For many men, the garage is not only a room for covered parking, but also a full-fledged workplace.

Car enthusiasts spend many hours of their lives in it every day, and not only for repair work. There are no windows in such places, so full lighting comes to the fore here.

Either there are a lot of obstacles with documents, or there are simply no electrical networks nearby. But don’t be upset, because there are several simple ways illuminate your garage building, even without power lines nearby.

First of all, you should decide on the following points:

• what kind of lamps will be used

• what kind of light bulbs will be in these lamps

• what lighting intensity do you need?

Firstly, lamps must be economical. After all, you won’t have a power line nearby from which you can easily take a few kilowatts. That's why the best option there will be low-power LED models or 12-volt bulbs.

Even with this supply voltage, they are quite capable of producing a full luminous flux no worse than 220V incandescent lamps. The lighting from them will be bright and uniform.

At the same time, energy consumption from an autonomous power source will be reduced to a minimum. They can be powered from batteries of minimal power. Not necessarily from automobile ones, even used computer UPSs will do.

Bulbs of different wattages for a regular 12V E27 socket can be ordered from the Chinese here.

You can also use LED strip as backlight. If you stick it around the perimeter of the room, or with tapes of several stripes in the center, you will get overall uniform lighting.

Also, pieces of such tape can be glued into an old spotlight, taking only the body from under it. Thanks to the reflector, the lighting will be more than bright and consumption will be minimal.

Short pieces of tape are convenient for organizing local illumination of a workplace or inspection pit.

Just don't forget about humidity. Because of this, for pits you need to buy not just a simple tape with IP20 protection, but models with a higher moisture protection class.

The same applies to the cellar. In general, using U=12V lighting in such places is the only correct solution. If it is not a tape, but a lamp, then it should also be chosen with moisture protection.

Once you have decided on the light sources, you next need to make a choice from what they will receive power from.

Let’s make a reservation right away that we will not seriously consider such exotic species as solar panels, wind generators or the Philippine lantern.

Although panels and wind turbines are no longer particularly rare in our stores, few people would dare to install a solar battery on the roof of a garage far from their home.

The factor of theft and vandalism cannot be ignored here. Moreover, such sources have a lot of disadvantages:

3 ways to light a garage without electricity
How to make lighting in a garage without electricity in a few minutes. Which is better, LED strips or 12V light bulbs? Rechargeable light, everything you need to know. Why is it impossible without a voltmeter?

Installation of solar panels

Whatever one may say, the most effective way is the installation solar panels, thanks to which you can not only make autonomous lighting in the garage, but also independent power supply to the entire area. Yes, this is an expensive option and you probably can’t do it without the help of specialists in installation. However, once you spend once, you can not only turn on the lights during a power outage, but also significantly save on your energy bills.

About how to install solar panels with our own hands, we told. If your budget allows, seriously consider this option.

Homemade wind generator

An alternative option for autonomous power supply to a garage and a dacha in general is to install a windmill, which can also generate free electricity. You can buy a ready-made device, but it will be quite expensive. For a 2-kilowatt model you will have to pay about 100 thousand rubles. That is why we suggest you make a wind generator with your own hands, thanks to which you can use light in the garage without electricity.

The only thing to consider is wind speed. If there are no strong gusts of wind in your region or location, it is unlikely that you will be able to get free electricity.

Diesel or gasoline generator

You can also make light in the garage without electricity if you use a gas generator. In this case, as in the version with solar panels, it is possible to completely provide the site with electricity by connecting the generator to the power grid. It is rational to use this idea only if the lights are turned off for a short period of time, and if you use power tools in the garage.

Otherwise, 1 kW of electricity from a gas generator will cost you quite a lot, so using it constantly is unlikely to be profitable. We talked about how to connect a generator to the network in the corresponding article.

Battery use

LED lamps with battery

On the Internet you can now find many offers for the sale of battery-powered LED lamps. Inside the 5-12 watt light bulbs there is a battery installed that can maintain autonomous lighting for 6-12 hours.

Using such a lamp is quite simple - it is screwed into a standard E27 socket, charged from the mains throughout the day, after which it can provide lighting in the garage without electricity. The cost is about 600 rubles, so you can buy 2 light bulbs and forget about problems with power outages.

Garden solar lights

A similar idea is to purchase garden lamps on solar panels, place them in the open air on the territory, and in the evening, if the power goes out, bring them into the garage. Such lighting devices will last for 5-6 hours if they are of high quality.

The only drawback is that over time the brightness of the lighting will decrease, in fact, as will the battery life. However, many people use this idea, so there is a reason for its existence.

