Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: tunnie on 29 October 2009, 12:23:25
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With winter starting to set in i really need to improve the lighting in the garage, only got a single 60w light bulb in there, got a portable fluorescent one that helps, but light is still poor in general.
Need some decent light to work on the bike / cars when the weather really turns, so wondering if its best to get a few banks of spot lights like these:
(http://www.thelightsource.co.uk/LBData/ProductImages/Large/1020581.jpg)
Or get 3/4 of these:
(http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/31NDAjHbo6L._indoor-ceiling-light_.jpg)
Guessing Spot lights will not be suitable cause i need a large space illuminated?
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No brainer.....florry lights
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Fluorescent is the way to go (with diffusers fitted) :y
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Fluorescent is the way to go (with diffusers fitted) :y
Cheers guys!
Diffusers being the reflective parts that scatter the light?
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No, the passive parts that scatter the light! :y
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No, the passive parts that scatter the light! :y
Still looks reflective ::) ;D
Thanks for the correction :y
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No, the passive parts that scatter the light! :y
Still looks reflective ::) ;D
Thanks for the correction :y
Lol, if it was reflective, no light would get out ;)
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Reflective bit is the shiney bit behind a light, Tunnie. The diffuser is the translucent panel / cover in front of it to ...erm ... diffuse the light :)
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Also a good idea to fit a couple very low down (floor level) or have a couple of 4 ft ones on flying leads you can use under or along the side of the car. Most useful when doing brakes etc.
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No, the passive parts that scatter the light! :y
Still looks reflective ::) ;D
Thanks for the correction :y
Actually refractive.
One big benefit of strip lights (not necessarily flourescent) is that they radiate over a wide distance making shadows very out-of-focus. The diffuser helps to spread the light in a second direction and also reduces the intensity of the glare when they are in-vision. (They also act as fly-traps :D)
I have two 6ft ones in a 'T' on the ceiling, but a box a la:
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I I
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would be better if you have the dosh.
Benefit of flourescent mainly lack of heat output but usually better colour temperature too. I was at a friend's house last night and one of their armchairs was smoking when we entered the lounge because a halogen/dichroic lamp was left 3inches above it. Burnt a lovely hole and made the damp cloth they quenched it with sizzle nicely!
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Another thing, which I have been thinking about doing but can't face removing all the cr@p from my garage, is to paint the walls white to make the best use of the light you have.
Kevin
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Another thing, which I have been thinking about doing but can't face removing all the cr@p from my garage, is to paint the walls white to make the best use of the light you have.
Kevin
Yeah thats an idea, and paint the floor and seal it.... floor is out of the question, but the walls could be done.
Will need, a LOT of paint though, and i doubt a roller would be any good >:(
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Another thing, which I have been thinking about doing but can't face removing all the cr@p from my garage, is to paint the walls white to make the best use of the light you have.
Kevin
Yeah thats an idea, and paint the floor and seal it.... floor is out of the question, but the walls could be done.
Will need, a LOT of paint though, and i doubt a roller would be any good >:(
Nope. Bare brick / breezeblock will be a bit too absorbent. Probably a HVLP sprayer would be the best plan. Just so happens I came across one a couple of years ago. One day I'll get round to it.
Floor painting - do it properly or don't bother. Especially if you drive cars in out of the wet! DPO put cheap floor paint on my garage floor (or didn't do the prep properly) and it's flaking off. >:(
Old carpet is probably just as good for avoiding concrete dust, more comfortable to work on and when it gets too oily / damp and manky just lob it out and get some more.
Kevin
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pure white masonry paint is good for brickwork and breezeblocks covers very well (painted the outside of my mums pub and mst of that was bricks)
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My garage walls were given a coat of watered down PVA to seal them, then 2 coats of white emulsion applied with a 4" brush to ensure every nook & cranny was painted. It takes time & is messy but you can easily spot the spiders now.
On the floor, after thorough vaccuming with a VAX, I sealed again with PVA then gave 2 coats of concrete paint. I applied a third coat after a couple of months just to be sure.
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Tunnie - replacing that single crap bulb with a single tube ain't gonna cut it in your garage. I reckon a good 5/6ft tube every other rafter. While you're they, fit more 13A sockets - under cars in a garage (particularly one with no other light like yours) will always need some leadlamps etc.
Those rechargable florries from costco - like I use for camping - are useful under a car, though not really robust enough.
