battery operated display lights?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by judy hoch on March 3, 2010 at 4:46am

There are several ways to light your booth. The easiest and least efficient is to use a 12 volt battery and an inverter - a device that you can get in sporting sections of big box stores. Then you have 110v ac current and can use any ordinary lights. Your battery draws a lot of current to go thru the inverter and 110 lights use a lot of current as well.
Your other alternative is to set up a 12v system. www.eclecticlighting.com has several options. The most cost effective way is to wire your 12v lights directly to your battery - with some kind of connector. I light the inside of my jewelry cases with led lights running directly from the 12v battery.
Spot lights and flood lights made with leds are far more efficient than hallogen lights.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Diane Wright on March 3, 2010 at 9:44am

I bought some battery operated lights through amazon but they are very small and do not light very much. Also the light is not that bright. They are more like reading lights.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Dave Hinde on March 3, 2010 at 12:28pm

I'm looking for low power flourescent lights, and I hope to power them form a Power Pack. You can get the 110 volt power packs at Lowes, or Walmart, to use as emergency power. I've heard they will power the lights in a booth for a weekend, although you may want to recharge at night, just to be sure.

At the VA Beach Boardwalk Art Show, I did see someone with battery operated lights. I've been trying to find them since then! Should have written down the source:-(

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by judy hoch on March 3, 2010 at 1:49pm

You might want to look at the new lights that are made of leds. I have a spotlight that is really brilliant. My sister has led lights that work in the same socket as the halogens to light her photographs. The leds use very little power compared to flourescent and the flourescent ones make lousey spots and floods. just google for led lights to replace halogens.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sheila Evans on March 3, 2010 at 3:24pm

I bought a very expensive and supposedly very good LED bulb last year to try it out. The light was terrible---blue and dim. Could you please share the brand and any other info about the brilliant LED spot bulb you found? I'd love to use LEDs at non-electricity shows but am afraid to gamble on any more unknowns. Thanks!

judy said:

You might want to look at the new lights that are made of leds. I have a spotlight that is really brilliant. My sister has led lights that work in the same socket as the halogens to light her photographs. The leds use very little power compared to flourescent and the flourescent ones make lousey spots and floods. just google for led lights to replace halogens.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by S. Michelle Babcock on March 3, 2010 at 3:36pm

My husband made my lights for me. They go in my jewelry cases. Each case has 6 halogen lights. We use two marine batteries for the shows without power. We have a 12 volt transformer for shows that have electricity. Watch out with those LED and flourescent lights. They can really kill the color in your work. We use little clamps for the batteries.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by judy hoch on March 3, 2010 at 4:23pm

Leds have a color temperature and are available in warm and cool whites. You can get the specs from the supplier if you ask. For jewelry case lights, my first were some i had an led manufacturer make for me $$$. There are now case ready ones available for Arizona cases that are very good color for jewelry. I've given up on Dynamic Display cases, they are not secure, they wiggle when clients approach your booth and the lighting options are very expensive. While the Arizona case lights aren't cheap, they work and fit perfectly.
In most towns you can find a store or a custom electrician that can put together correct color, focus and voltage for your booth. You will have to search a bit, but they are out there.
And a bit about batteries - the 12 volt marine or trolling batteries are better bets than car batteries. The car batteries do not respond well to being nearly drained while the others don't seem to care. When I lit my 3 cases - each with 3-30 watt halogens, I had to recharge both 12 volt batteries nightly. When i went to leds - the very bright ones - the batteries are good for a three day show without recharging. Leds are now much brighter than the old ones, but not as bright as halogens. I'm not fond of lugging two 45 pound batteries around so I have chosen a compromise. When it is cloudy or Im in shade, the leds work great, in the sun, not so well.
The LED spot I have is 110 and I got it at Lowes or Home Depot for about $15. It is brighter than my incandescent spots. I have both kinds in cans over my counter in the kitchen.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sheila Evans on March 10, 2010 at 8:55pm

Thank you! I'll check out Lowe's next time I go.

judy said:

Leds have a color temperature and are available in warm and cool whites. You can get the specs from the supplier if you ask. For jewelry case lights, my first were some i had an led manufacturer make for me $$$. There are now case ready ones available for Arizona cases that are very good color for jewelry. I've given up on Dynamic Display cases, they are not secure, they wiggle when clients approach your booth and the lighting options are very expensive. While the Arizona case lights aren't cheap, they work and fit perfectly.
In most towns you can find a store or a custom electrician that can put together correct color, focus and voltage for your booth. You will have to search a bit, but they are out there.
And a bit about batteries - the 12 volt marine or trolling batteries are better bets than car batteries. The car batteries do not respond well to being nearly drained while the others don't seem to care. When I lit my 3 cases - each with 3-30 watt halogens, I had to recharge both 12 volt batteries nightly. When i went to leds - the very bright ones - the batteries are good for a three day show without recharging. Leds are now much brighter than the old ones, but not as bright as halogens. I'm not fond of lugging two 45 pound batteries around so I have chosen a compromise. When it is cloudy or Im in shade, the leds work great, in the sun, not so well.
The LED spot I have is 110 and I got it at Lowes or Home Depot for about $15. It is brighter than my incandescent spots. I have both kinds in cans over my counter in the kitchen.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sheila Evans on March 21, 2010 at 7:52pm

OK, update: I went to Lowe's and found a very nice, bright LED bulb. It's made by Feit Electric. It says it replaces a 45-watt bulb for 8 watts usage. The color is a nice, neutral white and I like the light a bit better than that of a comparable CFL bulb. The price was a little higher than I expected, though, at $30. This bulb fits a standard socket so I will use it with some clip lights I have "upgraded" with enameled shades for the few non-electricity shows I do. Thanks again for the info!

• ▶ Reply