Hired A Workshop - Electricity And Water

[kikilamour]

It is amazingly cheap per month and is a large 16ft x 8ft space. Trying to do leatherwork in a shared house in my own bedroom became a pain and it really began to affect my work particularly when I wanted to use a stain and there was cream carpet everywhere. Have you ever tried to hoover up threads and cut up leather pieces.

The downside is there is no power or running water. Because this place is rented and close to home I do not want to get an electrician in to do anything permanent. So what can I get to generate enough light particularly in the dark winter months. I do not need running water as I can bring water in daily.

But what can I do for electricity or do I just get camping lanterns??

Cheers all

[stelmackr]

Cheap generator from Harbor Freight:

http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=Gas+Engine+Generators

[Roq]

www.scidev.net/global/energy/news/potato-battery-could-help-meet-rural-energy-needs.html

[zuludog]

You could start with a camping lantern and a headtorch, but a small generator is probably the best choice. The torches would still come in handy. On a brief search I've found

http://www.thepowersite.co.uk

http://www.machinemart.co.uk

http://www.screwfix.com

I'm sure a more extensive search would find other suppliers

You will, of course, have to have a serious think about the installation, wiring, lighting, and so on, and generally find someone who knows what's what.

You will almost certainly have to have the generator outside when it's running, or at least have it exhausting to the outside

Find out what they do for caravans

What are you going to do in the winter? You can't produce decent work if you're cold.

[Northmount]

The old Coleman lamps with a mantel that use white gas produce a lot of light. Some heat too. Need to be very careful to keep combustible materials away, and inflammable solvent fumes too.

LED battery powered lamps are better than the older battery lamps.

Generators are noisy and need refuelling, oil changes, etc. So battery lamps seem to be best.

Tom

[Constabulary]

not sure how much elektricity you need but how a bout solar panels?

[kikilamour]

The old Coleman lamps with a mantel that use white gas produce a lot of light. Some heat too. Need to be very careful to keep combustible materials away, and inflammable solvent fumes too.

LED battery powered lamps are better than the older battery lamps.

Generators are noisy and need refuelling, oil changes, etc. So battery lamps seem to be best.

Tom

Hmmmm do you mean this

Doing ebay searches now

Yes I am concerned about heating particularly since it is not too bad now but what do I do when the temperature plunges and I have to work at night time. The dog and I will freeze

[Tramps Leatherworking]

If you have an electrical extension cord and someone close to your shop has an out of doors electrical receptacle, well there you go --- problem solved...

[Northmount]

Hmmmm do you mean this

Doing ebay searches now

Yes I am concerned about heating particularly since it is not too bad now but what do I do when the temperature plunges and I have to work at night time. The dog and I will freeze

Yes, the green one in the video is what I was thinking of. Bought one about a year ago. Works great. But these can be fire hazard if not looked after properly.

A friendly neighbour is a good idea. Pay him a few bucks, or make something for him.

Tom

[zuludog]

You can get portable gas heaters by people like Calor Gas. They're good, I had one in my garage for years. Of course, that's something else for you to buy, but you'll need one in winter

Just put 'portable gas heaters' into Google

[Northmount]

For any fuel burning appliance, lamps included, remember you need ventilation. Too many accidents in colder weather resulting in asphyxiation. Stay safe.

Tom

[needles]

I use a calor gas heater in my workshop, until i get round to putting adiators in, runs on bottle butane gas...... gets really cosy, infact warmer thna the house, but has the tendancy to run out just when the suppliers are closed and its really cold outside....

as for electricity, depending on how much yyou need, ie, just lights or hand tools, as other have said above, generator-these can annoy neighbours big time if not careful being in london I guess there are a few around you.

other wise solar panels, i have them on my van and it powers everything, but most is 12v. you'll need the panel a distribution board, a mppt controller, and batteries to hold charge until needed. kits can be had for a couple of hundred pounds, although they will probably be around 100watts, should eb enough for lighting providing you have good light outside and not shadowed. but you wuld struggle for powering other things.

i have seen those portable starter charger units that hold big amounts of power, don't know how long the power would last for using for lights, but may be worth looking into as can be charged at home then used in workshop??