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the garage was the first room to be decorated in our house. Much to Mrs G's bemusement. They just dont get it do they.
Anyway, stripped everything out. Sprayed the walls white with an old sprayer that came in the kit with my compressor. Painted the floor with red floor paint, carpet on top of that, much better for kneeling and lieing on. Pinched some old light fittings from work and put a plug on the end of the cable, they had hooks on the back so screwed some more hooks in the beams and hung them rather than screwing them in so you can move them where ever you need the light. Good for changing donut bushes in the deep mid winter.
Trouble is its only a single garage, if the omega does fit in it, there is bog all chance of working on it as well, just no room, and the bike and tools will have to go elsewhere. No chance. So its a bike and diy work shop really, pillar drill, bench grinder etc and car work is done on the drive which is tarmac and is now cabbaged. So have a couple of rubber mats to lie and kneel on. Should be nice and warm out there too when we move the boiler out there.
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the garage was the first room to be decorated in our house. Much to Mrs G's bemusement. They just dont get it do they.
Anyway, stripped everything out. Sprayed the walls white with an old sprayer that came in the kit with my compressor. Painted the floor with red floor paint, carpet on top of that, much better for kneeling and lieing on. Pinched some old light fittings from work and put a plug on the end of the cable, they had hooks on the back so screwed some more hooks in the beams and hung them rather than screwing them in so you can move them where ever you need the light. Good for changing donut bushes in the deep mid winter.
Trouble is its only a single garage, if the omega does fit in it, there is bog all chance of working on it as well, just no room, and the bike and tools will have to go elsewhere. No chance. So its a bike and diy work shop really, pillar drill, bench grinder etc and car work is done on the drive which is tarmac and is now cabbaged. So have a couple of rubber mats to lie and kneel on. Should be nice and warm out there too when we move the boiler out there.
So the wife's to be bannished to the garage??
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No, the passive parts that scatter the light! :y
Surprised your J calcs didn't tell you that diffusers don't scatter anything, although I doubt they counter the different light temperatures anyway ;)
Tunnie - replacing that single crap bulb with a single tube ain't gonna cut it in your garage. I reckon a good 5/6ft tube every other rafter. While you're they, fit more 13A sockets
Tunnie (or anybody else that isn't 17th) isn't adding anything to any existing installation, and if they do then they are going to pay dearly if caught.
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No, the passive parts that scatter the light! :y
Surprised your J calcs didn't tell you that diffusers don't scatter anything, although I doubt they counter the different light temperatures anyway ;)
Tunnie - replacing that single crap bulb with a single tube ain't gonna cut it in your garage. I reckon a good 5/6ft tube every other rafter. While you're they, fit more 13A sockets
Tunnie (or anybody else that isn't 17th) isn't adding anything to any existing installation, and if they do then they are going to pay dearly if caught.
I wouldn't trust tunnie with tizzy - bloody students ;D
Come from a family of sparkies, I have enough contacts to do it properly, certificated, and at good rates ;)
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No, the passive parts that scatter the light! :y
Surprised your J calcs didn't tell you that diffusers don't scatter anything, although I doubt they counter the different light temperatures anyway ;)
Tunnie - replacing that single crap bulb with a single tube ain't gonna cut it in your garage. I reckon a good 5/6ft tube every other rafter. While you're they, fit more 13A sockets
Tunnie (or anybody else that isn't 17th) isn't adding anything to any existing installation, and if they do then they are going to pay dearly if caught.
I wouldn't trust tunnie with tizzy - bloody students ;D
Come from a family of sparkies, I have enough contacts to do it properly, certificated, and at good rates ;)
Don't think much of your family if they charge you when you need something J :'( :'(
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No, the passive parts that scatter the light! :y
Surprised your J calcs didn't tell you that diffusers don't scatter anything, although I doubt they counter the different light temperatures anyway ;)
Tunnie - replacing that single crap bulb with a single tube ain't gonna cut it in your garage. I reckon a good 5/6ft tube every other rafter. While you're they, fit more 13A sockets
Tunnie (or anybody else that isn't 17th) isn't adding anything to any existing installation, and if they do then they are going to pay dearly if caught.
