How to make decent lighting in a garage without electricity, all the ways

01/25/201701/25/2017 master

The garage is not only a protected parking place for your “iron horse”, but also a place where you can do its repairs. Therefore, it is very important that the garage is well lit. But here certain difficulties may arise due to the frequent lack of wiring and banal electricity in such buildings. Such difficulties often arise when the garage building was built with your own hands and far from the power line.

Garage lighting

In such a situation, it will be relevant to make autonomous garage lighting. Our article today will tell you what you need to know to make such lighting yourself.

How is lighting done?

When constructing any premises, lighting systems should always be included at the planning stage. This is especially important for buildings such as a garage, which you can build with your own hands without any problems. Before installing autonomous lighting in this room, you need to consider the following points:

• what level of lighting needs to be organized;
• what lighting fixtures will be used;
• what type of light source will be screwed into the lamps.

Garage lighting option

It must be remembered that the lighting of a garage, even a stand-alone one, must necessarily comply with the following rules:

• be safe. Autonomous lighting in this case will be the most relevant, since in this case there is no wiring, and therefore there is a risk of electrical injury;

Note! Using a 12-volt LED lamp for illumination, you can not only provide high-quality lighting to the room, but also completely eliminate the risk of electrical injury.

• The lighting level should be comfortable for the eyes. In order to correctly calculate the level of illumination for a given room, it is necessary to rely on the standards given in SNiP for garages;
• the light that the lamps will create should illuminate the entire space, including the corners. At the same time, it should be uniform. To achieve this level of illumination, you can use general and local types of illumination;
• The placement of lighting fixtures should be carried out according to a scheme convenient for you. This will make working in the garage more convenient and comfortable.

Another important factor that must be taken into account when creating autonomous lighting in garage-type buildings is economical energy consumption. In this situation, an LED lamp of any model (especially low-power 12 volt ones) has proven itself to be most effective.

12 volt LED lamp

The fact is that such devices, with a power of only 12 volts, are capable of producing a bright luminous flux and at the same time consuming a minimal amount of energy.

Note! If you wish, you can make a homemade LED lamp and thereby save on buying a factory lamp.

To create autonomous lighting with your own hands, such a lamp is perfect.

Energy from the void

Science does not provide an intelligible definition of either field or energy. But she clearly formulates - energy does not come from nowhere and does not disappear anywhere. Trying to extract “energy from nothing,” we can only try to “fit in” to the process of its natural transformation from one type to another.

Energy is determined by useful work, and the field is determined by the spatial characteristics of the influence of its source. Both the static electric charge, the dynamic magnetic effect around a current-carrying conductor, and the heat of a heated body are considered fields.

Any field can perform useful work, and therefore transfer part of its energy. It is this property that prompts us to look for sources of free energy in various fields. It is believed that there is many times more such energy than in traditional sources mastered by mankind.

For example, we know how to use the gravitational energy of the huge Earth, but we do not know how to extract it from the attraction of a tiny stone. It's too small to make sense, but it's practically inexhaustible. If we come up with some way to extract it from a stone, we will get a new source of energy.

This is roughly what researchers and developers of all kinds and stripes are doing in an attempt to extract “energy from nothing.” The field from which various prospectors strive to learn how to extract an energy resource is what they call ether.

Options for autonomous garage lighting

As already mentioned, the best choice for any garage structures will be LEDs. They have a lot of advantages, among which the following points should be highlighted:

• creating uniform and bright lighting;
• in terms of glow intensity, such a lamp creates a luminous flux that is equal to daylight;
• economical consumption of electricity;
• such lighting devices can be powered from various devices (for example, from a battery) in a situation where there is no source of electricity.

LED Garage Lighting

Most often, 12-volt LED strips are used to illuminate garage spaces. With its help, you can create general lighting by running a ribbon around the perimeter of the structure. In such a situation, the light emanating from the tape will fall evenly. Using an LED strip, you can also create local illumination of shelves and racks, as well as an inspection pit.

Note! To illuminate the inspection pit, a lamp or LED strip must be purchased with a high moisture resistance class. This is due to the fact that there is always high humidity here due to poor ventilation and lack of heating.

The same conditions and requirements are typical for the basement. In this regard, the lighting installation that will be used here should not have a power higher than 12 volts. You need to remember that in certain places in the garage you need to install a waterproof lamp, both when creating autonomous lighting and when electricity is available.

Galvanic couple principle

Our task is to find the potential difference, and this is easiest to do in the ground, since it consists of gases, water and minerals. Soil is a lot of solid particles, between which there are air bubbles and water molecules.

The elementary unit of soil is the micelle. This is a clay-humus complex with a potential difference. These particles accumulate charges according to the same principle as the entire planet, so electrochemical reactions constantly occur in the soil. And our task is to connect to this “network”.

