In article ,
Tim Watts writes:
Lieutenant Scott wrote:
I've not seen the point in low voltage lighting
at all, all you're doing is adding the requirement for a transformer and
more wiring.

Good for certain installation zones which is why I have one (shower). I
would also use it for soffit lighting if I had any as that's the one other
place it's likely to get a good soaking.

I have built my own LED soffit lights, because:
a) the lamps would be difficult to change, requiring access to neighbours'
gardens to foot the ladder (as I did for fitting, but that's a one-off).
I'm running 3W LEDs at 2W on substantial heatsinks, so should get much
longer than the rated life (I'm not expecting to ever change them).
b) The small LED light source enabled me to use optics to direct the
light precisely along the path, without spilling/wasting it where it's
not wanted (e.g. into neighbour's windows).
c) Much cheaper than buying any of comperable quality, even if I could
find some which generated the right beam pattern.

If they ever got water into them, they would be destroyed - that
wasn't a reason I used LEDs.

I have also recently designed/built an outdoor LED lamp for someone
else's garden, which generates a very specific light pattern to light
up a path at night. The motivation for this was to avoid putting mains
wiring around the garden (it runs off 24V). The unit is a conventional
PIR lantern bought from B&Q, gutted and fitted with multiple LEDs and
optics to direct the beam, and internal copper mountings to conduct
the heat to the aluminium case and hold the LEDs at precisely the right
angles to generate the required light pattern. The location is right
next to a road junction, and another factor was to avoid any dazzle
outside the garden - the precise control of light which can be
achieved with small light source LEDs means the light source is
invisible from the road. A neighbour described it as ghostly, because
you can see a brightly lit path when it's on, but the quantity of light
required to do that doesn't seem to come from the lantern, which means
I'm not wasting the light dazzling peoples' eyes. It's working very
well, and I will shortly be designing another one for a different
location and lighting pattern.

Then there's various fluorescent fittings T4,T5,PLS,PLC,PLT, 2D 2pin, 2D
4pin, GX53

It's mad...

When designing fittings, I try to consider which ones are likely to
still be around in 10-20 years time. I like and have used 2D lamps
in a number of designs, but they don't meet the efficiency standards
required by the EU. However, it looks like manufacturers are now
addressing this with modifications to some of the 2D power ratings,
but other ratings will probably go away.

I try to avoid those ones. I don't want to be stuck with fluorescent.

I'm using a few 2D commercial fittings (simple, white, round, not too big)
for the kids bedrooms and the hall. The bedroom deployment is a separate
circuit to give a good strong daylight effect over a desk as both rooms are
north facing.

I figure an all white fitting with a white diffuser will tend to go
unnoticed against a white ceiling - I'll see how right I am - but I'm not
too bothered as this is a clear "function over form" scenario. Their "main"
lighting is chrome, dimmable, and SWMBO approved.


It's occured to me that for a few places I said I wanted downlighters with
LEDs for nightlighting or to sort out dark corners, I don't necessarily need
true downlighters. I actually don't really like them anyway - I've just got
programmed into defaulting to them because everyone else does.

Well I don't.
Downlighters do have their place, but when I see them being used to
provide general lighting, I just see "cheap and nasty", poor lighting
design, and no imagination.

--
Andrew Gabriel
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