I wouldn't trust tunnie with tizzy - bloody students ;D
Come from a family of sparkies, I have enough contacts to do it properly, certificated, and at good rates ;)
Don't think much of your family if they charge you when you need something J :'( :'(
I get freebies from my family. My friends only get discounts from my family ;). Can't say fairer than that :y
And my freebies from my family aren't just their talents etc - for example, one of my brothers always tries to take Mrs TB and I away on hols once a year. Spent a week playing golf at La Manga in Spain with him in the summer :y
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one of my brothers always tries to take Mrs TB and I away on hols once a year. Spent a week playing golf at La Manga in Spain with him in the summer :y
If we're having a pissing competition then we (inc wife & kids) stay with friends (now ex pats) twice a year about 100 miles further south than you, costs us nothing for the entire time except what we drink :y
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Just use NOS wiring and say you did it years ago..... :-X
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Just use NOS wiring and say you did it years ago..... :-X
:o ::) :-[
Kevin
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Just use NOS wiring and say you did it years ago..... :-X
:o ::) :-[
Kevin
I am running low on my stocks of old wiring. Not that I would possibly do such a thing anyway ::)
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Sadly (or thankfuly), the regs are typical, you can drive a bus through them.
About the only parts truely screwed down relate to changing consumer units plus work in bathrooms and kitchens.
There are enough loop holes in the rest of the regs to allow you to do pretty much anything
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Sadly (or thankfuly), the regs are typical, you can drive a bus through them.
About the only parts truely screwed down relate to changing consumer units plus work in bathrooms and kitchens.
There are enough loop holes in the rest of the regs to allow you to do pretty much anything
Preety much the same as likes of corgi/gassafe/whatever, seem to be purely in place to help the trade.
Hope they don't put a ban on home mechanics, diy, cutting the lawn.... ...not that I'd put it past them
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No, the passive parts that scatter the light! :y
Surprised your J calcs didn't tell you that diffusers don't scatter anything, although I doubt they counter the different light temperatures anyway ;)
Tunnie - replacing that single crap bulb with a single tube ain't gonna cut it in your garage. I reckon a good 5/6ft tube every other rafter. While you're they, fit more 13A sockets
Tunnie (or anybody else that isn't 17th) isn't adding anything to any existing installation, and if they do then they are going to pay dearly if caught.
I wouldn't trust tunnie with tizzy - bloody students ;D
Come from a family of sparkies, I have enough contacts to do it properly, certificated, and at good rates ;)
Since others have seen my dogey bodge job student wiring skills ::) I was wondering if your brother could put some lights up for me?
Any ideas on cost for say 4 6ft lights, wired in? We have a mains feed going into the garage.
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The big problem I have with all these so called rules is that those who were doing dangerous installs (and christ, have I seen some!) will continue to do good work.
Those who were doing a good job which may well have been to a higher standard than that which the regs call for, will now not do the work.
I suspect we will see more unsafe electrical installs longer term as the maintenance work will be put of due to the larger costs......it will be NHS dentist syndrome.
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I shall ask
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Since others have seen my dogey bodge job student wiring skills ::) I was wondering if your brother could put some lights up for me?
You don 't have some unfused flex and a Senator battery handy then? ;)
Kevin
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Since others have seen my dogey bodge job student wiring skills ::) I was wondering if your brother could put some lights up for me?
You don 't have some unfused flex and a Senator battery handy then? ;)
Kevin
You forgot the gaffer tape ;D
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Since others have seen my dogey bodge job student wiring skills ::) I was wondering if your brother could put some lights up for me?
You don 't have some unfused flex and a Senator battery handy then? ;)
Kevin
You forgot the gaffer tape ;D
Gaffer tape is a fine insulating tape ;D
Many don't know they also have built in fuses ::)
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Since others have seen my dogey bodge job student wiring skills ::) I was wondering if your brother could put some lights up for me?
You don 't have some unfused flex and a Senator battery handy then? ;)
Kevin
You forgot the gaffer tape ;D
Gaffer tape is a fine insulating tape ;D
Many don't know they also have built in fuses ::)
You seem to have a past regards wiring, that many of us havent heard about.
Are there any pics or a link to help us understand. ::) :y
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I'm sure there is a pic somewhere. That particular installation just had to be preserved:
1) Because it was unique.
2) Because it wasn't likely to be around that long before self-destructing.
;D
Kevin
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Sadly (or thankfuly), the regs are typical, you can drive a bus through them.
About the only parts truely screwed down relate to changing consumer units plus work in bathrooms and kitchens.
