Kitchen LED Strip Lighting

[nickjb]

What you have found online is correct. It is under 700W so a 3A fuse.

16A is the output at 12v. Fuse in the plug is on the input at 240v. It'll draw about an amp at 240v so a 3A fuse will be fine.

That said, I would agree with Simon. If you have separate strings of lights I would put smaller power supplies in for each and switch the mains for each one

 

[JohnW2]

I would question the need for 188W of under cabinet lighting, I think we have about 6W and its plenty.

Indeed. Even though the OP has said that it is a lot more than just under-cabinet lighting, 188W of LEDs sounds an awful lot for one room - let's face it, 188W of incandescent lighting might well be more than enough!

It's not the first time that I have recently seen suggestions about using seemingly ludicrous amounts of LED lighting - which, if nothing else, rather negates the energy-saving benefits that should come from using LEDs. Am I missing something?

Kind Regards, John

 

[Simon35]

If i buy this 200w version: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/30W-60W-1...t=LH_DefaultDomain_3&var=&hash=item339301717b

What size fuse do i need to use in the plug?

total watts will be 180w.

I have found this online but not sure if this is correct as the unit says "16.6A / 200W":

These fuses are available in 3amp, 5amp and 13amp ratings.
Use a 3amp fuse in plugs attached to appliances up to 700 Watts
Use a 5amp fuse in plugs attached to appliances from 700 to 1200 Watts
Use a 13amp fuse in plugs attached to appliances from 1200 to 3000 Watts

thanks

I have a feeling that such PSU's don't like switches on the output side, I might be talking rubbish, but I'm sure I've read such a thing on this forum??

So if you are still planning to switch different bits of ligting on and off, might be worth checking out.

 

[bernardgreen]

It is almost certain that the output from the Stontronics power supplies can be switched without any problems. So the power supply could be left ON at the mains switch and the 12 volt output fed to the LED strips via 3 switches.
They can be left with the mains supply ON without any load for any length of time.

It is unlikely the same 12 volt switching can be done with the low cost E-bay sourced items as many of these will have a minimum load. With out that minimum load their output can become unstable / uncontrolled and exceed 12 volts. If that happens when a LED strip is switched on ( by a switch in the 12 volt supply ) then the LED strip could be over volted and damaged.

 

[JohnW2]

It is almost certain that the output from the Stontronics power supplies can be switched without any problems. So the power supply could be left ON at the mains switch and the 12 volt output fed to the LED strips via 3 switches. They can be left with the mains supply ON without any load for any length of time.

That may well all be true, but do you believe that, in this application, it is a desirable practice to have the PSU powered 24/7 when output (just for lights) is probably only needed for a few hours per day, at the most? Apart from anything else (such as considerations of the longevity of the unit), the PSU presumably consumes at least some energy in the zero-output state, which is a 'waste'.

Kind Regards, John

 

[jamieweb]

Thanks nickjb. The only reason which is putting me off using seperate power supplies is that I already have this fused switch on the wall of my kitchen (near the plugs) that is used for the current cabinet lighting. And to keep things tidy I wanted to simply switch that to turn on and off.....not having to go inside cupboards and turn 3 individual plugs on....

JohnW2 - If it seems too bright i could always opt for the 150 LEDS per Meter which draw about 7w per meter, rather than 300 per m at 14.4w.
However the kitchen is quite big - 24 square meters so hopefully it won't look too bad

Thanks Simon, I'll have a look into it. Not sure if I'm 100% going to want switches for each strip...see how it looks and I'll decide.

Thanks bernardgreen, so basically, if the PSU's minimum load is 0% then i will be fine if i decide to have individual strip switches.

thank all.

 

[JohnW2]

Thanks nickjb. The only reason which is putting me off using seperate power supplies is that I already have this fused switch on the wall of my kitchen (near the plugs) that is used for the current cabinet lighting. And to keep things tidy I wanted to simply switch that to turn on and off.....not having to go inside cupboards and turn 3 individual plugs on....

