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hi, I know garages are a STW favourite
my question is:- I may be buying a house with a single detached garage which is set some way from the house. My understanding is that it won't be possible to run an elec cable to power the garage.
what are my options? a generator or battery powered lights?
You can run an armoured power cable with an RCD connection to trip if someone cuts it.
Otherwise, I've rigged up a car battery to a cheap solar panel and LED lights in a rented garage and it works well.
If going down the solar route, go with a leisure battery rather than a car battery. Designed to have a slower discharge of their power.
Unless the garage is the other side of a road it's hard to imagine you couldn't run power to it?
I have a detached garage that I had converted from a cow shed which is around 10 metres away and have power going to it.
Armoured power cable with RCD as suggested above coming from mains supply into house and then out to garage.
How far from the house is it
Cheers fellas, it's only 10 metres away or so but crosses another guys driveway so don't fancy digging a channel
Depends what you want to run. Just lights and I'd do it with solar.
I'm in the exact same situation, just moved into a new house a few months back and it has a detached garage. I would like to run a cable but there's a public footpath between the house and the garage. I'd like enough power to run power tools/pressure washers etc so solar isn't an option but can't see the council being too happy if I dig up the footpath to run a cable.
I'm guessing a generator is my best bet?
I built a kit car in a garage about 25m from my house, along a shared footpath. I just got a long length of cable and one of those flat cable protectors to go over the cable where it crossed the path. Just put it out when needed.
I don't have a lot to add, but I had a detached garage for a couple of years without electricity, it sucks. You can't charge lights, use power tools etc. Now I have power and it's much better.
I'd just explore getting a proper installation done, it'll be money well spent.
Armoured cable buried underground until you get near the driveway. Then, put a sturdy pole either side of the drive and use an overhead catenary wire to carry the cable across the drive, then bury it underground until you get to the garage.
Get a sparky though as you will need to size the cable appropriate to the length of run and anticipated load as well as the possible requirements for a TT earthing arrangement and earth rod.
Do you own the land the footpath crosses? If so, you can apply to the Council for a temporary closure to carry out works. I've found the following on the web:I would like to run a cable but there's a public footpath between the house and the garage
But, just thinking, do you actually mean a 'public footpath' (eg, a right of way) or is it a 'footway' (what people usually call the pavement) on a public highway? That would be different, I think.Under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 section 15(7) a path can be closed for this purpose for up to five days. There is a charge for such closures (currently £250)
Solar charging a battery to drive modern LEDs is a good solution for lighting.
For tools, an awful lot of stuff (drills, saws, sanders, etc) can be had in very good battery versions. The likes of Makita sell tools as body-only so once you've got a couple of batteries and a charger then the tools are pretty reasonable. Run an extension for anything else like a pressure washer.
For anything else, you can get those power packs (for jump starting cars) with built in inverters. Charge in the house, carry it out with you.
Do you own the land the footpath crosses? If so, you can apply to the Council for a temporary closure to carry out works. I've found the following on the web:
No unfortunately, just the land either side.
But, just thinking, do you actually mean a 'public footpath' (eg, a right of way) or is it a 'footway' (what people usually call the pavement) on a public highway? That would be different, I think.
It's just the pavement that runs round our street but cuts through to an open area at the side of our house. Should probably just give the council a call and see what they say.
When we had the electrics done in the house about five years ago I got an extra RCD put in ready to power the Garage, worked out the best route for an armoured cable and priced up garage consumer units...
Five years later and it's another job still pending, I use an extension lead to run lights and a compressor, I will sort it one day... Honest.
My neighbour is in a similar situation to you. His garage is the other side of my garage and driveway. We have an arrangement where his garage electricity supply is taken from my house/garage, via a meter. Every year I take a reading and work out how much he owes me. He barely uses it so it's usually about a pound.
You could dispense with the meter entirely if you agreed to some fixed fee for a years electricity. If you pay slightly over what you think it would actually cost, you'd sweeten the deal for them.
just found this:
http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/garage-with-no-power-lighting-solution-needed