High efficiency 12V work lights?

[T_i_m]

Hi all,

 

I'm looking for advice on some high efficiency (so would ideally be lower power) 12V work lights to put up temporarily, and to be run from a portable battery, as you might in a boat you were refurbishing or in a (roughly car garage sized) outbuilding that didn't have mains or generator power. The light would have to be good enough for doing some light maintenance work, sorting though things etc.

 

I don't mind paying a bit for something that was 'good', especially on the energy use and so potential battery life (be it LA or Li etc). I think something that could be connected to an external battery might be preferred over something stand-alone, unless it had a really good battery (at least 8 hours runtime and rechargeable etc).

 

I know you guys can be imaginative re finding something designed for another purpose but that turns out to be really effective whilst being cheaper than more typical / focussed solutions etc. 😉

[jonathanA]

I just use  mains 24W batten LED 5ft 'flourescent' fittings, small sine wave inverter (300W) and an old leisure battery.  Think the LED battens were £15 quid or something from CPC or screwfix , had the little inverter and LA battery, which i either take home to charge or charge when i'm running the gennie, haven't got around to solar  for the shed yet. A small lithium battery would be even better but my old but in reasonable state 85AH leisure battery runs my lights and radio/charges my radio battery for ages ...  

 

 

 

[Ex Brummie]

All your rechargeable lamps can be run off a power pack to supplement the internal batteries. I have a Parkside from Lidl that is similar to https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rechargeable-Magnetic-Underhood-Mechanics-Emergency/dp/B0BNN41YQ2/ref=sxin_17_pa_sp_search_thematic_sspa?content-id=amzn1.sym.444266e6-d2e3-4255-8546-9f52e09eddb3%3Aamzn1.sym.444266e6-d2e3-4255-8546-9f52e09eddb3&crid=1Y5KOEE1AFQ0W&cv_ct_cx=12v%2Bled%2Binspection%2Blight&keywords=12v%2Bled%2Binspection%2Blight&pd_rd_i=B0BNN41YQ2&pd_rd_r=33924334-b206-4f10-8d8d-87585f99046c&pd_rd_w=bgkNc&pd_rd_wg=l1a8M&pf_rd_p=444266e6-d2e3-4255-8546-9f52e09eddb3&pf_rd_r=G3RZHXXQGW8MDWAARF4M&qid=1762272128&sbo=RZvfv%2F%2FHxDF%2BO5021pAnSA%3D%3D&sprefix=%2Caps%2C114&sr=1-3-ad3222ed-9545-4dc8-8dd8-6b2cb5278509-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9zZWFyY2hfdGhlbWF0aWM&th=1

Mine has two lights on it, one each side so it works as a hanging lamp, or a full floodlight using the tripod it came with. It charges from a USB socket and will run plugged in. Also it was only £20 or so. 

 

[T_i_m]

1 minute ago, jonathanA said:

I just use  mains 24W batten LED 5ft 'flourescent' fittings, small sine wave inverter (300W) and an old leisure battery.  Think the LED battens were £15 quid or something from CPC or screwfix , had the little inverter and LA battery, which i either take home to charge or charge when i'm running the gennie, haven't got around to solar  for the shed yet. A small lithium battery would be even better but my old but in reasonable state 85AH leisure battery runs my lights and radio/charges my radio battery for ages ...  

 

 

 

Thanks for the prompt reply.

Whilst I get that your solution probably works well enough, would it likely to be as efficient as say it all; being just 12V and LED? I mean, there would be losses in the inverter but they could well be offset by any electronic shenanigans there might be in say a 5' LED strip lamp? If we end up with say 4 x strop lamp, the single inverter could win? <shrug>

[alias]

26 minutes ago, T_i_m said:

Hi all,

 

I'm looking for advice on some high efficiency (so would ideally be lower power) 12V work lights to put up temporarily, and to be run from a portable battery, as you might in a boat you were refurbishing or in a (roughly car garage sized) outbuilding that didn't have mains or generator power. The light would have to be good enough for doing some light maintenance work, sorting though things etc.

 

I don't mind paying a bit for something that was 'good', especially on the energy use and so potential battery life (be it LA or Li etc). I think something that could be connected to an external battery might be preferred over something stand-alone, unless it had a really good battery (at least 8 hours runtime and rechargeable etc).

 

I know you guys can be imaginative re finding something designed for another purpose but that turns out to be really effective whilst being cheaper than more typical / focussed solutions etc. 😉

 

Have you considered an LED head torch? The light is always on the thing you are looking at, and some have variable brightness and zoom, and multi hour lifetimes from a rechargeable battery.  I have been impressed by the LED Lenser one that I've had for over ten years.

[jonathanA]

well it draws a little over 4A maybe 4.5A running two batten fittings so i reckon thats pretty damn efficient and more importantly they are just like proper mains lights... because well thats what they are...  

 

The other advantage (for me) is that if i'm running my generator i just plug them into that and charge the battery for when i switch the noisy beast off 

Edited November 4 by jonathanA
add a bit

[T_i_m]

6 minutes ago, Ex Brummie said:

All your rechargeable lamps can be run off a power pack to supplement the internal batteries. I have a Parkside from Lidl that is similar to <trim link>

Mine has two lights on it, one each side so it works as a hanging lamp, or a full floodlight using the tripod it came with. It charges from a USB socket and will run plugged in. Also it was only £20 or so. 