You can use two electrodes made of different metals (copper and galvanized iron), that is, the principle will be used, as in a regular salt battery. In addition to the galvanic couple, we need an electrolyte (salt solution).

• We immerse the electrodes in the ground about half a meter, at a distance of 25 centimeters from each other.
• We install a piece of pipe of the required diameter around it to protect the rest of the soil from the electrolyte, since the salt level will not allow any plants to grow in the watering area.
• Prepare a saturated aqueous salt solution and pour it onto the ground between the electrodes.
• We connect a voltmeter to the terminals after 15 minutes and see that the device shows a voltage of 3V.

In total, you can connect a low-power LED lamp to the resulting power source. The voltmeter readings will vary depending on the density of the soil, its humidity and other indicators, so the results will be excellent in different areas.

Autonomous garage lighting and methods for its implementation

In a garage, autonomous lighting is necessary in a situation where there is no electricity in the area or there are frequent interruptions. Therefore, to ensure that there is always light in the garage, many car owners install autonomous lighting.

Note! In the garage, you can organize two types of lighting: from a 220-volt power supply and autonomous lighting. In this case, autonomous lighting in this situation will already be called emergency lighting. But this approach is relevant only when the main lighting has already been done earlier, and problems with it appeared relatively recently.

Garage lighting

Today there are many ways to make autonomous garage lighting with your own hands. The most popular among car owners are the following ways to organize light in a garage without electricity:

• placement of solar panels;
• installation of a wind generator;
• purchase of a gasoline generator;
• battery usage;
• garden lamp;
• Philippine lantern.

For a better understanding, let's look at each lighting method in more detail.

Lighting with solar panels

Today, many people install solar panels in their private homes and even apartments. With their help, you can not only save on electricity, but also illuminate a garage that does not have electricity.

Garage lighting with solar panels

Despite the popularity of this lighting method, it is unlikely to be suitable for a garage for the following reasons:

• the cost of one solar battery and its connection will cost a significant amount;
• It is unlikely that you will be able to install such a system yourself without the help of specialists;
• complexity of the system for connecting lighting devices and batteries to storage equipment (batteries).

But by spending once on the purchase and installation of solar panels, you will not only receive high-quality autonomous lighting for any room, including the garage, but you will also be able to sell the excess electricity that has accumulated to the state. A 12-volt lamp can be powered from such a system. Moreover, their number can reach several pieces, which is just suitable for a given room. If there is a need for a voltage of 220 volts, then this system needs a 12 volt converter or inverter.

Features of connecting to power line networks

It is now difficult to imagine comfortable housing without electricity. Thanks to it, the home is illuminated, heated, food is cooked, and water is heated. It’s just not always possible to provide electricity to your home, especially if the house is located far from the city.

Many owners of country houses and summer cottages, especially if they are located far from civilization, have to resolve the issue of energy supply at home.

The most common solution is to connect the house to power transmission lines, but they are not available everywhere or the nearest line is located at a considerable distance from the house.

In this case, providing electricity to your home can be very expensive. After all, you will have to coordinate issues on the supply of this energy source with the relevant authorities, pay for the installation of a substation and power line supports for connecting to the house.

And what’s especially unpleasant is that the equipment purchased, and at a considerable cost (substation, wires, supports), will be transferred to the balance of local energy networks, that is, they will be the owner of everything, and the owner of the house will also have to pay for the supply of electricity.

Therefore, for many, this option may become impractical, quite troublesome and expensive.

Lighting using a wind generator

For autonomous lighting of the garage, you can use a homemade wind generator. Such a windmill will also generate free electricity, which can be used to power a 12-volt lamp.

Note! You can either make a windmill yourself or buy a ready-made device. However, a purchased wind generator will cost a pretty penny.

Homemade wind generator

When creating this type of lighting, wind speed must be taken into account. In a situation where strong winds are rare in the area of ​​residence, then this method of lighting will be ineffective. Here, all the costs that went into installing a wind generator will not pay off.

Wind power plants

The second most popular autonomous energy supply system is wind. Wind generators are used to generate electricity.

In fact, these are ordinary generators with blades mounted on the rotor. Due to the wind, the rotor rotates and electricity is generated.

The positive qualities of wind generators include fairly compact dimensions, relative quiet operation, environmental friendliness, and durability. There is also the possibility of making such a generator at home.

But the wind system has more disadvantages. The first of them is cost; wind generators are not cheap.

Considering that the efficiency of wind generators is low, to fully provide a home with electricity, you will need to install three or more windmills of low power or one, but sufficiently productive. And in both cases, the acquisition costs will be significant.

