Need ideas for my friend's new tool shed.

Need ideas for my friend\'s new tool shed.

Hi all,

I just finished helping my friend build a new 8'x8' plastic storage shed. He know's I'm a bit of a flashlight geek, so he asked me for advice on some kind of lighting solution for his new shed. It has a nice skylight (translucent panel on the roof) for the day time, but he wants some sort of battery operated light source wich can be mounted or hung inside the shed for night use. The first thing that came to my mind was some kind of flourescent lantern, but I wonder if there is an LED solution that would work just as well. Maybe there is something with a remote switch that could be mounted near the door. Any ideas?

Thanks for your input,
Ken

Re: Need ideas for my friend\'s new tool shed.

Hmmmmm, something with a solar power supply perhaps is a start...

Re: Need ideas for my friend\'s new tool shed.

Depending on how often he will be in the shed at night and for how long and the temperature extremes, GE makes a 6watt pull cord 4D fluorescent light (closet light) that should light that up nicely for around $10. I have one by my bed but I only paid $2.50 for it and modded it for DC input to use a walwart. If he is going to be in there a lot and need a lot of light I would consider perhaps either wiring in some power or using an SLA power source he can charge up every once in awhile.

Re: Need ideas for my friend\'s new tool shed.

Depending on how big it is, he can consider those "moonlights". I got two of them at HomeDepot for $7. They run on 4 AA's and you turn them on by pushing in on the dome. Not fancy, but plenty of light for my shed at night.

Re: Need ideas for my friend\'s new tool shed.

How crazy do you want to get? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Get an Arc4 or HDS and a ball cap. Turn light on, use clip to attach to bill of cap, put cap on head and voila! Light where you are looking. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/naughty.gif About $200 including cap.

Get a headlamp.

A 4-D fluorescent is an OK light (I have one in my shed), so you can go that route. It adds enough light that you can see enough not to trip or bang into things, but it's not a worklight for working in the shed. Maybe $10 or so.

Get a Thor and just leave it in the shed. Maybe $30 or so and you have LIGHT. Bounce the beam off the roof/ceiling inside the shed.

You could get a solar SLA battery motion-sensor flood light and put the solar panels outside on the roof and run the thin wire through a drilled hole in the wall and have the battery and floodlights inside the shed. Maybe $100 or so.

You could take a piece of 2x2 aluminum square bar stock and mount it at the ceiling and rig up 9 WxxT bin LuxV direct-drive and a pretty big 6V SLA battery (solar panel optional) and FLOOD the shed with light. Run the set-up off of a couple of Fatman drivers and underdrive the 9 LuxVs at about 500 mA each and you'll probably get about 1000 lumens in the shed. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif Maybe $200 plus battery, solar panel, and Fatman drivers.

Re: Need ideas for my friend\'s new tool shed.

If it's a toolshed (as opposed to a workspace), try a Coleman dual flourescent. It runs on 8 x D batteries, has a high and a low, and provides plenty of light for quite a while. It's pretty well built and attractive also. Around here, Home Depot sells them.

As long as the weather in your neck of the woods doesn't freeze, flourescents should be fine.

W.

Re: Need ideas for my friend\'s new tool shed.

I would consider getting some of those solar powered pagoda lights. The LEDs can be remoted by taking it apart and putting some zip cord on it. The units with the solar cells can be put on the roof and the LEDs inside the shed. Free light!. Home Depot often has them on sale 4 for $20.
I guess another idea would be to reomote the Solar cells and leave the electronics and LEDs inside the shed.

Re: Need ideas for my friend\'s new tool shed.

This is exactly what you need Solar/LED power!

Re: Need ideas for my friend\'s new tool shed.

Thanks for all the input everyone. I really like the solar powered LED ideas, but I think my friend wants to keep it as cheap as possible. He liked the small battery opperated flourescent solution. I'll keep an eye out for something like that at Walmart or Home Depot next time I'm there. I thnik that will probaby be the way we end up going. It looks inexpensive, bright, and easy.

Thanks again,
Ken

Re: Need ideas for my friend\'s new tool shed.

The light I was talking about looks very square and is about $9 at walmart with a plastic hoop on a pull cord. If he had a spare 12v battery he could get a 12v fluorescent light and wire it to a switch directly.

Re: Need ideas for my friend\'s new tool shed.

I did mine using a $15 12 volt gel cell battery, a $9 solar battery charger and some aftermarket automobile dome lights. Oh, and a white LED running at a few milliamps to act as a pilot light.

The Solar charger is on sale for 9.99 http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=44768-2vga

I had to add RTV sealer to water proof the solar cell. Even so, it did not stand up to possum poop and urine.

Daniel

Re: Need ideas for my friend\'s new tool shed.

well he has a skylight so protecting a solar cell may not be an issue unless it blocks some of the suns power. I believe that solar cell is something like 1.5watts which means for every 2 hours it charges you should be able to run the light for about 1 hour. I think 6watt fluorescents actually use 3watts of power.

Re: Need ideas for my friend\'s new tool shed.

Something like this is also very COOL LED package.

Re: Need ideas for my friend\'s new tool shed.

Here is another great way to GO!

A light in a BOX! and its even cheeper!