Re: Grand Apagon - Electricity (not) in Spain

On 5/1/2025 10:25 AM, Martin Brown wrote:

Our garage doors roll up and over (i.e., move from the vertical
plane to the horizontal).  So, with the door open, about half of the
ceiling is blocked (lights typically affixed to ceilings).

 Same here but my garage or perhaps I should say workshop is a double garage front with room for 4 cars in theory. Realistically only room for one and there is an inspection pit too although I have to syphon the water out of it before use. Water table is rather high round here.
 Back half is workspace with a bench, big vice, press drill and a lathe.

We often work with the door open to improve access to vehicles -- roll
the vehicle out into the driveway a bit so you have better access to
all sides.
This leaves all of the artificial light behind the vehicle (park nose
facing out) where it does little good.
[And, of course, you don't work on the vehicle during daylight hours as
it's way too hot to be exposed in the sunlight, as that would require!]
[[Of course, in the darkness, one has to worry about being "joined"
by coyote, tarantula, javelina, bobcat, mountain lion... "youse takes
yer chances"]]
It also means the contents of the floor-to-ceiling, front-to-rear
shelving are hard to see -- without taking the individual containing
boxes off the shelf and transporting them to a location with more light.
[Having worked for a large hand tool manufacturer, my "tool box" is
on the order of 100+ cubic feet]
My solution has been to install "cord reels" every 6 ft on each side and
down the center of the garage.  The free end (when retracted) rises above
the plane of the garage door so is out of the way when opened.  (ceilings
are usually 10 ft in a residential garage, here)  Yet, still reachable
(if you are average height) when you want to pull one down for access.
[These necessary as the walls are inaccessible due to the shelving]