"John White"
xena wrote:

I will shortly have a field shelter, 12"x24" with an apex roof, for my two
horses. Running mains electic to the shelter is not practical just at the
moment, so I want to rig up a 12 volt system using the 85Ah leisure
battery
that I currently also use to power the electric fence.

I'd seriously consider using 12V fluorescent lights rather than car
headlights. You will get a better spread of light and as they draw far
less current, you will get a longer running time between battery
charges.
snip lots of comprehensive reply

Wow, thanks for that detailed response! I have just looked further into
your argument for fluorescent lights and have seen about the relative lumens
output of fluorescent vs halogen, so definitely something to consider there.
Have to price them up.

4) Do I need 12v wire or will 230v cabling do?

It's the cross-sectional area of the cable that matters here, rather
than the strength of the insulation. So as long as the wire is thick
enough you can use anything with a rating of 12V or above.

Hmm, ok, well I have loads of 230v cabling. I have 2 core stranded flex,
loads of 1.5mm2 and 2.5mm2, and some 4.0mm2 cable too. Would the solid core
stuff do the job then? Ideally the 2.5mm2 as I have reams of that stuff?

Don't forget to put all the electrics well out of the way of your
horses.

:-D Harley is an inquisitive, nibbly little sod sometimes...

John

Thanks again John )