Will a powerpack sort out my issue with getting electric into my garage?

rwalton159

I need to put some electric in my garage for lighting etc, which is across a public road from my house.

I've just seen this item which seems to contain everything I need i.e. 300w power inverter, inbuilt battery, even has lights and it could be used to start my bike if the battery is low.

http://www.wilcodirect.co.uk/index.p...roducts_id=572

http://www.ringautomotive.co.uk/imag...35 Instr.pdf

This does away with humping a battery around in one tidy package.

I could create a work area in the garage, add a couple of 60w bulbs and use this to run them.

What do you think guys

Thank you
Richard

flashg67

Hi,

Looks like a great idea and the price looks competitive.

Only downside i can see is upto a 36 hour recharge time (presumably if completely flat) so you may still have to do a bit of humping around anyway depending on how much you use it.

Perhaps energy saving bulbs would increase your running time?

KillerWatt

300W = 25A in one hour, and that unit has a 20Ah battery.

Bear in mind you won't get anywhere near the 50 mins or so you would expect, as the unit will shut down when the battery voltage drops to 10V.

With 2x 60W lamps running, you won't see past 2 hours before the battery needs recharging.

Bikertov

IMHO, you would do far better to run a length of armoured cable to the garage, and do the power / light properly. In the long run, you will not regret it.

pendulum

I also think you should put the £77.99 towards the cost of a proper cabled installation which you'll have forever then.

kwikbreaks

If running mains electricity to the garage really is impossible you could look at using a portable petrol generator. There are sometimes cheap deals on these (Makro and Netto within the last year). It will be noisy so could annoy neighbours and will not be cheap though.

rwalton159

Thank you for your posts.

My garage is 70ft from my house so running cables is a no go.

Using a generator is no good as it will annoy other people.

I was hoping the powerpack would cover all areas. However, 2 hrs use on a 36hrs charge isn't that good.

I am sure it would be as easy to manhandle the powerpack than a large battery for charging, plus I would need to buy a battery charger and inverter separately.

kwikbreaks

70ft is not an outlandish distance. If it is all on your property they why can't you just use a long extension lead when you need it?

hc25036

I've just had armoured cable run down 45 metres (150 feet) at a cost of £150 for the (12 core) cable and £50 for the sparks to connect up both ends.....

rwalton159

The area between my house and garage is a road. This discounts installing any cable and running extension leads is a no go as it realises health & safety issues.

HappyMJ

rwalton159 wrote: »

The area between my house and garage is a road. This discounts installing any cable and running extension leads is a no go as it realises health & safety issues.

LOL..You could have mentioned that to begin with. Don't use incandescent bulbs use a fluorescent tube. You will be lucky to get a few hours solely on battery but you could always use the car for more power. The engine will have to run to prevent it from going flat but at least you'll have power.

You could purchase a quiet generator (i.e one that is below the regulations for creating a nuisance in your area.)