There's no reason why that one FCU could not switch the power to three separate power supplies - although that, of course, would not, in itself, give you separate control of the three sets of LEDs.

JohnW2 - If it seems too bright i could always opt for the 150 LEDS per Meter which draw about 7w per meter, rather than 300 per m at 14.4w. However the kitchen is quite big - 24 square meters so hopefully it won't look too bad

As I said, I'm just confused by the very large amounts of LED lighting I've been seeing mentioned recently. My living room is about 45m², and the primary lighting is with just 32W of LED lighting. Perfectly adequate for a living room, although probably not as bright as one would want in a kitchen, but 32W is an awful lot less than 188W (or even 91W, if you used 150 LEDs/m)!

Thanks bernardgreen, so basically, if the PSU's minimum load is 0% then i will be fine if i decide to have individual strip switches.

Yes, probably - but see my comments to bernard. I'm personally not that keen on leaving power supplies unnecessarily 'powered-up' for 24/7.

Kind Regards, John

 

[bernardgreen]

Some strips can be dimmed by reducing the 12 volt supply by a volt or two.

These are strips that have 3 or 4 LED elements connected in series with a current limiting resistor. This arrangement of LED elements and resistor is repeated along the strip with the ends connected to the supply lines ( 0 and 12 volt ) that run the length of the strip. If the strip is sold as being able to be cut into short lengths at fixed points then it is likely to have this arrangement.

Some strips use a constant current chip instead a resistor. These cannot be dimmed but can accept a wider range of supply voltage.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

If it seems too bright i could always opt for the 150 LEDS per Meter which draw about 7w per meter, rather than 300 per m at 14.4w..

Too late now, I guess, but my advice would have been, right from the start, to go with a dimmable RGB LED strip.

 

[jamieweb]

Hi,
the strips can be cut every 3 LEDS and can be dimmed so that might be an option.

Yes, the only thing with RGB (i have some already that have a standard power supply as only 5meters) is that you cannot get a true white colour because it uses all 3 colours on at the same time. And when they are shining on a glossy floor you can see the Red Green and Blue colours reflecting....which looks a bit odd.

thanks again.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

It's not the first time that I have recently seen suggestions about using seemingly ludicrous amounts of LED lighting - which, if nothing else, rather negates the energy-saving benefits that should come from using LEDs. Am I missing something?

Possibly the format of the lights makes them not much good at lighting up rooms?

But I need to think more about my current idea for lighting a 15.6m² kitchen, which would have a 1m x 2m roof lantern in it. I was considering LED panels around the perimeter, giving a little over 2m² of lighting - that might turn out to be a ludicrous amount of watts & lumens....

 

[JohnW2]

It's not the first time that I have recently seen suggestions about using seemingly ludicrous amounts of LED lighting - which, if nothing else, rather negates the energy-saving benefits that should come from using LEDs. Am I missing something?

Possibly the format of the lights makes them not much good at lighting up rooms?

Possibly - but, on the face of it, some of the arrangements we hear about should be producing an awful lot of lumens. Where are they all going, and what are they doing, if not lighting up the room?

As I've said, the thing I've noticed is that we've been hearing about rooms lighted by LEDs with a total wattage in the same ballpark as would be the case with incandescent lighting - which just doesn't seem to make sense.

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Where are they all going, and what are they doing, if not lighting up the room?

Brightly illuminating very small areas of not-very-reflective surfaces?

 

[JohnW2]

Where are they all going, and what are they doing, if not lighting up the room?

Brightly illuminating very small areas of not-very-reflective surfaces?

Heating them up, you mean? It still seems all very odd to me - and, as I've said, makes a nonsense of using LEDs for 'energy-saving' reasons.

Kind Regards, John

 

[jamieweb]

I'm not using LED's for the energy saving part (as you can see ). I'm using them because they last longer, they are easier to manipulate around plinths, cupboards etc and to me they give off a much better type of light which looks contemporary which you can;t always achieve with incandescent.

I have 8 dimmable GU10 ceiling spotlights in my kitchen but ideally with the day white LED's I shouldn't have to have them on....especially at the same time.

We'll see...