Philippine lanterns

Well, the last way that allows you to create free light in the garage during the daytime is the use of Philippine flashlights, which work on the principle of light refraction. Making a Filipino lantern with your own hands is quite simple - cut out part of a bottle (although you can use a whole one), attach it to a rigid base and mount it in the roof. If the roof is made of corrugated sheeting, you can simply cut a suitable hole in the sheet into which a bottle of water is installed, as shown in the photo below:

To prevent rain from getting inside the garage, the joints between the roofing material and the bottle must be well sealed with sealant. This idea is suitable for residents of regions where sunny weather prevails. Otherwise the light will be dim and nothing will work. If you do everything correctly, the result will be something like this:

So we have listed all the popular ways to make light in a garage without electricity. Our opinion is that if you really only need autonomous lighting and not a full power supply, it is better to purchase battery-powered LED lamps or make a windmill yourself. All other technologies are either too expensive or not effective enough.

Autonomous garage lighting - 7 simple ideas
How to make light in the garage if there is no electricity? 7 ideas for organizing autonomous lighting inside the garage with your own hands.

We have already talked about how to connect lighting in the garage. Of course, everything is written there well and clearly, but there are times when it is not possible to use electricity. This may be its complete absence or constant shutdown; in any case, it is unpleasant. Therefore, in this article we decided to tell you how to make lighting in a garage without electricity, we will tell you the main methods and talk about those that you should not choose at all.

What is better not to do

Solar panels

They can be called in a modern way, which can really bring results. But if you use solar panels in a garage, it can be called a disaster. Let's just remember how much average batteries cost now; to light a garage and get electricity for certain work, you will have to pay about 5 thousand dollars for their purchase and installation.

This amount is considered unacceptable, even if you are constantly in the garage. They also need to be constantly wiped from dust and their condition monitored. And of course, there is a very high probability that they will simply be stolen.

Wind turbine for garage

The method is good, but only in those regions where there is a strong constant wind. To generate electricity to operate devices, you need a wind of 6 m/s. A light wind can provide illumination, but there are easier ways.

Solar lanterns

Here we will simply write down two main disadvantages:

1. The light is dim.
2. You constantly need to take it outside to charge, they also quickly break down.

You should forget about this option.

How to make lighting in a garage without electricity: effective ways

Here we will tell you several basic methods, all people have already tested them in practice. Each of them works, but has its own specific pros and cons, let's try to look at each one separately. Find out how to make garden path lighting.

Finnish lantern

This method is suitable only for those who do not have the opportunity to open the doors on a sunny day. The installation is simple, this is what it looks like.

The result is good, but only in sunny weather. Think about this option in advance, you will have to break down the wall, and this is already a disaster.

Car battery

You can safely use an old 65 A/h battery. We connect regular 12-volt LED strips or spotlights to it. Such lighting sources are considered economical if you need light, just turn it on, and everything immediately starts working.

This is how we connect the tape to the battery, do not forget to observe the polarity.

• Not a bad light, you can add light bulbs if you wish.
• An old battery is inexpensive.
• It's easy to connect everything together.

• The battery will have to be constantly charged while carrying it home.
• It will fail in a year or two.

You can also make light in a garage without electricity using a 2 Kilowatt gas generator. It's enough to make lighting or work with tools. This method can be called optimal. Of course, now the cost of generators is serious, but if you often find them in the garage, then you simply cannot do without one.

Combined garage lighting system

The essence of this method is quite simple: we connect the generator and charge the battery from it. The battery is connected to LED strip and makes lighting, you need to charge infrequently.

If you need to turn on the tools, then simply start the generator and enjoy all the benefits. You can come up with several more applications, if you have your own ideas, leave them as a comment on this article.

How to make lighting in a garage without electricity
In this article you will learn how to make lighting in a garage without electricity with your own hands. We will tell you the main connection methods and options.

It often happens that there is no electricity for various reasons and there is no lighting. Then we use candles, flashlights, and, at worst, kerosene lamps. Candles smoke and are a fire hazard; the flashlight has a directional light and is not always great resource glow. I suggest making an alternative.

This design will use available components, mainly from old computer power supplies. Schematic diagram devices is shown below:

The power source for the circuit is a 12V battery with a capacity of at least one and a half ampere hours.

The role of the light source will be performed by a “housekeeper” light bulb with a power of 8–15 watts. Components borrowed from computer unit
power supply:
– pulse transformer;
– PWM controller TL494;
– high-voltage capacitors (C3, C4);

– high-frequency diodes (VD1, VD2);

made in the Sprint-Layout 6.0 (5.0) program and attached at the end of the article, in the archive. The file shows a view of the board from the components side.

