Lighting options for shed with no electrical.

grsthegreat · Jul 20, 2012

ahhhh.... we electricians need work.

hire me to run real power to your sheds. I have it run to all 4 buildings on my property... and most are 200-300 feet apart or greater

The kid · Jul 21, 2012

brokenknee said:
I have a shed in the back part of my property (about 1,000) feet or more from my house. There is no electrical on that part of my property. The shed is old (but sound) about 12 X 40. No windows and two doors. This is not a typical machine shed, it was build about two feet off the ground with a wood floor. Not sure of the reason for this, but that is what they did.

Looking for options to get light into it, as even in daytime it is fairly dark in there. I know adding windows would add light but looking for other options if there are any. I thought about 12v lights with a deep cycle battery, but not sure how often I would have to charge the battery.

Any thoughts?

If lighting is all you need then rent a trencher and get some PVC pipe and bury 10-2 or 8-2 with ground. Then use LED lightning inside. Probably 12-2 with ground would be enough if only using LED light bulbs. Put up a small breaker box to control more than on circuit. Problem solved. -Robert

grsthegreat · Jul 21, 2012

The kid said:
If lighting is all you need then rent a trencher and get some PVC pipe and bury 10-2 or 8-2 with ground. Then use LED lightning inside. Probably 12-2 with ground would be enough if only using LED light bulbs. Put up a small breaker box to control more than on circuit. Problem solved. -Robert

dont care what the load is..... 12/2 is useless at 1,000 foot run. dont waste your money. even a 5 amp load will have a 17% voltage drop. To get into the 5-6% drop range, you could only pull 2 amps.

farm guy · Jul 21, 2012

Hi All,

This is my last time I will put in my two cents in on this topic. But before I do let me state I am a electrician by trade and have my license from the State Fire Marshal, you can do what you want. BUT if you run wire like that in violation of current NEC Fire Code you are on the hook, if it causes a fire or hurts someone. Your home owner insurance will NOT cover you for that! The NEC Code is there for a reason! To keep things safe! It may not be you who gets hurt can you deal with it if it was your young daughter??

Enough said

Farm Guy

Travelover · Jul 22, 2012

Yea, I wouldn't put in a long, too light gauge wire because sooner or later someone will want to run a heater, air compressor or other high load device and they won't be happy. Go with solar & battery until you can justify the right wiring.

3930dave · Jul 22, 2012

Best fix ($ vs. db reduction) I've seen for a loud generator was the guy who used a almost brand new 600cc stock street bike muffler on a gas generator. (Might be on here already, but I think I saw it elsewhere ?).

Many guys buying a brand new 600cc sport bike drive it home, and pull the stock exhaust right away. So..... there are plenty of virtually new stock exhausts listed on Ebay, for not much money. With the crazy rpm that sport bikes run, the guy was guessing that this stock muffler would have no restriction issue on a genny. He was right.

Did a nice fab job for a new genny he was taking for a sand weekend at Glamis. Properly braced, and pointing straight up, worked well.

Rgds, D.

grsthegreat · Jul 23, 2012

3930dave said:
Best fix ($ vs. db reduction) I've seen for a loud generator was the guy who used a almost brand new 600cc stock street bike muffler on a gas generator. (Might be on here already, but I think I saw it elsewhere ?).

Many guys buying a brand new 600cc sport bike drive it home, and pull the stock exhaust right away. So..... there are plenty of virtually new stock exhausts listed on Ebay, for not much money. With the crazy rpm that sport bikes run, the guy was guessing that this stock muffler would have no restriction issue on a genny. He was right.

Did a nice fab job for a new genny he was taking for a sand weekend at Glamis. Properly braced, and pointing straight up, worked well.

Rgds, D.

while building my house back in 1996, i had to use a 10K generator to power my equipment as power was not on my property. I had a day job, so built the house between 4pm and midnight.

To spare the neighbors ...... and my sanity... i simply installed an automobile muffler onto my generator. Man did it quiet the thing down. Sounded more like a car running at a high idle.

Ran this for 6 months. I still have the generator and it runs great. This muffler did NO damage to the unit.

3930dave · Jul 23, 2012

GRS - I've known a few guys who have done exactly as you describe with an automotive muffler, with very good results. Basically we are adding a high capacity muffler to something that arrives stock with not much more than a flame arrestor attached.

What I liked about the sport bike muffler is: compact, typically high quality, and should have some well thought out/easy-to-bolt-to attachment points. Oh yeah, and a bit of a bling finish ! :thumbsup:

AND, in the above 600cc scenario, cheap. The guy in the article I read picked his up off Fleabay for something like $15. Just find the guy that is fed up with tripping over the stock exhaust in the garage, and/or getting yelled at by the wife to clean up, and you've got a great deal !

Quiet is nice, just hard to finance directly by buying a Honda. This type of workaround is a great solution !

I was thinking about this as a backup to a battery/solar system. Size the solar to handle efficient lights and the occasional light load (ex. radio), and haul a generator out only when you need to run the odd heavy load, or give the batteries a fast top-up on a rainy day.

Rgds, D.