[Closed] Mancave with no power, need a light solution

Solar charger linked to a car battery and left in the garage? That would allow you to hook up some more powerful lights and let it charge during the day when you're not in there or have enough light to work anyway.

You can get pretty big 12v power packs. Like the 5v phone charger things just more power. I use one camping. Cost about £50

Solar charger linked to a car battery and left in the garage?

Would a leisure battery be more suitable? It'll cope with getting drained to empty and recharged better than starter battery for a car which don't like getting too drained.

I had a similar issue and initially i used a large leisure battery powering some strip lights,this did the trick but recharging the battery was a pain, so in the end i bought a cheap 800w generator from b &q (cost about £100), and powered the lights from this. It had the side benefit that i could qlso run other tool etc from it

The only problem with solar charging if the garage is remote from the house is preventing the solar panel from getting nicked. You should be able to get plenty of use between charges with a decent leisure battery without one though.

Use efficient lights and make their job easier - paint the walls and ceiling white.

Google "off grid lighting" theres you tube vids galore on such set ups.

I saw a fantastic solution on Pintrest the other day. Some American came up with the idea of fixing LED strips (3 x strips) to the exposed joists in his garage, in hindsight he should've used solar to drive the strips but the final effect was immense.

I found this post which seems to have taken inspiration from the original idea.

http://www.mx5nutz.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=316761

A couple of portable work lights? They will give up to about 3 hours. Can be found at places like B&Q for around £20.

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Leisure battery, solar charger and led lights would be one solution but if you can get a generator for around £100 that will be the cheapest option.
We bought a leisure battery this year for our caravan and I think it was about 60, then you would need the solar panel, something like 80w, and that'll cost you well over £100 for the kit.

Even if you didn't go for the solar panel you would still need some sort of charger.

Having a generator also means you could run a heater, radio, etc.

A couple of portable work lights? They will give up to about 3 hours. Can be found at places like B&Q for around £20.

Screwfix do a version that charges from the lighter socket in your car (they also have a USB power out so you can use them as a power pack for phone charging etc too. )

Very bright (if you choose wisely) but a lot of thought needed to how you place them where you're working otherwise you're constantly either dazzled by them or casting your shadow on the thing you're trying to work on.

I keep a few in the van for site jobs and usually wedge a sheet of polystyrene up against the ceiling and bounce the light of that to get better diffusion.

Excellent alternative to halogen site lights though -, great not having cables to trip over and they don't blow the fuses and set fire to everything 🙂

Thanks everyone, fantastic recommendations. STW hive mind strikes again. I must admit, it's very tempting to go a full on installation as you do

Having a generator running for any length of time will have you run out of the neighbour hood

For light I'd look at gas or paraffin lamps to save messing around with batteries

I used 5m of the led strip tape connected to one of those rechargeable battery packs. The pack I have has selectable output voltage, so you have some control over light output.
Was cheap, probably sub £50 all in.
Ran the led tape down the rafters, it's quite good coverage.