The output transistors must be installed on a heat sink, a radiator, for example, from an old computer processor. A correctly assembled device does not require adjustment and will work immediately. When turned on, the board consumes about 1.5 amperes for a short time to charge the capacitors, then at the end of the charge it consumes 0.75 amperes per hour.

The light comes on almost immediately, and shines as if from a regular electrical outlet. The light bulb can be placed either next to the body or on the ceiling as an alternative lamp.

ATTENTION: at the output of the circuit we will get a constant voltage with an amplitude of 220 volts, BE CAREFUL!!!

Files:

Provide lighting for a room in a country house, connect a garage or other facility to light without access to a centralized power grid? In principle, this is possible if there is a battery. But what, where and how much to buy a power source, we will talk further.

• The problem when the dacha is located several hundred kilometers from the city, there is no electricity on it, and there won’t be in the near future, but you want light, is not so rare. And even if there is a generator, it is not so easy to solve, because the unit produces quite a lot of noise, and it consumes a lot of fuel. Usually in such cases they buy a battery. Moreover, when choosing it, you need to remember that the power source must meet the following criteria:
• Not be very heavy.
• Have high capacity.
• Charge quickly.
• I worked as long as possible.
• It was relatively inexpensive.

I was not afraid of deep discharges. From To solve the problem, the following comes to mind: first of all, these are cargo batteries. But they are too heavy. There are also traction batteries. This is a better option. However, their cost is 5-6 thousand rubles. Otherwise, such batteries meet absolutely all the criteria specified above. It is light, compact, and can withstand repeated discharging and charging. These are so-called “full cycle” batteries. They are produced by many manufacturers, but today we offer you to familiarize yourself with the line of Bosch L-series traction batteries. For their production, two well-proven technologies are used. These are, among others, DEEP CYCLE and DEEP CYCLE AGM. Their advantages are obvious:

• Highest performance. To illuminate a small room, one charge will last for several days.

• Unpretentiousness to operating conditions. Batteries in this series can operate at any temperature.

• Significant capacitive characteristics. With a small weight, the batteries have a capacity of 75, 100 or more Ampere hours.

• Long-term operation in cyclic mode with full discharges. Even multiple critical discharges are not capable of damaging the battery, because it is designed taking into account such operating conditions.

• Low level of self-discharge. After leaving the battery for several months, you can immediately connect it to consumers - the light bulb will burn as brightly as before it was turned off.

• Compact housing sizes. This is very convenient when considering the country option of using batteries.

These properties make it possible to say that L types are excellent for solving the problem of organizing lighting in those objects where there is no centralized system electricity supplies. By the way, about the price. A battery with a capacity of 100 Ampere hours costs about 6-7 thousand rubles, which is comparable to the cost of a conventional starter power supply. Therefore, the high cost of full-cycle traction batteries is nothing more than a myth.

Autonomous lighting in a country house can become an alternative to centralized power supply in cases where in the future connecting to the power grid is generally impossible or the cost of connection is incredibly high and troublesome. Also, the use of various options for autonomous lighting in the country is pushed by constantly rising electricity tariffs. Let's look at the two most popular energy supply options and analyze which one is more profitable - these are: inverter gas generator And battery converter .

Inverter gas generator

Currently, an inverter gas generator is very popular for providing autonomous lighting in the country. This is explained by the fact that the unit is quite affordable, easy to operate, and does not require special configuration and installation. All actions necessary for its operation are as follows: installed, filled with fuel, started and received electricity. Everything seems simple, however, in order to determine the advisability of its use, we will analyze all aspects of this issue.

Let's take as an example the Chinese-made generator Werk IG-2600, which produces a power of 2.3 kW and costs about 22,000 rubles. Fuel consumption at rated power is 0.9 l/hour (according to the passport). For ease of calculation, let’s equate the cost of fuel to the price of AI-92 gasoline, which is 36 rubles/liter. To determine the cost of one kW/hour, we perform the following steps: 1 kW/hour = 36 rubles/liter x 0.9 liters/hour: 2.3 kW = 14.0 rubles.

Value 14.0 rub. for one kW - this is, in principle, not bad, but we must not forget that 22,000 rubles were paid for the Werk IG-2600 inverter gas generator. And if we take the service life of this device to be 5000 hours, then we can get the final cost of one kW/hour. For this purpose 22,000 rubles. : 5,000 hour and we get 4.4 rubles. Now in total one kW/hour will cost: 14.0 + 4.4 = 18.4 rubles. If we take electricity tariffs in Moscow, which are equal to 5.38 kW/hour, then we can see that the cost of autonomous lighting in a dacha will be approximately 3.4 times higher.

