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opiesche · 12-26-12, 01:16 PM

When I built my office (partition walls around a previously open second family room), I opted for LED lights, as no lighting was in the room prior to that. I used strings of LED modules (4 SMD LEDs of type 5050 per module, 10 modules per fixture, 2 fixtures). They consume around 7W per fixture according to the LED's specs, and output about 24 lumen per LED for a total of roughly 1000 lumen per fixture (or roundabout the same as a 15W CFL).

The fixtures are simply strips of 1/8" plywood, painted white, with the modules mounted on them. I coated a strip of acrylic of the same size with frosted glass spray and bolted it with 1" distancers to the plywood, then screwed the whole thing to the ceiling.
When I built the partition walls, I mounted a 48W LED driver to one of the studs and ran wiring from an existing outlet in another wall to it - the light switches now switch 12V directly, which made running the wiring for the lights really easy (the low voltage stranded wire I used is flexible and easy to pull around corners and through holes).

In addition, I've got a flexible strip of the LEDs under the shelves which are mounted to the wall above the desk, for a total of about 25W of lighting equivalent to about 50W worth of CFL bulbs. The light output is quite good already, but I'm considering adding another two fixtures; I've mounted the existing two relatively close to one of the walls, so the other half of the room tends to be a little dark.

The LED modules can be had for as little as $20 for a string of 20 of them, which makes them cheaper than pretty much any commercial solution, and since all of them run off the same transformer, losses are likely less as well. LEDs are usually rated at 50,000 hours, which is 5 years of continuous run time or over 30 years with our normal usage - which means that most likely, they'll last about as long as I will

I'm going to convert the rest of the house to similar solutions. The kitchen is next, where I've currently got three circular fluorescent fixtures - at 75W each, yikes!

12-26-12, 01:16 PM	#20
opiesche Helper EcoRenovator Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Rohnert Park, CA Posts: 99 Thanks: 4 Thanked 14 Times in 9 Posts	When I built my office (partition walls around a previously open second family room), I opted for LED lights, as no lighting was in the room prior to that. I used strings of LED modules (4 SMD LEDs of type 5050 per module, 10 modules per fixture, 2 fixtures). They consume around 7W per fixture according to the LED's specs, and output about 24 lumen per LED for a total of roughly 1000 lumen per fixture (or roundabout the same as a 15W CFL). The fixtures are simply strips of 1/8" plywood, painted white, with the modules mounted on them. I coated a strip of acrylic of the same size with frosted glass spray and bolted it with 1" distancers to the plywood, then screwed the whole thing to the ceiling. When I built the partition walls, I mounted a 48W LED driver to one of the studs and ran wiring from an existing outlet in another wall to it - the light switches now switch 12V directly, which made running the wiring for the lights really easy (the low voltage stranded wire I used is flexible and easy to pull around corners and through holes). In addition, I've got a flexible strip of the LEDs under the shelves which are mounted to the wall above the desk, for a total of about 25W of lighting equivalent to about 50W worth of CFL bulbs. The light output is quite good already, but I'm considering adding another two fixtures; I've mounted the existing two relatively close to one of the walls, so the other half of the room tends to be a little dark. The LED modules can be had for as little as $20 for a string of 20 of them, which makes them cheaper than pretty much any commercial solution, and since all of them run off the same transformer, losses are likely less as well. LEDs are usually rated at 50,000 hours, which is 5 years of continuous run time or over 30 years with our normal usage - which means that most likely, they'll last about as long as I will I'm going to convert the rest of the house to similar solutions. The kitchen is next, where I've currently got three circular fluorescent fixtures - at 75W each, yikes!