Again, climatic conditions must also be taken into account. In areas where the average annual wind speed does not exceed 8 m/s, it will be inappropriate to use wind generators, since they will not be able to operate optimally.

It is also worth considering that on days of complete calm you can be left without electricity, so it is better to use a wind-powered autonomous power supply system if there is a backup source of electricity.

Lighting using a gasoline generator

Instead of a wind generator, you can use a gasoline or diesel generator to create autonomous garage lighting.

Gasoline generator

It is rational to use a gasoline generator only when problems with electricity are rare and the lights are turned off for a short period of time. It is also rational to purchase it if you often use power tools in the garage.

Rechargeable batteries and their applications

Another way to create autonomous lighting in a garage building is to connect the lamps to a battery. The battery can power a 12 volt lamp.

Car battery

When the lights are turned off, such a lighting device (rated at 12 volts) can work for 10 hours. Of course, if the battery was fully charged before. You can use a spare car battery to illuminate your garage. With its help, it is best to power an LED strip that can be run around the entire perimeter of the premises.

Illumination with garden lamps

Many people today use solar garden lamps for night illumination of the garden. During the day they accumulate enough energy to effectively illuminate the garden paths of the flower beds. But, as practice shows, they can also be used to illuminate the garage when there are problems with electricity.

Solar garden lights

They must be charged outside, and as soon as such lighting devices are needed, they are brought inside the garage. They usually provide light for 5-6 hours. But such a period of operation is typical for high-quality lamps. The disadvantage of using garden lights with solar panels is that over time the brightness of the lighting they provide will decrease. But this parameter is typical for any type of autonomous type backlight that is powered by storage devices.

Fuel Generator Sets

Generators running on liquid or gaseous fuel (gasoline, diesel fuel, gas) can become a backup source of electricity.

Everything is simple here: the installation consists of an internal combustion engine and a generator. The engine turns the rotor and the generator produces energy.

Such a system cannot be called completely autonomous; it still requires fuel, which is also constantly becoming more expensive. But as a backup source of electricity, such generator sets are the most optimal.

If the weather has been cloudy for several days or there is no wind, you can always start the generator set to replenish the battery charge.

Among the positive qualities of fuel-powered generator sets is the constant availability of electricity, such plants are relatively cheap, and they provide a good energy output.

Their disadvantages include the need for fuel, which ensures constant costs. Such installations cannot operate for a long period, and internal combustion engines require maintenance.

Also, to use generator sets, it is necessary to allocate a separate room and organize the removal of exhaust gases, and, of course, there can be no question of any environmental friendliness.

Illumination with a Philippine lantern

In addition to the above methods of autonomous lighting of garage buildings, some car enthusiasts use the so-called “Filipino lantern”.

Philippine lantern

This method makes it possible to organize free lighting in the garage. Moreover, it is quite possible to do it yourself. The Philippine lantern operates on the principle of light refraction. You can make such a lantern from an ordinary plastic bottle. At the same time, it can be used either entirely or cut out of a part. The algorithm for making a Filipino lantern with your own hands is as follows:

• take a transparent plastic bottle;
• The container is easy to wash and remove the colored label;
• We put a rectangular or round screen made of stainless steel or galvanized on it;
• Clean water is poured into the bottle. It needs to be diluted with bleach. This will prevent the liquid from blooming and, as a result, a drop in lighting intensity;
• the liquid is poured so that its level is three centimeters higher than the installed screen;
• Then such a bottle is mounted in the roof of the garage structure. The bottle itself must be mounted on a rigid base.

Installation of a Philippine lantern

If the roof was made of corrugated sheets, then simply cut a hole of the required diameter in a sheet of material. To minimize the risk of the roof leaking through the holes, all joints between the bottle and the roof must be well treated with silicone or sealant. You can use a Philippine lantern as additional autonomous lighting for the garage in those regions where the sun shines most of the year. To increase the level of illumination, you can install several of these homemade flashlights. In cloudy weather, such a design will produce such dim light that working with it will be life-threatening. In addition, it is worth noting that if the sequence of manufacturing the Philippine lantern is violated, the lighting inside the garage will also be poor.

Selection of the optimal system

Now a little about which system is better to use in different cases.

At a summer cottage or country house, you can use any autonomous energy supply. Everything depends on climatic conditions.

In the southern regions, where there are many sunny days a year, it is preferable to use a solar energy supply system, while in the northern regions it is preferable to use a wind power system.

In this case, it is better to immediately make a combined system so that there is a backup power source, and fuel-powered installations are excellent for this.

As for urban conditions, only solar and wind systems are suitable for autonomous energy supply to an apartment, the main elements of which (panels, wind turbines) can be installed on the roof of the building.

Other autonomous systems cannot be used in apartment conditions.

Important to know: Rules for installing electrical wiring in a wooden house.