Whether it is profitable or not, everyone decides for themselves, based on their monetary income. Now many generator manufacturers are reducing the cost of one kilowatt by creating devices that run on both gasoline and liquefied gas, which is twice as cheap as gasoline.

Battery converter

The battery inverter converter consists of powerful batteries with a voltage of 12 - 24 Volts and a special device that converts direct voltage into alternating voltage 220 Volts. Therefore, you need to pre-charge the batteries from a stationary power supply so that you can use this supply of electricity later at the dacha. It is worth noting immediately that ordinary car batteries are unsuitable for this purpose, since they produce a large current only for a certain period of time and power the converter long time can not.

Therefore, batteries for an inverter will be four times more expensive than car batteries of the same capacity, but their service life is up to ten years, which cannot be said about car batteries. Therefore, the cost of a battery converter consisting of two batteries with a capacity of up to 300 Ah will be about 150,000 rubles.

To determine the profitability of such an installation at the dacha, we first give the formula for the required battery capacity depending on the power consumption. The formula looks like this: E = N t efficiency / U. Where E is the required capacity in A/hour, t is the battery discharge time, N is the power consumption in W, efficiency is the safety factor, a value equal to 0.7, and U is the voltage battery volts.

Now let’s calculate what the battery capacity should be with a battery discharge time of 5 hours in order to provide a consumer power equal to 2,000 W. For this, 2,000 5 0.7: 12 = 583 Ah. Installations usually have two batteries, so the capacity of one should be 583:2 = 291 Ah ≈ 300 Ah. Which corresponds to the cost of the entire unit 150,000 rubles.

If we take the battery life to be 10 years, then recharging it during this period will require 27,000 kW/hour at a price of 5.38 rubles per kilowatt. That is, 27,000 5.38 = 145,260 rubles will be wasted. Moving on: the total cost of all costs is now 145,260 + 150,000 = 295,260 rubles.

This means that the cost of one kilowatt when using a battery converter will be equal to: 295,260: 27,000 = 10.9 rubles. That is, it is now clear that this is almost half the cost of one kilowatt of electricity than when using an inverter gas generator to provide autonomous lighting in a country house.

It is clear that these calculations are tedious, but without them, a comparison of these two installations would be unfounded. As a result, you decide which installation and at what price to purchase, based on your financial capabilities.

Surely you have heard about low-voltage lighting networks, but the meaning of their use remains unclear. In this article we will explain why the use direct current for household lighting makes sense, as well as in what cases and how you can retrofit the wiring in your own home.

The use of low voltage to power lighting and other electrical appliances has been practiced for more than half a century. This trend originated in industrial plants, where, for a variety of reasons, voltages of 36 volts and below were considered safe. When the contacts open in such a network, no sparks are generated, and the effect of such a low magnitude on the human body does not entail serious consequences.

Today, with the development of more efficient light sources, the use of low-voltage networks in residential premises has become not only possible, but also very rational. It can be argued that the installation of a low-voltage lighting network in conjunction with the use of LED lighting sources is an integral component of modern renovation.

Benefits of Low Voltage

As many people know, such a dangerous voltage value as 220 volts is used in household networks due to limited bandwidth wires and requirements for small size household appliances. For example, an electric kettle of the same power, but powered from a low voltage network, would load the wiring with about ten times the usual current.

Few people know that a significant part of modern household appliances have an operating voltage much lower than the mains voltage; they are powered through built-in transformers. Lighting networks can also be included in this category of consumers. In the era of total abandonment of incandescent lamps, it has become possible to run low-voltage current through the lighting network, but why do this?

1. Electrical safety. Such a small voltage is not capable of harming a person; most will not even feel this effect.
2. Fire safety. Especially for lighting networks, where fairly long sections of cable lines are laid in a flammable environment with open access air - in suspended ceilings. Short circuit in such a network it is more likely to damage the transformer than to burn the wiring.
3. Reducing the number of transformation steps. It is known that it is cheaper to install one powerful transformer for the entire network than to supply each lighting fixture with it.
4. Energy savings when using low-voltage light sources can range from 10% to 30%. Needless to say, low voltage lighting devices are more durable and do not have to be replaced as often.

Problems and disadvantages of low-voltage networks

The most obvious disadvantage of low-voltage networks is the potential voltage loss when transmitting electricity through a conductor. Density plays a significant role in solving this issue. electric current. If there is a conductor with a sufficiently large cross-section, the losses are not so high.

