Quote:
Originally Posted by classradiance
So are the low voltage appliances also cheaper to run ?
or have the manufacturers just changed the Power Supply Unit spec to fit demand in a Lower Voltage Market ?
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If you had a house fire, and your insurance company saw you had a DC power
system installed, they would look for the goverment approval stamp.
A DIY system might mean your fire insurance might not be paid.
Anyways, if you didn't have a solar powered battery bank, you would need
a power supply unit with low heat losses to connect up your LEDs.
A transformer supply, like a wall wart can be low loss. Those that don't heat up are the best.
An inverter type (like a phone charger) that doesn't heat up would be my choice for using DC LEDs.
I use a small 12V car battery (solar charged) for the LED reading lamp in our master bedroom.
For lamps used every night around the house, we use all 120 Vac LEDs.
Right now my go-to LED comes from Home Depot.
Philips, 12.5- Watts (60W) LED A19 Soft White (2700K) Light Bulb (E*), 422154 at The Home Depot - Mobile
The 60w Philips I recommended before (posted above) is no longer listed.
So this $12.97 blub is what I plan to buy when I upgrade my next CFL lamps.
I've just about given up on trying to find good dimmers for LEDs, so most of mine are running full power. Which isn't much.
Pay-back? Break-even? This stuff is my
hobby.. Besides, I'll be 67 years old in a few months.
My outlook for a long life isn't the best, so I'm not going to worry about a few dollars.
But, I do like the idea of being able to run good lighting in my house
during grid failures, using a small back-up (solar charged 120vac) system.
And, LED lighting is cool!
