Discuss Low voltage lighting in the Electrical Wiring, Theories and Regulations area at ElectriciansForums.net

Welcome to ElectriciansForums.net - The American Electrical Advice Forum
Head straight to the main forums to chat by click here:   American Electrical Advice Forum

A

Anthonyrthomasuk

I was thinking of fitting a transformer near the consumer unit and supplying all the downstairs lighting circuit with 12v and changing all the fittings. Has anyone done this and is there any likely problems.
 
I got to be honest I dont think you can get a 12V transformer with a big enough VA rating to do an entire circuit.

I've never seen one. Do you have one in mind??
 
When you talk about a circuit my lighting downstairs consists of 1 light living room, landing light and 6 spotlights in kitchen. they all low energy and i would prefer better light without using more power as they are used the most and sometimes can be on all day
 
Hi

The transformer will be larger than the normal ones for lighting and you will suffer from very high VD%. Go for local transformers and low energy lighting or if you are a techy go for LED lighting.
Regards
 
I was thinking of fitting a transformer near the consumer unit and supplying all the downstairs lighting circuit with 12v and changing all the fittings. Has anyone done this and is there any likely problems.

hi there

12 volt lighting are you considering solar panels and wind turbine thingys as well ???

This is the way ahead but the technology is still not up there yet for a sustainable

i have fitted 300va transformers for banks and have used 1.5mm twin and earth but must admit runs were not more than a couple of meters at the most and boy do they run hot :eek::eek::eek:

just wondered about volt drop never considered that before for this application???

cheers
 
Hi


A rough calc for 10 * 50w spots @12v run approx 30m upstairs lighting comes out around 4mm, but soon steps up to 6mm if you add anymore length. This is a rough guide and does not reflect your installation. hope this helps.


Regards
 
I suppose if you were doing a rewire it could be considered since we are being encouraged to switch to low voltage. I would probably do that in my own home. Thanks Tony
 
Anthony, obviously you don,t know the basics, jasons already told you , you cannot put a transformer near the mains and run all the lighting from it, the csa of the cables would be huge. Anthony the reason is lower the volts, higher the amps and thats what protects the cable you use breaker size etc. sounds like, to me you are about to burn your bloomin house down mate, check your insurance policy before you do the work or in my view get some one in that knows what they are doin mate.
 
I was thinking of fitting a transformer near the consumer unit and supplying all the downstairs lighting circuit with 12v and changing all the fittings. Has anyone done this and is there any likely problems.
This guy I used to work with years ago in australia had his house all running off a car battery,and used to bring it into work once a week to charge it up when the boss wasn't looking.

I got to be honest I dont think you can get a 12V transformer with a big enough VA rating to do an entire circuit.

I've never seen one. Do you have one in mind??

I once took a 500va out of a shop that was being refitted,it weighed about 10kg....I ended up useing it in a barn conversion rather unorthodoxly.(but as it was in northern ireland it looked ok) But,on the low voltage side I came out in 16mmsq feeding 2 lenghts of BARBED WIRE.low voltage lampholder cables connected onto the barb with standard 15amp connector blocks.I had fourteen 35watt 12volt lamps running off this.This was 10years ago and as far as I know its still going.
 
Last edited:
When you talk about a circuit my lighting downstairs consists of 1 light living room, landing light and 6 spotlights in kitchen. they all low energy and i would prefer better light without using more power as they are used the most and sometimes can be on all day

As has been pointed out by others the vd & csa of the cable would make this unworkable, also you should not switch the secondary side of the transformer.

Take your 6 spotlights in the kitchen, if these are 50w then they will be taking 25 amps (6 x 50 = 300va. 300/12v = 25 amps)

I think your 1.5 t&e will get slightly warm and your 10amp domestic switch will produce a few sparks.
 
Last edited:
Sounds good in theory, I would be concerened about the volt drop tho. Maybe i'm not visualizing this properly, but say if you wanted to go back to 240v system, would that mean you replacing the transformer with a junction box right by the DB? perfectly safe but....... you know.
 

Reply to Low voltage lighting in the Electrical Wiring, Theories and Regulations area at ElectriciansForums.net

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Electrician Courses Green Electrical Goods PCB Way Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Pushfit Wire Connectors Electric Underfloor Heating Electrician Courses
These Official Forum Sponsors May Provide Discounts to Regular Forum Members - If you would like to sponsor us then CLICK HERE and post a thread with who you are, and we'll send you some stats etc
This website was designed, optimised and is hosted by Untold Media. Operating under the name Untold Media since 2001.
Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock