- Thread starter william webster
- Start date
LED Bulbs
Not me Sun Man,
I act from desperation and necessity.
I am totally solar... planta backup.
Water from a well....
Off the grid is where I am.
My wife likes pool lights, (me too), tree lights (me too)....
Only possible if you keep a low wattage profile , as I'm sure you know.
Any trick that reduces my consumption is welcome.
We live a NoAmerican life, mostly... fridge, electric coffee maker etc.
My weater is impeller driven- a big user of my power.
The TV, DISH box and sound bar eat up power.... but are going nowhere !!!
I love it!! Music all day and night.
We have all said this before -
our stingy RD habits for water, power etc carry on back in the 1st world....
and why not? common sense.
I was challenged initially , on this thread but I knbew it was a hot spot for many of us.
Living here has challenges..... worthy challenges.
We learn to adapt .
I am happy to help any time I can
I act from desperation and necessity.
I am totally solar... planta backup.
Water from a well....
Off the grid is where I am.
My wife likes pool lights, (me too), tree lights (me too)....
Only possible if you keep a low wattage profile , as I'm sure you know.
Any trick that reduces my consumption is welcome.
We live a NoAmerican life, mostly... fridge, electric coffee maker etc.
My weater is impeller driven- a big user of my power.
The TV, DISH box and sound bar eat up power.... but are going nowhere !!!
I love it!! Music all day and night.
We have all said this before -
our stingy RD habits for water, power etc carry on back in the 1st world....
and why not? common sense.
I was challenged initially , on this thread but I knbew it was a hot spot for many of us.
Living here has challenges..... worthy challenges.
We learn to adapt .
I am happy to help any time I can
Did you see my question to you a few posts back? Perhaps you missed it.
How has your solar system faired over these last few weeks of overcast?
Just curious.
Must have missed that.
Sunless days call for the generator, gasoil...
Sanyo panels seem to perform well in partial sun.
Mine are the 190W panels... 15 of them*
Sunless days call for the generator, gasoil...
Sanyo panels seem to perform well in partial sun.
Mine are the 190W panels... 15 of them*
Similar to Mr. Webster, we are whole house solar with Generator backup and .... grid IF absolutely needed. 15 Suniva 325 watts and 8 older 125 watts. Two controllers. Our Outback inverter is 120/240 AC volts and programs which backup to use. We charge the batteries only with solar or Gen. if/when needed.
Sunny days we produce over 5. Kw. These very dark cloudy days we get around .8 Kw. Average household use is .7 NOT running pool or well pump. The pool is getting a little green so will need some sunny days... or run the generator and max charge batteries while running pool and well pump to fill cistern.
http://www.ecodirect.com/Suniva-OPT...Watt-Solar-Panel-p/suniva-opt325-72-4-100.htm
Ecodirect has a lot of choices at good prices and very easy to work with.
Sunny days we produce over 5. Kw. These very dark cloudy days we get around .8 Kw. Average household use is .7 NOT running pool or well pump. The pool is getting a little green so will need some sunny days... or run the generator and max charge batteries while running pool and well pump to fill cistern.
http://www.ecodirect.com/Suniva-OPT...Watt-Solar-Panel-p/suniva-opt325-72-4-100.htm
Ecodirect has a lot of choices at good prices and very easy to work with.
Yes, my pool too operates separately.
I had it disconnected from the main system.
It has its own panels and only runs on solar.
The ECOSERVE people in Sosua/Cabarete have energy efficient pool pumps.
I had it disconnected from the main system.
It has its own panels and only runs on solar.
The ECOSERVE people in Sosua/Cabarete have energy efficient pool pumps.
The soft white is called "Calida" and the other is called "Frio"
I have never been a fan of frio; my entire house is "Calida" bulbs.
A 30 watt bulb really lights things up.
Google and look for Led colors will bring up lots of info. Not all are the same but gives you a good idea for different desires and needs. I ordered 100 Watt outdoor flood bulbs that fit into my old fixtures. Brilliant white with 6K lumens while a warm white would be 3K lumens. I can not look directly at the one that I have now; it's on an automatic light controller and works fine. Indoors mostly 40W and 60W; incandescent equivalent, warm white and many on dimmers and work fine.
I also put in rain gutters, downspout leaf eaters and first flush systems to catch rain water. Plumped into my cistern and then pumped thru filters and UV for the whole house. This cut down on having to run the well pump and with our rain now... I'm glad that I put an overflow exit from the cistern. I have not had to run my well pump very much in the last few months so really helps conserve power.
