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Thread: Workshop Lighting - Emergency power

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    New Hampshire
    Posts
    2,796

    Workshop Lighting - Emergency power

    For those out there that have a windowless or almost windowless shop (a shop where when the lights are out you cannot see your hand in front of your face). Do you have any lights on emergency power? Does anyone have lighting in their shop on emergency power?

    I was thinking that I will likely be working in the shop (basement shop with small casement windows) this weekend during a winter storm. What else should I do while it is dark and snowing outside? But if we lose power while I'm in the basement, I would never be able to see in the dark to find my way out.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Upland, CA
    Posts
    1,344
    If you always have a smartphone in your pocket like I do, then you always have enough light from the screen to let you safely walk out of your basement. I usually always have a small flashlight in a pocket also. Even a tiny flashlight you can get for free with a coupon from Harbor Freight is plenty of light for that. If you want to upgrade from that a single AAA battery LED gives off lots of light for a couple hours.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    E TN, near Knoxville
    Posts
    12,298

    Excellent shop safety idea!

    Anthony,

    I installed emergency lights in my shop even though I do have some windows. (What if the power goes out at night?) I installed one unit near the door in the main shop that has two lights mounted on a lighted EXIT sign. I also bought several smaller emergency lights at an electrical supply house since I have multiple my shop. These were very inexpensive, less than $15 I think. They are designed to be wired directly into a circuit but it's easy enough to add a power cord and plug into an outlet. Remember to test regularly.

    BTW, i also use an uninterruptible power supply in the office area for the security system, cameras, wifi router, and personal cell tower.

    All this and only one power outage in 3 years!

    Until you get emergency lights up you could carry a small light in your pocket.

    JKJ

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    SoCal
    Posts
    22,492
    Blog Entries
    1
    I have one set of lights on the house circuit. I can blow the whole shop sub-panel (I have never even had a brown-out) and still have light. My lights are also on different breakers than any tools. In addition to this I have flashlights mounted in known location about the shop. Larger emergency flashlights near the exits and smaller flashlights near things like the router table and the bandsaw. As I age I find the flashlights help at the router table with setup and at the bandsaw for guide adjustments during blade changes. As an unforeseen benefit I guess they could also be emergency lights ;-)
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    West Granby CT
    Posts
    777
    I have the same basement shop setup as well. I'm pretty sure in the middle of a messy project and shop, with scraps on the floor, I could slowly find my way out in blackness without any issue. However, it is not a bad idea in relation to how cheap a solution is. It wouldn't be for me but for somebody not as familiar with the shop if they happen to be down there for one reason or another. Also, my electrical panel is down there (and generator switch), so if power goes out somebody else can go down and do it without having to find a flashlight or cellphone etc. Good idea and great simple solutions.

    Straight up -10 forecasted here tomorrow into the night, along with some wind, I imagine New Hampshire won't be much warmer!

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Chelmsford Mass
    Posts
    59
    I have a battery powered unit that plugs into an outlet in the ceiling of my basement shop.

    The thought of sharp spinning things that I cannot see (even if only for a minute or so) in a dark shop made it well worth the cost for some piece of mind

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Bloomington, IL
    Posts
    6,009
    I bought a wired emergency light (keeps battery charged at all times I guess) from Menards and it is going in the new shed. Lights come on when the power is cut off. I will put it by the door. Hoping it will be enough. May install more than one.
    Glad its my shop I am responsible for - I only have to make me happy.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    SE Kansas City Metro, MO
    Posts
    661
    Haven't had a power failure yet, but I'll probably have to rely on my Spidey-sense to get out if it happens, as there's not a window anywhere and I usually work in the evenings. And my phone is always somewhere but not in my pocket... I can count on 2 fingers the number of power outages we've had since I moved in to this house 4 years ago, so it's not a common issue. I feel for those of you who deal with outages regularly...

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    Peters Creek, Alaska
    Posts
    412
    We have emergency power for the entire house. After losing power for 2+ days a few years ago, we installed a whole-house standby generator. I probably should have an emergency light set up in the garage/shop but the generator comes online in less that 20 seconds, so it hasn't been a priority.
    Brett
    Peters Creek, Alaska

    Man is a tool-using animal. Nowhere do you find him without tools; without tools he is nothing, with tools he is all. — Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881)

  10. #10
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Highland MI
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    4,511
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    11
    When I used my shop for production, I did add a battery emergency light as I did a lot of my work at night in the basement.. When the battery died, I didn't bother replacing it.
    NOW you tell me...

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