Post #411731 by Mai Tai on Sun, Oct 5, 2008 2:33 AM

I think he means a low voltage system as in a 12 volt DC system that incorporates a transformer to convert the 110V AC house current into a 12 V DC current. The nice thing about a system like that is that you can run a bunch of lights off of one piece of zip cord, as long as the sum of the wattage of the bulbs doesn't exceed the total wattage output of the transformer. So if you use a 50 watt transformer, you could run ten 5watt bulbs off of it no problem. And you can splice into the zip cord, and handle the bare wire ends without fear of electrocution, due to the low amount of voltage in the line.

I have been experimenting with this type of low voltage system for the lights in the tiki bar area here in Casa de Mai Tai. I have illuminted three fish floats off of one line, using 5 watt bulbs for each fixture. The problem I have encountered is, the 5 watt low voltage bulbs are much brighter than the regular 110V C7 type 5 watt bulbs - too bright for ambient lighting purposes for a tiki bar. And I haven't seen any low voltage system bulbs smaller than 5 watts, although I have heard that there are 2.5 watt bulbs for a 12 V low wattage system out there, but I haven't been able to find any yet. So if you go with the 5 watt bulbs some type of dimmer control needs to be used as well.

I haven't experimented with a dimmer control yet, and I also want to monkey around with L.E.D.'s, since they use so little current, last for a long long time, and have many different color options. I'm also looking into building my own custom low voltage flicker circuit controller, to make the lights all pulse and flicker independently and randomly like they were all candle-lit. But to be honest, I have more important things to do right now, so these projects are going to be on the back burner until spring or so. If I manage to get this lighting project done before then, I'll be sure to post details and pictures.