper Lighting LED130 Might-D-Light 80-LED Cordless Rechargeable Folding Worklight: Home Improvement
I have one of these. The link lists it at $41, but it seemed like I paid a lot less. It folds open or partly closed so it stands up, and it has magnets on the back so you can stick it to a steel wall or other metal object. Its pretty bright but wouldn't light up a building unless you had 3 or 4 of them, but you can carry it where you need. it. It lasts more than an hour on a full charge and recharges pretty quickly.

 

[Pete Judd]

I was selling high end Yacht and Rv lights until the econ tanked. My source of the 12V DC ccfl 13 inch tubes was http://www.svc.com/clk12.html These only draw about 6 watts per pair, and put out a lot of light. Just make sure that you get the polarity right. Cheap, willing to sell my new old stock for half the normal price plus shipping. Around 3.50 per pair.

Pete

 

[schmism]

HF solar kit... comes with everything you need. just supply the 12v car battery even comes with LED lights.

45 Watt Solar Panel Kit

 

[namesray]

"what type of roof on it? i have a shed with steel roof and put clear pannels on the roof in 2 spots (shed is 12x30) lets tons of light in. if not steel, i have used a generator to power stuff in a shed with no electricity. loud, but works. could put the generator outside too. the steel roof panels would be the way i would go i think. don't know the set up of your shed, but probably wouldn't take too much to convert it to a steel roof with clear pannels."

I suspect this is a typo, but in the event that it is not, a generator should always be outside to prevent CO poisoning.

not to derail where the thread is, but just to clarify myself, it is a typo sorta. my brain was ahead of my typing and it came out wrong. i will be more careful how i word things in the future.

what i ment to say was, i have a steel building with no electric in it. haven't got around to putting electric in it yet. anywway i use a generatror to power things when needed. since somethings like my aircompressor have shortish cords and i don't want to run an extension cord, i am forced to keep the generator close to the building when running. i put the generator outside the main door with exhaust pointed outside too. i leave the door open to allow lots of light in. but that generator is loud with that door open. what i ment to say was i could use electric lights and shut the door to muffle the sound of the generator a little bit. no i don't run the generator inside the building. sorry for the confusion there in my previous post.

 

[JoeBuyer]

No problem, like I said I figured it was a typo. Generators can be loud like you say. I thought my 13 HP Honda with a GX engine and 7500W was loud until I got a 6 HP Yanmar Diesel air cooled generator. It is a very nice and fuel efficient generator but you need to have earplugs or have it behind something to be around it. Starts first pull every time. So does the Honda for that matter.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

It does have a tin roof, how well do the clear pannels hold up. I have another shed on my property that has the plastic (I think) pannels but they tend to leak when it rains.

The old style fiberglass panels rotted out from exposure to the sun. I think the new Lexan panels are more durable.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Could not find the kit at Costco online, they had a 100 amp one for 189.99 with no controller. Costco - Grape Solar 100W Solar Panel I searched for a solar controller and the price was all over the place, from $25 to over $700. what would I look for in a controller? I would like to keep this project under $400 as I do not use the shed a lot, just for storage.

For $400 you can rent a trencher and bury a run of copper 10/3 w/ground. Hook it to a small 30 amp service panel and you will have 120/240v. power adequate for lights and occasional power tool use.

Edit: Never mind. I missed the 1000' run from the first message. This isn't practical.

 

[grsthegreat]

For $400 you can rent a trencher and bury a run of copper 10/3 w/ground. Hook it to a small 30 amp service panel and you will have 120/240v. power adequate for lights and occasional power tool use.

Edit: Never mind. I missed the 1000' run from the first message. This isn't practical.

ya, 1000' run would have to be run in a pretty large wire. I usually run #2 aluminum as a minimum.