running a house from car batteries for the electrical idiot

[ruston]

I agree . I repaired a burned out harness on a Mini Bus taxi recently because the 'technician' kept replacing the fuses with the next size up.
The harness was like a charred branch.
They were lucky they did not lose the vehicle.

 

[pirate]

Fellow posters, we are responding to the OP who wants to run a few lamps from a car battery...there are in-line fuses to protect the setup.
I suspect she will not put a spanner in the works!
If we were talking about an automatic start when the mains goes off, with a full generator backup, I would simply leave it to those with that particular specialist knowledge...and thus I would have nothing to contribute.
However, I am the first to agree that many fires are caused by inappropriate measures on what many think are "safe" 12V applications.
In my early years of tinkering with such systems, in the marine environment, we often had multi-fuel situations...the engine would run on diesel, the outboards on petrol, the heating on parafin, and the cooker on gas, all such fuels being stored on board in varying quantities. A dodgy 12 or 24V installation could impact on any of the other fuels, all being confined in a small space...and no AA or RAC to come to the rescue.
Fire was always the risk, not electrocution...whereas in a 240V situation there is always the risk of both.
Therefore, I would rather see someone attempt a 12v installation than a 230V one...
and having recently been involved in damage assessment on a UPS system in an office, it was obvious that the system was ideally specified for the expected load, electrically speaking, but no-one had bothered about the physical loading of the building, so the shelves hosting the UPS collapsed under the weight...
horses for courses methinks...

 

[pirate]

BTW, we always tested the calor cylinder to regulator joint with a match!
Oh, happy days!
DO NOT DO THIS FOLKS!
(It's fine actually, as long as you ventilate the area properly...
50 years on and I'm still here...and the copper junctions just had an olive and a smear of calor-tite and that was that...of course we ran a risk assessment every time we changed a cylinder!)

 

[static zap]

Electrical, Idiots, mmmm do they really go together well??? Risk of fire jumps to mind.

Never mind Fires from short circuits ,
Wafting away hydrogen ,present after charging .
... is something you don't want to trap accidentally...
(not having a wind blowing under you bonet to help).
Witnessed arc near batteries , freshly charged .
a) Blew top off
b) Blew end out .... May be different with calcium ones
.. but I'm not a car battery expert ..

 

[pirate]

Fair point, but in the normal situation you don't get fizzing gases coming off car batteries on charge. For sure, the golf trolley type, like the car type, are fully sealed, and chargeable indoors with gay abandon (oh...did I say that?)
On the other hand, the older style batteries such as I was used to in the marine environment were not sealed, and often fizzzed under charging conditions...and we had to top them up with distilled water...oh, happy days

 

[ruston]

Car batteries are not ideal for deep cycling and leisure batteries would be a better choice.
Nearly all car batteries are sealed these days, and not all are lead acid.
The concerns are justified ,and the OP has already realized that things go wrong ,and has come here for advice and comments.
I fully expect that she will take it in and get a competent person to design her project.

 

[pirate]

Maybe she will even revert to us and tell us what she has done...

 

[PEG]

Why can't the OP just use mains electric,and just do what the French do,when something fails,and they are not happy with it...block the roads and have a picnic

 

[ellie]

there is a very good chance my fingers were not clean. lol. also i had been holding it in my hand whilst i was searching for a bit of wire

 

[ellie]

thank you.
i shall have a look at the link immediately.

 

[ellie]

And if you are in a sunny part of France , solar panels may be a consideration to keep your batteries topped up.
You could even create a battery bank and run some power sockets via an inverter.
To my mind that is when solar power comes into it's own.

i agree. i use solar panels for my battery powered electric fencing. they work so well i rarely have to top them up from mains power

 

[ellie]

A generator might be a better idea, with changeover switch and appliance inlet, although may be different rules for this in France.

ha ha! just bought one! noisy bugger but after rigging up a longer exhaust pipe from an old metal rake handle and jubilee clip then placing it on a folded up tractor inner tube it runs much more quietly

 

[ellie]

Agreed, 123, however if for ocasional use maybe the generator and dedicated circuit/changeover switch might be on the expensive side? Plus you need to store fuel for the genny, and put up with the noise and the other inconvenience...some generators can be difficult beggars to start...and have to be housed somewhere.

Ruston, I do like your view on this, but again the initial expense might not be justified...it's up to the OP to rule on that point.

managed to find a genny for 150 euros. the 2400w is sufficient to run most of the house. i have managed to solve the noise issue but i still prefer the battery idea for now. especially with solar panels.

 

[ellie]

On the cost front, these were about £200 for the set, ifrc

4 x S124 Clamp Spots, 5W LED Lamps & Battery KIT - Display Lighting Ltd - https://www.display-lighting.com/led-battery-powered-lighting/s124-battery-led-clamp-spots/dkit4xs124-300-dc.html

and can be clamped to tables, shelves screens etc.
We got at least 10 hours running from the golf trolley battery, which is a standard, non-lithium 22ah 12 volt thingy, which cost less than £50
Lucas 22Ah Golf Battery LSLC22-12G - Lucas Golf Batteries - https://www.tayna.co.uk/golf-batteries/lucas/lslc22-12g/
and is half the price of the Motocaddy branded equivalent that for me lasts only one season. I don't mind paying £50/year, but twice that is just silly...especially as my golf is rubbish!
Going off-topic here, sorry...

thank you for the links. i have lots of old batteries that although are now no good to run a car still have enough ooomph left to power electric fencing. i was kind of hoping if they could power that they could manage a laptop and some lights. ever the optimist. lol however, i do like the idea of LED lamps

 

[ellie]

Electrical, Idiots, mmmm do they really go together well??? Risk of fire jumps to mind.

hahahaha. you are not wrong. luckily, i am not really an idiot. although, i have been known to do idiotic things occasionally. i promise to take care.