Interior Shed Lighting

[fiz00]

Hi,

I have just had a 20x10 shed put up and I want some lighting for the inside. It does not have electric in there.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what I could do.

Thanks in advance

 

[Phil57]

Match..................

 

[Already Taken]

Hi,

I have just had a 20x10 shed put up and I want some lighting for the inside. It does not have electric in there.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what I could do.

Thanks in advance

Legally you'll need to get an electrician in I believe - part of the "Part P" regulations that limit what you are allowed to do in your own home.

If you've got a spare output on your existing consumer unit though , you could always buy some armoured mains cable and run a feed to the shed (protected by an RCD) and then buy a cheapo small consumer unit and install that in the shed.

From that you can run a feed to the lighting circuit(s) and another to a ring main circuit , again all protected by RCDs. Sheds can be damp environments and you need to be very careful about where any of your wiring goes and think about where water may get in.

Nothing too tricky there and all the bits can be sourced from Wickes or B&Q , but if you do DIY you could potentially have problems with surveys if you move house.

 

[signs]

Match..................

not overly helpful with that one phil .........................................

but please let us know what room you put the shed in





good luck with your project

 

[Phil57]

Hi,

I have just had a 20x10 shed put up and I want some lighting for the inside. It does not have electric in there.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what I could do.

Thanks in advance

Need more information.

How big is the shed, is it wood, bick, metal, plastic?
Apart from the obvious what do you need the lighting for?

 

[fiz00]

Need more information, how big is the shed? apart from the obvious, what do need the lighting for?

The shed is 10x20 feet like i have said. It's a wooden one. It is about 50 feet away from the main house. I need the lighting just to see tools and things when I'm in the shed when it is dark.

Any other info needed?

Would battery powered LED lighting be suitable?

 

[Phil57]

The shed is 10x20 feet like i have said. It is about 50 feet away from the main house. I need the lighting just to see tools and things when I'm in the shed when it is dark.

Any other info needed?

Would battery powered LED lighting be suitable?

Actually you didn't say what size the shed was, 20x10 says nothing.
Yes I should think LED lighting would be fine to use for finding things.
I have seen solar powered LED lighting for sheds on sale but have not seen them in use.
Personally I would have electric supply installed.

 

[signs]

Get a qualified electrician to lay some armoured cable and have direct power ,at the end of the day your going to need more power than just lighting

 

[fiz00]

Get a qualified electrician to lay some armoured cable and have direct power ,at the end of the day your going to need more power than just lighting

Probably will get something like that

If anyone else has any other suggestions let me know

 

[Orson]

I've just put a concrete one up at roughly the same size (I keep calling it a 'workshop' to try & convince SWMBO I must be doing something useful in there ) and had the same problem, so bought a solar shed light from Makro, which was about £20. It has 5 'tritronic' (whatever they are) LED's, and the solar panel is about 15cm x 20cm.
It is just about adequate enough to find tools & things, but not light enough to do any precise work by, such as drilling, measuring etc. But I don't think I have it in the best position, as I have it above the door, and could really do with being at the back (lowest) part of the shed.
It was very easy to fit, and obviously loads cheaper & easier than an electrician, so my plan is to buy another one the next time I go to Makro, and to reposition the one already in.

 

[fiz00]

I've just put a concrete one up at roughly the same size (I keep calling it a 'workshop' to try & convince SWMBO I must be doing something useful in there ) and had the same problem, so bought a solar shed light from Makro, which was about £20. It has 5 'tritronic' (whatever they are) LED's, and the solar panel is about 15cm x 20cm.
It is just about adequate enough to find tools & things, but not light enough to do any precise work by, such as drilling, measuring etc. But I don't think I have it in the best position, as I have it above the door, and could really do with being at the back (lowest) part of the shed.
It was very easy to fit, and obviously loads cheaper & easier than an electrician, so my plan is to buy another one the next time I go to Makro, and to reposition the one already in.

The solar lighting might be a problem due to the lack of sun light! How much sun light do you get on your and how long does it last?

In the long run I maybe turn the shed into more then a storage space so I don't think solar is an option.

I may just go with LED battery powered lighting as it would be the cheapest at the moment.
I am tempted to get an electrician in but I think it is going to cost a lot, could anyone give me a rough idea on how much it would cost?

 

[fiz00]

I had a spare 3 LED battery powered light so I just went out to see how much light it gives out and it gives hardly anything in the dark...If I do decide on the LED lighting I will need a lot of them to get a decent amount of light.

 

[klr10]

Shed must've cost a few bob. Run the armoured cable yourself and then get a 'leccie to connect it all up for you. Most 'leccie's I know wouldn't want the grief of burying the cable. Obviously speak to them first and get the cable specs.
You'll use the shed a lot more, especially in the winter.

 

[stevefish69]

I ran an armoured cable and small consumer unit along with a couple of RCD sockets and a couple of 5ft IP65 rated twin flourescent lamps in my shed and this is more than sufficient. It did help that most of my materials were donated by my boss at work

You might need 4 lights to get a decent light level though in a shed that size though. If you know any decent electricians, buy the stuff yourself and mount everything to leave him to connect up and issue the cert.

