This left me with a problem because I had removed a central bolt and hook to make room for the power cable and grommet, which meant there was nothing holding the parts together.
Not wanting to slash my wrist when changing bulbs, and not having any protective edging, I needed to make some. I did this by slitting a length of flat power cable along one edge then stripped out the three cores to leave just the insulation.
I re-used the lamp-holders, and even though it was a bit fiddly assembling everything with the lantern upside down so the glass didn’t fall out, I am pleased with the end result.
Everything outdoors is either 230v rated submersible (pond pumps etcetera), IP55 (inside outbuildings), IP66 (floodlights and power sockets etcetera) or 12v DC (decorative lights)
Anything not protected by the feeds from the two house consumer units (with MCBs and 30mA RCDs), the garage consumer unit (with MCBs and 30mA RCDs) has individual 30mA RCDs inside the outbuildings, or individual RCD plugs inside IP66 enclosures in the garden (water feature pumps).
This is separate to the DC solar power feeds to the house and output to the national grid. I want to install battery storage for this to keep the freezers, security system, and powered mobility aids going in the event of a powercut.
I’ve been toying with the idea of installing a water turbine even though it is not economically viable. This would power everything in the garage and some of the external lights, but I wouldn’t be able to export more than 1kW as the power company have an output limit of 5kW which I would exceed when the solar is generating its maximum.
That is incredible, what an amazing thing to have created, you are very talented. I love seeing peoples diy and crafts and if you have more and fancy sharing them I’d love to see them
That is just brilliant Fruitcake and love seeing what you achieve.
The Gazebo we built to house our Hot Tub started with a fence that surrounded the Patio. We purchased a fancy panel and incorporated it in the ‘fence’ and then built upwards…
The Inside as you looked up was really a work of art…just cant find a photo to show you…
pretty plain compared to yours Fruitcake but it served the Hot Tub privacy issues at the time.
We were really pleased with it. We added small individual tiles for the roof as well.
Just found a photo of the fancy panel…
A grand bit of work there Fruity. I love your idea of the cable case as a protector from the sharp edges, very clever practical thinking that, you’d be a handy fella to be with on a desert island.
I still had the old brass and glass solar lanterns that had stopped working, so I decided to repurpose them.