As practice shows, the length of the cable line from the source to the low voltage consumer is rarely more than 20 meters when it comes to household electrical networks. If you lay these sections with a standard 1.5 mm 2 copper wire, the losses will not be noticeable.

This may seem questionable for larger properties such as cottages and multi-storey mansions, but wiring on them is carried out according to distributed circuits and takes into account the requirement of selective protection. This means that nothing prevents you from installing one transformer in each group panel.

Note! Here, not only the conductor cross-section is important, but also the quality of the material. Cheap Chinese cable products of the ShVVP or PVS brands are not suitable for these purposes. It is necessary to use cables of the GDP or VVG brands, in the cores of which there are no impurities of brass and silumin.

Optimal solution to the problem

Like any innovation, low-voltage lighting networks are best introduced at the building design stage. This will help avoid problems such as cable overuse or incorrect junction box layout.

Scheme for assembling modular panels from distribution boxes

First of all, you need to take into account the additional space in the group panels for installing modular transformers. Devices like the ABB TS25 or HAGER ST313 take up four modular slots, while the more powerful HAGER ST315 takes up 6 modular slots. The cost of such transformers is up to 3000 rubles, quite high price due to the possibility of mounting on a DIN rail. Free-standing devices are cheaper, easier to find, and have a much higher power range. For example, devices such as TASCHIBRA can output up to 250 watts, which is enough to connect 30-40 halogen lamps.

If you plan to use LED light sources, conventional electronic transformers will not suit you. To power the LEDs you need a stabilized current transformer. To obtain it, you can use devices like the Deluxe NV1236C LED driver (costing about 1000 rubles) or popular LED power supplies made in China. If you need to mount the device in a group panel, it is better to purchase an LED RGB controller, such as Supernova LED Dimmer for 2,500 rubles. It has several channels with pulse width modulation and can work in offline mode. This means that you can also configure it to control the brightness and color of the LED RGB strip.

House panel layout diagram

As for the connection diagram and wiring of such a lighting network, you most likely will not encounter any difficulties. The transformer is connected to the mains voltage, further wiring is carried out independently of the system. Lighting switching is carried out using conventional switches; for halogen lamps, polarity does not matter. But in the case of LED lamps, especially those operating in RGB mode, you will have to maintain the polarity and place only the positive wire in the gap.

You can also experiment and run a four-way control circuit through a three-gang switch, opening the negative terminals in different colors. Such a switch must have three independent keys, so use Schneider Electric WDE 000331 or its equivalent. In this case, it becomes possible to control the shade of the glow without first adjusting the controller.

Examples of connecting junction boxes

Low voltage lighting in a residential apartment

The question involuntarily arises: is it possible to install a low-voltage lighting network in an already inhabited apartment? Yes, you can. Maybe not so economically and with the loss of a number of opportunities, but it is possible. It is most advisable to carry out such an upgrade during a major overhaul of the electrical wiring (this way you will avoid the need to install junction boxes). It is advisable to lay the power cables of the outlet lines along the floor, connecting the outlets in a chain.

The cavities of suspended ceilings can be used to lay lighting cables, thus almost completely eliminating the need for horizontal grooves. But there is also Alternative option circuit layout: if you replace distribution boxes with modular panels, you will not only provide selectivity of overload protection, but also gain space for installing transformers.

Little tricks for low voltage lighting

And a small life hack as a conclusion. How often have you encountered the need for emergency night lighting so that you can walk through a dimly lit room at night? If you have low voltage wiring, there are two interesting solutions to this problem.

The first is quite simple: put in each box with a switch a small piece of LED strip or a bunch of NE-2 neon bulbs connected through a current-limiting resistor from 100 kOhm to 5 MOhm.

In this case you will get quite interesting effect internal glow. Light will ooze out from all the cracks and gaps between the plastic parts, which looks quite unusual and provides the necessary level of illumination for orientation in complete darkness.

Second option: the backlight can be made brighter by installing super-bright LEDs directly into the frame, but this is a rather difficult job. First of all, you need to make a 1 mm groove in the bottom edge of the frame, removing a little plastic at the end with sandpaper. LEDs need to be soldered in series, the optimal number of which is three. A current-limiting resistor is also soldered into the circuit in series, the value of which is selected individually.

The entire garland is attached to the cavity of the switch frame with a glue gun or silicone sealant; it is advisable to orient the LED heads towards the edge of the frame. And if during repairs you make several thin strobes and insert a thin two-core wire into them, you can also illuminate the sockets.