On Thursday, February 13, 2014 4:03:17 PM UTC-5, The Daring Dufas wrote:
On 2/13/2014 1:25 PM, wrote:

On Thursday, February 13, 2014 10:55:12 AM UTC-5, The Daring Dufas

wrote:

On 2/11/2014 9:43 PM, JIMMIE wrote:



My house lighting is all LED total wattage with all on is less

than 100 watts. What I want to do is to be able to connect my

light circuits to the UPS during emergencies like this ice storm

that is coming up. Not worried about heat or the fridge, I have

gas heater backup and not enough in the fridge to worry about.

Are there approved ways of connecting in the UPS that does not

involve adding a transfer switch. I was thinking about doing this

with outlets and plugs so I could unplug the light circuit and

plug it into the UPS.



Jimmie



The easiest thing to do is to run a low voltage lighting system

using a 12vdc power system and battery charger. A relay to switch

on the 12 volt LED lights when the power fails is simple to

implement and with a proper low current fuse is quite safe. I

bought a little 48 LED light panel meant to replace an automobile

dome light from Amazon to play with and it and it puts out a

surprising amount of light. The LED panel measures 1-1/2" X 2-5/8"

and has double stick foam on the back so it can be mounted easily.

I imagine you can make your own panel using 4 to 6of them and light

up a room very well. I haven't measured the current draw on it but

I found it is quite bright off a 9 volt battery. Low voltage wire

such as telephone wire installed with a stapler could be used to

wire rooms for emergency light using the little modules. ^_^





I think you'll find that telephone wire is probably not rated for use

in a low voltage lighting system in a house. There is NEC that

applies to those types of installations too.



Jesus H Christopher! It's a DIY project not wiring the Smithsonian!

Telephone system cable caries 48vdc talk battery and 90vac ringing

voltage. It's not high current and neither is the power required by the

12vdc LED modules. The OP could use thermostat wire which is rated for

up to 300 volts. He can install his low voltage lighting, measure the

current draw then install a proper fuse to protect the wiring which will

prevent the magic smoke from escaping. o_O



TDD

I didn't say he couldn't do it. I just said that NEC applies to
low voltage circuits run within a house too, and that I have doubts
that using telephone wire to power lights will meet code. Whether it's
DIY or done by an electrician code still applies. If he wants to
ignore that, he's free to do so.