On Thursday, February 13, 2014 9:55:05 PM UTC-5, The Daring Dufas wrote:
On 2/13/2014 6:44 PM, wrote:

On Thu, 13 Feb 2014 17:32:02 -0600, The Daring Dufas

wrote:



On 2/13/2014 4:03 PM, wrote:

On Thu, 13 Feb 2014 15:03:17 -0600, 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

IF he wires it correctly he can use bell wire. But what he can

NOT do is wire 100 watts of LED on a single run of bell wire

because that requires almost 10 amps of current - on a wire that

is only rated for 2.3 amps for power transmission.



Forgive me for not remembering that others will not take into

consideration those things I do without thinking. Those little

panels with 48 SMD LED's draw very little current and like any

other electrical project I've ever done, I will figure in the

current draw of the project before I install anything. I haven't

measured the current draw of the little SMD LED light panels but

I'm sure it's not much at all.



TDD

One that I installed in my brother's RV was 3 watts. That's getting

awfully close to the limit on the bell wire. ANd PHONE wire is

generally 22 guage, not 18 - so NO. You cannot use bell wire to wire

a house for low voltage lighting...



Then use landscape lighting wire or 18-16AMW stranded low voltage alarm

or sound system cable.

Again, he can do whatever he pleases, but landscape lighting wire
is most likely not rated for use inside a building. What you
proposed he wire up is a Class 1 low voltage circuit and it's
covered under NEC.



An alternative is what I do when installing CCTV

cameras. I install a central 12vdc power supply and separate low voltage

cables to each camera. A multi terminal central power supply used for

CCTV cameras would be a good choice. It's not rocket surgery. GEEZ!



TDD

It's not rocket surgery, but that doesn't mean that there aren't
codes that are supposed to be followed. Why do it half-assed
instead of reading the code, using the right materials, and doing
it right? As an example to the practical problems you're left
with, if someday he goes to sell the house, an inspector seeing
phone wire used for low voltage lighting may flag it. Then he
has a problem that he could have easily avoided by doing it right.