There are enough loop holes in the rest of the regs to allow you to do pretty much anything
Preety much the same as likes of corgi/gassafe/whatever, seem to be purely in place to help the trade.
Hope they don't put a ban on home mechanics, diy, cutting the lawn.... ...not that I'd put it past them
If only the regs were put in place to help us (trades).
For us, every time a new bit of legislation arrives, we invariably have to take yet another course....which of course involves us spending £100's to prove we can do the job without killing anyone.
Mark's opinion that you can drive a bus through the current electrical regs is slightly optimistic IMO. Homeowners are still allowed to change "like for like", and a couple of other silly bits & pieces, but that's about their lot (unless they can prove competence).
To be honest, I'd like to see our regs made as tight as the Gas Safe boys...at least that way people wouldn't be able to walk in to B&Q and buy the parts necessary to burn their houses down (hopefully that will be in place by next year anyway).
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Sadly (or thankfuly), the regs are typical, you can drive a bus through them.
About the only parts truely screwed down relate to changing consumer units plus work in bathrooms and kitchens.
There are enough loop holes in the rest of the regs to allow you to do pretty much anything
Preety much the same as likes of corgi/gassafe/whatever, seem to be purely in place to help the trade.
Hope they don't put a ban on home mechanics, diy, cutting the lawn.... ...not that I'd put it past them
If only the regs were put in place to help us (trades).
For us, every time a new bit of legislation arrives, we invariably have to take yet another course....which of course involves us spending £100's to prove we can do the job without killing anyone.
Mark's opinion that you can drive a bus through the current electrical regs is slightly optimistic IMO. Homeowners are still allowed to change "like for like", and a couple of other silly bits & pieces, but that's about their lot (unless they can prove competence).
To be honest, I'd like to see our regs made as tight as the Gas Safe boys...at least that way people wouldn't be able to walk in to B&Q and buy the parts necessary to burn their houses down (hopefully that will be in place by next year anyway).
Like methylated spirits, gas blowtorches, just about any halogen light-bulb, infused barbecue coals... ? ;)
As far as I can see, the real risk (of DIYers) is when the property gets sold-on to an un-suspecting buyer. But then, in future we are likely to have to get a certificate before we can sell anyway. ::)
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Sadly (or thankfuly), the regs are typical, you can drive a bus through them.
About the only parts truely screwed down relate to changing consumer units plus work in bathrooms and kitchens.
There are enough loop holes in the rest of the regs to allow you to do pretty much anything
Preety much the same as likes of corgi/gassafe/whatever, seem to be purely in place to help the trade.
Hope they don't put a ban on home mechanics, diy, cutting the lawn.... ...not that I'd put it past them
If only the regs were put in place to help us (trades).
For us, every time a new bit of legislation arrives, we invariably have to take yet another course....which of course involves us spending £100's to prove we can do the job without killing anyone.
Mark's opinion that you can drive a bus through the current electrical regs is slightly optimistic IMO. Homeowners are still allowed to change "like for like", and a couple of other silly bits & pieces, but that's about their lot (unless they can prove competence).
To be honest, I'd like to see our regs made as tight as the Gas Safe boys...at least that way people wouldn't be able to walk in to B&Q and buy the parts necessary to burn their houses down (hopefully that will be in place by next year anyway).
I think that is the problem KW, I regularly work on 3 phase systems at work, I have no piece of paper saying I can do it, but have done at least 10 years on it. But the regs tell me I cannot do it at home. Am I considered competent or not ?
And to be honest I did some work a few weeks back for a friend, and he got an electrician in as it had to be inspected. It was certificated. I have never seen such a bodge job in my life, I have the chaps name and no I would never ever use him.
Some of the cable where just pushed into gaps in the plaster board and taped over, others ran along a ceiling 2 inches form the wall at a depth of about 2mm, just where anyone putting coving up might drive a nail/screw in to support the coving while the adhesive sets.
:o :o :o
Still I suppose people like him keep the good sparks in work :)
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To be honest, I'd like to see our regs made as tight as the Gas Safe boys...at least that way people wouldn't be able to walk in to B&Q and buy the parts necessary to burn their houses down (hopefully that will be in place by next year anyway).
Problem is, that won't stop the worst offenders IMHO. They will just carry on with whatever they can get their hands on.
My mother-in-law's house had spurs wired with lighting flex buried a few mm under the plaster. At least there's a chance if someone who's determined to dabble is able to buy the proper supplies.
Kevin