Mad Scientist Mode

My wife knows when I have a new project underway, she says I get into "Mad Scientist Mode". She knew I had a project going on when she pulled in after work.The work bench in the carport had tools and parts out, that was her first hint. The dog was happy and running back and forth from the house to the boat dock, on and off the boats, and dragging his outdoor toys about with great vigor. He gets that way when I go back and forth doing and getting stuff. Last, she says I look like the scientist in the move "Back to the Future" working on my project and blocking the rest of the world out.

 The office area has lights on almost all the time. It is on the North West side and gets the least window light of any room. It also has the most shade from trees and vines so what light that comes in the windows is soft and cool. We had talked about having all the lighting run from our 12 volt solar panel system, but I had just not gotten around to it. This morning she said the electric bill had increased and she hinted it must be the office lighting doing it. She reminded me if I was not in the office the lights need to be off.

After she left the Dog and I got inspired to take care of the problem. My first thought was to run a new line down from the attic from the main 12 volt line that runs the rest of our led lighting system I had put in a few years ago. The thought of running a new line was not a fun thing to do and the extra load on the system might be too much for it to handle. I had pulled the schooner out of the water to do a paint and varnish job, and it's solar panel system was just siting there unused. I made a frame for the panels to set in and put them outside the office in the sun. A line from the panels was run through the wall and in to  the office. The schooner's AGM battery set and the voltage regulator was neatly hidden under my desk and the panel leads attached. The office had its own solar 12 volt solar powered electric source.

The hard part of the project was the 12 volt lights. I had 12 volt compact florescent light bulbs from  my wife's boat that would replace the light bulbs in the desk lamps. ( Will replace them before we take her boat out again)  8-) Next, I made a 12 volt power strip to plug all the 12 volt lamps into. This was labeled 12 volt and each plug going into it was labeled 12 volt since they are regular 110 lamps with regular electric plugs on them. There are still a few 110 lights in the office as back-up for the 12 volt system.

When I took the wife around the side of the house to surprise her with the new solar panels,  she exclaimed, "look!"  I proudly beamed at my solar panel array, but she was turned the other direction, admiring a plant in bloom! When she turned to spot the panels, she said, "oh, that's new! You put 12 volt in the office for me!"  So all my work was not in vain and she was pleased.

The new 12 volt office lighting  looks like it will work out well. Time will tell. If it works, I will replace the schooner's system with new panels. If not, the ones I have go back to the schooner when she is launched. As it stands now, I am only out my time, and the dog and I had fun doing it.