LED house light source?

[yopappamon]

Does anyone know of a source for 12v LED house lights? Specifically the recessed ceiling lights?

I want to do lights that will run directly off my battery bank. I've just ordered some AC lights from DX.com and will try to hack the power modules to run off dc, but would like to find some specifically for dc. I know you can get RV lights but they usually are pretty cheap looking.

Something like this.
http://dx.com/p/3w-270lm-6000k-3-led-white-light-ceiling-lamp-silver-89-265v-125238

 

[John in CR]

What DC voltage range do you need?

FWIW, lenses are such issues with LEDs, the route I've chosen is no direct LED lighting in the house, and instead reflect the LED lights off of the ceiling to evenly light the rooms. We'll have to get creative in terms of looks, but the lamps will be far cheaper using more common floods and spots like track lights and in floor lamps, and give us much more after the fact adustability in light coverage and even color. Recessed LEDs require much larger heat sinks, driving costs way up.

John

 

[torker]

I am in the sign service biz and we use leds for all of our channel letters. We still service neon but all new builds are led. We use all 12 volt but there is led out there from 2.8 to 24 volts depending on the age of the system and manuf. We order from Reece supply locally but here is a link to the "type" we use. I have done a lot of retrofits at home using these.http://www.signlightingworld.com/Pages/LEDLighting.aspx?gclid=COHbz9jlibUCFQKRPAodW14A2A

 

[_Chris_]

Does anyone know of a source for 12v LED house lights? Specifically the recessed ceiling lights?

I want to do lights that will run directly off my battery bank. I've just ordered some AC lights from DX.com and will try to hack the power modules to run off dc, but would like to find some specifically for dc. I know you can get RV lights but they usually are pretty cheap looking.

Something like this.
http://dx.com/p/3w-270lm-6000k-3-led-white-light-ceiling-lamp-silver-89-265v-125238

Dude cheap 5 dollar ebay lights will run on DC. I just hooked up a cafe ceiling with some. Try an experiment

get that
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/9W-MR16-...91532?pt=AU_Lighting_Fans&hash=item27cb4f39cc


and put it in that.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/BULK-LOW...ighting_Lamps_Lighting_SM&hash=item1c26c81b8f

6 bucks per fitting installed.

Or on AC

Wire up to 5 at once on this

http://www.todae.com.au/REDBACK-Transformer

Wire it with this in parallel using screw connectors. and tape them up.

http://www.electriciansupplies.com.au/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1940

On AC disconnect your existing light fitting in the roof and put this on and plug your transformer into it.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Clipsal-413-Surface-Socket-/350429670337#ht_2078wt_1180
I have had that in my roof now in my house for 2 years and all still working fine.

 

[Arlo1]

Led lighting is a great way to cut down on your power bill just make sure to do the math. Up here in Canada the led lights only save me money in the summer or around months a year other then our pot lights I think all the heat ( other then the radiant) from the old lights was mostly staying strapped in the pot then working its way up to the attic.

 

[yopappamon]

Dude cheap 5 dollar ebay lights will run on DC. I just hooked up a cafe ceiling with some. Try an experiment

get that
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/9W-MR16-...91532?pt=AU_Lighting_Fans&hash=item27cb4f39cc


and put it in that.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/BULK-LOW...ighting_Lamps_Lighting_SM&hash=item1c26c81b8f

6 bucks per fitting installed.

Thanks, Chris. That recessed fixture would work.

 

[John in CR]

Dude cheap 5 dollar ebay lights will run on DC. I just hooked up a cafe ceiling with some. Try an experiment

get that
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/9W-MR16-...91532?pt=AU_Lighting_Fans&hash=item27cb4f39cc


and put it in that.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/BULK-LOW...ighting_Lamps_Lighting_SM&hash=item1c26c81b8f

6 bucks per fitting installed.

Thanks, Chris. That recessed fixture would work.

That's a great price if those are really 3 x3watt lights, however, unless they are way under-powering them where does the heat go. I have some auto grade 4 x 3W with Cree LEDs in them and when motionless the big heat sinks on them get pretty warm even with an ambient temperature about 22°C.

 

[amberwolf]

Might also wanna check with Texaspyro--I think he redid his entire house in LED, and had some experiences in trying different kinds.

 

[_Chris_]

That's a great price if those are really 3 x3watt lights, however, unless they are way under-powering them where does the heat go. I have some auto grade 4 x 3W with Cree LEDs in them and when motionless the big heat sinks on them get pretty warm even with an ambient temperature about 22°C.

They have a heatsink on the back of them that dissipates the heat and willl be ok in ventilated roof space and for 4 bucks and asimple installation you would give it a go. I replaced 12 diacroic 50w normal lamps with those and all other lights with 30w circular electronic fluros and my power bill dropped by a third.

the thing is those leds are almost equivalent to the old sort and have a nicer light once you get used to it.

 

[heathyoung]

A lot of the COB (chip on board) led downlights are in the 12V range IIRC - there are higher voltage cob (multi-series strings) that are 30V or so as well.

 

[Hillhater]

Has anybody checked exactly what the power draw is on these 9W or 12W LED units. ?
I know its more than the 9/12W rating but all that heat suggests its quite a bit more !

 

[yopappamon]

I ordered a 1w, 3 w, and 7 w to test. Lots of light from the 3 and 7. The 3 is almost as bright as the 7. I'll check for heat and see what the power consumption is.

 

[yopappamon]

Using my kill a watt meter, the 7 draws 7.8 watts, the 3 draws 4.0 watts, and the 1 draws 1.8 watts.

After about 30 minutes they were all warm but not hot.

 

[Hillhater]

Wow !
thats good info. Much lower than i suspected they might be.
where did you get those from ?

 

[yopappamon]

Deal extreme. Www.dx.com

Link to the 3w in the first post.

 

[yopappamon]

A lot of the COB (chip on board) led downlights are in the 12V range IIRC - there are higher voltage cob (multi-series strings) that are 30V or so as well.

I ordered a couple of COB LEDs from DX. They seem to be either 9-11v or 15-18v.

Anyone have experience with them? I'm guessing the 15-18v would work best on a 12 solar system.

 

[heathyoung]

Yeah, usual stuff with constant current for them. The smaller ones (5W or so) need bugger-all heatsinking, the bigger ones put out a suprising amount of heat.

They are pretty ideal for solar usage.