 

Assuming the Lidl and Amazon versions share the same internals the Amazon one says "Full charge for 4.5Hrs then lasts for 2.2Hrs at high mode and 5.5Hrs at low mode." so I think something like that would have a place, especially as it would be light enough to carry home between uses for recharging but not sure if it would tick all the boxes completely.

 

How usable is the lower light mode and on yours, can you have only one light on, if say you were to magnet it onto a roof beam horizontally? Or would you set it so the lights were illuminating horizontally, even if much of each beam was lighting up the ceiling (that's sometimes good if the ceiling was reflective etc)?

7 minutes ago, alias said:

 

Have you considered an LED head torch? The light is always on the thing you are looking at, and some have variable brightness and zoom, and multi hour lifetimes from a rechargeable battery.  I have been impressed by the LED Lenser one that I've had for over ten years.

Yes, I was using one the other day in fact when working on the oven and they are very good for the reasons you say.

 

However, I think it would still be good to not be working in the space not illuminated in general, all be it only a lower level where the head torch could add more focused light.

 

The one I used has a flexible LED strip that covers a good width of your forehead and so helps spread the light in all directions. I've has a couple of Petzel head torches for many years now, the ones with the retractable and self tensioning headband.

[Ex Brummie]

On mine, the lamps are either side of the tube, and both are very bright. In a confined space, you only use 1 lamp, but both if you want to light a room . 

An alternative would be one of the screwfix mains lamps run off an inverter. You would probably get away with just a 75watt inverter.

LAP KF440 from Screwfix is only a tenner .

Edited November 4 by Ex Brummie

[T_i_m]

16 minutes ago, jonathanA said:

well it draws a little over 4A maybe 4.5A running two batten fittings so i reckon thats pretty damn efficient and more importantly they are just like proper mains lights... because well thats what they are...  

 

The other advantage (for me) is that if i'm running my generator i just plug them into that and charge the battery for when i switch the noisy beast off 

Thanks for that.

 

So if I was to use one of the 3Ah sealed LA (mobility / semi-traction) batteries I have, that would be roughly 5Ah down to 50% capacity and so around 3 hours runtime? 

I get the flexibility and the use of the genny but that wouldn't be the case here (too residential).

 

I do have a 5' flouro I was about to dump but I wonder how the energy use compares / lumen between that with an inverter or an LED conversion?

[Alan de Enfield]

3 minutes ago, T_i_m said:

So if I was to use one of the 3Ah sealed LA (mobility / semi-traction) batteries I have, that would be roughly 5Ah down to 50% capacity and so around 3 hours runtime? 

 

 

Is there a digit missing off the 3Ah ?

 

If you are suggesting a lamp drawing 5A for 3 hours that would be 15Ah  and if that is taking the battery down to 50% SoC then presumambly it is a 30Ah battery ?

 

 

[jonathanA]

12 minutes ago, T_i_m said:

Thanks for that.

 

So if I was to use one of the 3Ah sealed LA (mobility / semi-traction) batteries I have, that would be roughly 5Ah down to 50% capacity and so around 3 hours runtime? 

I get the flexibility and the use of the genny but that wouldn't be the case here (too residential).

 

I do have a 5' flouro I was about to dump but I wonder how the energy use compares / lumen between that with an inverter or an LED conversion?

good question... Seem to think 5ft flouros where about 35 or 40 w ? not sure.  when i replaced my 5ft florescents in the garage at home with LED versions i didn't notice any difference, other than instant start up and never having to change those blasted starters when they starting flickering/not starting... 

 

i have a feeling LEDs are still trying to catch up in terms of light output per watt in, compared to fluorescents but i could be completely wrong on that and suspect if you pay more you get more efficient LEDS. if you have the bits i'd try the old fittings and see how they do. i'm just thinking about all the waste in the ballast of an old fashioned fitting. would it matter ?

 

 

Edited November 4 by jonathanA
tidy up

[T_i_m]

3 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

Is there a digit missing off the 3Ah ?

 

If you are suggesting a lamp drawing 5A for 3 hours that would be 15Ah  and if that is taking the battery down to 50% SoC then presumambly it is a 30Ah battery ?

 

 

Good catch. 😉

3 hours ago, jonathanA said:

good question... Seem to think 5ft flouros where about 35 or 40 w ? not sure.  when i replaced my 5ft florescents in the garage at home with LED versions i didn't notice any difference, other than instant start up and never having to change those blasted starters when they starting flickering/not starting... 

 

i have a feeling LEDs are still trying to catch up in terms of light output per watt in, compared to fluorescents but i could be completely wrong on that and suspect if you pay more you get more efficient LEDS. if you have the bits i'd try the old fittings and see how they do. i'm just thinking about all the waste in the ballast of an old fashioned fitting. would it matter ?

 

 

I also noticed the near instant start-up of LED strip lights as most of my lights are enabled by my Home Automation system via PIRs. Previously you would be halfway across the kitchen before the flouros had started up, with the LED conversions they are on as you step into the room. 😉

 

I think when I did the LED conversions I bypassed both the starter and ballast so basically just using the hardware to support the LED tube.

[jonathanA]

17 hours ago, T_i_m said:

I think when I did the LED conversions I bypassed both the starter and ballast so basically just using the hardware to support the LED tube.

OK I might have misunderstood and thought you meant you were going to use traditional (non led) fluorescent fittings. If they have led tubes already, it would be a nobrainer to use them to me.