[mojave]

I use a Honda EU2000 generator for power in my shop for lighting and al heater in the winter, and in the summer I use (2) EU2000 if I use the air-conditioner. I would have bought the EU3000, but the EU2000's are easy for me to move around. My shop is a self contained camp trailer. It has everything I need workbench, storage, kitchen, refrigerator, bathroom, TV, etc. And, it keeps me from getting into the doghouse, as i'am already working in it. This setup is great, and will never change it. When the buddies come over for cool one, we head for the shop.

Howard

PS, I just bought conversion kits to run my generators on propane gas. Cheaper to use, as each generators hold 1 gal. of gas for about 8 hours running.

[kikilamour]

Thanks guys. We are having a very mild winter at the moment so I have not even had to worry about heating yet. In terms of lighting I am using a Dietz lantern and shall be getting a couple of Aladdins. Unfortunately paraffin does not work for me as I have used it twice in the last few days and catching even a whiff gets me all headachey and nauseous. I cannot stand cigarette smoke either. So I am going to have to use a clean burning fuel instead - olive oil?

I have my trust trangia set in there which I use for hot drinks and teas. I also have a large camping water carrier too. Whoop

[zuludog]

Olive oil would not work, and it would also gum up the lamp

what sort of paraffin (kerosene) lamp are you using?

The hurricane lamp or any other lamp that uses a wick (like those you see in cowboy films!) will produce a smell. Those that burn paraffin vapour will produce less of a smell, but it's still there.

In the UK there was a well known paraffin vapour lamp, the Tilley, but they are long out of production, and are now collectors items

There is the Coleman lamp, but in the UK Coleman fuel is expensive

The best choice would be a gas lantern. I don't know what's on the market now, but I'm sure Camping Gaz or Calor will have something, or Surf The Net. The small lamps using disposable cartridges are fairly cheap to buy, but expensive to run in the long term. Those using a re-fillable cylinder are cheaper to run, and give a better performance, but you have to buy into the cylinder in the first place.

You could use a gas lamp for general lighting, with an LED headtorch for close up. not ideal, but do-able.

Try this website & forum; They are the experts with old & new camping stoves & lamps

http://www.spiritburner.com

[billybopp]

If kerosene (paraffin) and white gas (coleman fuel) aren't good options for you, think about using propane. I don't know what's available over there, but there are camp lanterns here that are designed to run from small propane bottles, and they work great. The only problem is that those little bottles are relatively expensive. So, what I do when I'm on a long car-camp is to take a gas grill type propane tank, and adapter/distributor for lanterns, stoves and other stuff! It works great, and is considerably less expensive than the disposable bottles.

The key is the post, something like the following:

http://www.amazon.com/Stansport-Outlet-Propane-Distribution-Post/dp/B001DC5HAW/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1415635422&sr=8-13&keywords=propane+lantern

and add-on hoses:

http://www.amazon.com/Camco-59043-Propane-Extension-Hose/dp/B00192QBPQ/ref=pd_bxgy_sg_img_y

You just have to figure out some sort of stand for the hose-equipped lanterns. In my case, I feed stove / grill / heater so that's not a problem. It shouldn't be hard, tho.

You might also consider a reflector for your lantern to make better use of the light, as the situation demands. It's not helpful lighting the wall behind the lantern, nor the ceiling above.

Hope that helps

Bill

[celticleather]

In the UK there was a well known paraffin vapour lamp, the Tilley, but they are long out of production, and are now collectors items

Just for the record, Tilley are still in business, but have no complete lamps on sale at the moment. www.tilleylamp.co.uk

[kikilamour]

Just an update. Still in the garage and it is not as bad as expected. However we are having a milder winter than normal so I have hardly had to use any of my heating at all. For anyone just starting out especially in the more expensive parts of the world *cough* London *cough* who needs space, rent a lock up garage. Check out the area first to make sure it is busy enough. The other garage owners are always around and we all sort of know each other now so I do not worry about theft. Get a site heater and gas bottle to connect to the heater. Get a few lanterns so there is enough light and boom ready to go. Thanks for the great advice all.