1. Since everything I use that is low voltage has a transformer which puts out heat contimnually am I really saving any electricity or I am just making it safer?
2. If I install an IKEA low voltage double wire overhead type system can I then replace those lights with LED’s or would I have to have a different transformer?
I feel llke I should know the answers but electricity has suddenly become rocket sicience.-LOL
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Replies
Low voltage doesn't inherently mean more efficiency and less heat output -- in fact the opposite is very likely. But a low-voltage magnetic transformer produces relatively little heat (and associated inefficiency) compared to the wattage that flows through it. And the new electronic transformers are generally even more efficient. The low-voltage configuration mainly allows for safer operation and smaller fixtures.
Whether you can replace one technology of lights with another (without changing out the transformer) depends mostly on the voltage. Most low-voltage incandescent lighting systems are, I believe, 12V, with some probably running 24-36 and maybe a few running 5-6V. Bare LEDs only need about a volt (DC) to operate, but the LED fixtures no doubt include some sort of voltage regulator that would allow them to operate from higher voltage (and AC). Hard to say if they'd be compatible or not.
Led's need regulated power
Led's need fairly closely regulated power. There is a suprisinging small voltage difference between a barely glowing led and an led fried out of existance. For this reason, most led lighting is sold as package that contains its own electronics. It basically comes down to a question if there is an led replacement for the type of bulb your fixtures need. Led's are in their infancy for practical lighting. For the most part, they are going to come to the basic medium Edison base, 120V AC first as there are billions of those sockets to fill. Other bulb types and voltages are in much more limited usage, and thus will be supported later, if ever.
The low voltage lighting may well make up for the losses in efficiency of the transformers by increased efficiency of the bulbs. Because they operate at a lower voltage and thus higher current, they can make the bulb with a shorter, heavier gauge filament which can operate at higher tempertures which is more efficient and gives a whiter light. If they tried to make the 120V bulbs run that hot, the filament would be too thin, and the bulbs would have a very short lifetime.
You can see the effect of the low voltage vs line voltage with the halogen puck lights used for undercabinet lighting. They come in both forms and look identical except that one does not have a transformer. When they are plugged in, it is like night and day. The low voltage lights are much brighter and have a much whiter light even though they are the same wattage. The manufactures conveniently do not mark the 120V product as "less light, yellower light than 12V lights", however.
>>> Because they operate at a
>>> Because they operate at a lower voltage and thus higher current, they can make the bulb with a shorter, heavier gauge filament which can operate at higher tempertures which is more efficient and gives a whiter light.
BTW... thanks for that explanation. I always wondered why the 12V ones looked sooooooo much better than the 120V ones.