 

[fiz00]

I ran an armoured cable and small consumer unit along with a couple of RCD sockets and a couple of 5ft IP65 rated twin flourescent lamps in my shed and this is more than sufficient. It did help that most of my materials were donated by my boss at work

You might need 4 lights to get a decent light level though in a shed that size though. If you know any decent electricians, buy the stuff yourself and mount everything to leave him to connect up and issue the cert.

Sounds a good idea buying the stuff and letting the electrician do the connecting etc. But looking around the cost still seem high.

 

[Orson]

The solar lighting might be a problem due to the lack of sun light! How much sun light do you get on your and how long does it last?

In the long run I maybe turn the shed into more then a storage space so I don't think solar is an option.

I may just go with LED battery powered lighting as it would be the cheapest at the moment.
I am tempted to get an electrician in but I think it is going to cost a lot, could anyone give me a rough idea on how much it would cost?

Morning.

No, I don't think it's lack of sunlight; the panel gets direct sunlight all day, and isn't in shadows at all, and I've not run the light for long periods of time. Someone gave me a 5 or 6 LED battery powered light to try, and the one in my shed was as bright, if not brighter. It's just the size of the shed, and like I said, I haven't positioned it as best as I could. If it was just for storage, it's probably just about okay as it is, but with another, it will definitely be fine.

 

[nvingo]

I'd wire up the shed (lights and sockets) then have electrician come and "check" the installation and make the link to the consumer unit.
If your confident/competent to do the work yourself and can disconnect it before selling up (certification is only an issue then?), go ahead and do it.
I'd think a couple of flourescent tubes would be ideal fitted/hung along the centre line.

 

[fiz00]

I will probably go for the option to get an electrician to run a cable down to the shed.

If anyone else has any ideas let me know.

 

[Phil57]

Have you thought about a car battery? you could run a couple of 12v lights from it and charge the battery up as and when.

 

[fiz00]

Have you thought about a car battery? you could run a couple of 12v lights from it and charge the battery up as and when.

It's a good idea but not practical for me.
Thanks anyway

 

[GasDad]

Personally I would install armoured cable / small consumer unit etc (you are bound to want power as well as light eventually)

However there is nothing to stop you, assuming you apply some common sense, running a 50' extension cable to the shed - plug it in to an RCD in the house when you need light in the shed. In other words have the cable there all the time (running along a fence or whatever), but only power it up when you need it.

 

[fiz00]

Personally I would install armoured cable / small consumer unit etc (you are bound to want power as well as light eventually)

However there is nothing to stop you, assuming you apply some common sense, running a 50' extension cable to the shed - plug it in to an RCD in the house when you need light in the shed. In other words have the cable there all the time (running along a fence or whatever), but only power it up when you need it.

I have not got the best knowledge about electrical wiring but I have a consumer unit where all the electric wires in the house are connected, can I just connect a armoured cable to that and then run it down to the shed?
So do I need to connect a RCD? If so where does that connect...On my consumer unit there is already a switch which is labeled RCD.

 

[niceguy235uk]

I have not got the best knowledge about electrical wiring but I have a consumer unit where all the electric wires in the house are connected, can I just connect a armoured cable to that and then run it down to the shed?
So do I need to connect a RCD? If so where does that connect...On my consumer unit there is already a switch which is labeled RCD.

Get a sparky in to get the job done properly and safely.

There is nothing wrong with you being there to help him with the install, but at the end of the day, its outside and there are a number of things that should be checked and installed to ensure safety, that most non sparks havent the slightest clue about.

Have a phone round your local ones to get some idea on price.

It wont be that cheap. most of the cost will be in the cable.

 

[fiz00]

Get a sparky in to get the job done properly and safely.

There is nothing wrong with you being there to help him with the install, but at the end of the day, its outside and there are a number of things that should be checked and installed to ensure safety, that most non sparks havent the slightest clue about.

Have a phone round your local ones to get some idea on price.

It wont be that cheap. most of the cost will be in the cable.

I will have to get a sparky. If it was something minor I would have done it but this is bigger then just the simple electrical stuff light change a light fitting.
I was in B&Q the other day and they had 25m of armoured cable for £50, it was the 4m thickness if i remember correctly. Is that a good price?
I'll call around tomorrow.

 

[Sonic67]

However there is nothing to stop you, assuming you apply some common sense, running a 50' extension cable to the shed - plug it in to an RCD in the house when you need light in the shed. In other words have the cable there all the time (running along a fence or whatever), but only power it up when you need it.

Yes there is something to stop you. It sounds like what you could class as a temporary installation. It's allowed but it must be checked every three months. I'm betting it never would be (or not by anyone qualified.). Extension cable is not really designed to be used permantly like this. Worse case scenario is that it's exposed to the elements and gets damaged by sunlight, frost etc, insulation breaks down, kid handles it, RCD fails to trip as it isn't periodically tested and it has seized, and you are in court explaining your dodgy wiring to an inquest. Do a proper job or not at all.

Aside from that running cables along a fence is not allowed. They can blow down. It needs to be along a wall, suspended form a catenary wire, or in conduit, or armoured, or pyro etc.