I also put in rain gutters, downspout leaf eaters and first flush systems to catch rain water. Plumped into my cistern and then pumped thru filters and UV for the whole house. This cut down on having to run the well pump and with our rain now... I'm glad that I put an overflow exit from the cistern. I have not had to run my well pump very much in the last few months so really helps conserve power.
I've been getting them for $2 at LOWES and bringing them down each trip, but the inlaws snap up half of them. The fluorescent bulbs burn out fast and I hate the strobing. Thinking about getting 12v DC bulbs and putting them behind diffusers.
I had garden lights installed. Wife hated the brightness.
Bought a filter to soften the light color... cheap and easy.
It's a film that you lay over the garden light.
Only works for flat surfaces.
Bought a filter to soften the light color... cheap and easy.
It's a film that you lay over the garden light.
Only works for flat surfaces.
I've always had this theory in my head that if ever I went solar then I would rewire the house for a separate lighting circuit using DC straight from the batteries.
LEDs by virtue of their acronym are Light Emitting Diodes. *A diode is a device that uses DC power. *It allows passage of current in one direction and blocks it in another.
Household LED screw-in bulbs that run on 110v AC must have rectifiers (another bunch of diodes) inside them to make them work. *By virtue of converting AC into DC you lose around 40% efficiency. *The electrical term is called RMS (root mean square)
So although LED bulbs are very efficient, I reckon you could improve on that efficiency in the future. *Particularly with a solar system where you harvest DC power through the cells, store it in batteries then convert to AC via an inverter, which also causes losses.
LEDs by virtue of their acronym are Light Emitting Diodes. *A diode is a device that uses DC power. *It allows passage of current in one direction and blocks it in another.
Household LED screw-in bulbs that run on 110v AC must have rectifiers (another bunch of diodes) inside them to make them work. *By virtue of converting AC into DC you lose around 40% efficiency. *The electrical term is called RMS (root mean square)
So although LED bulbs are very efficient, I reckon you could improve on that efficiency in the future. *Particularly with a solar system where you harvest DC power through the cells, store it in batteries then convert to AC via an inverter, which also causes losses.
It is true that any power taken from system that uses a charger/battery/inverter system is using power that is about 70% efficient because of the losses in that process. Using DC could help that situation by about 10 (or maybe 20%) for low current applications where the voltage drops are not a problem. Works well in a boat for example where the runs are short, but not necessarily in an apartment complex. I will not be re-wiring my property any time soon to use DC wiring.
Beeza, I have not looked into the discussion you bring up about any other losses inside the bulbs themselves (i.e. the RMS issue).
Beeza, I have not looked into the discussion you bring up about any other losses inside the bulbs themselves (i.e. the RMS issue).
I reckon you could actually re-use the existing wiring for the lighting circuit. *You would need to adapt a DC distribution bus-bar and check polarity at each end. *That could be problematic working with Dominican household wiring. *However I think that the voltage losses in a standard dwelling would be negligible.
The challenge would be getting at actual lightbulbs and fittings. *But perhaps boat, vehicle or RV fittings might be the answer.
You could use the same wires but not to the same fixture using 120V vs 12 volt. The 120 V bulb will not work with 12 V feed and the 12 V will blow up. I've owned several boats in the past and thou systems and tech have changed, I think that it would be very expensive to find an system that would work.
Boats have more confined areas so 12-24-36 Volt bulbs appear to put out lots of light. In a home with larger rooms you may be disappointed. My boats had the same type of systems that a house has thou much older tech. 12V/36V and 120V with battery, transformers, inverters, generator and shore power. Got very complicated back then.
That said. The Outback solar controllers and inverters have a 12V connection for 1 item that can be programed for that 1 item. I use them for a 12 V exhaust fan and a 12 V light to tell me that I'm on inverter.
I disagree with Windy concerning the power loss. Most newer systems are much more efficient BUT the wire run from the panels to the controller/inverter will drop the solar output. Wire size and distance is a factor and wire in the D.R. is very expensive. Location distances should be considered.
DR Solar. I am talking about the scenario of using the grid to charge wet cell lead acid batteries. (No solar or wind power). In this type of system you are taking AC grid power to charge the batteries with DC power in the charging stage, and then taking taking DC from the batteries and converting it to AC. I have spoken to Xantrex and battery companies like Trojan and US battery and they agree that between 25 and 30 % of the power is lost in that process, roughly 10% when going from AC to DC, 10% lost in the batteries, and about 10 % lost going from DC to AC. Even in the most efficient of all inverter/chargers the total is likely not less than 20% of a loss.
Yes and no on how they last:
https://www.digitallumens.com/resources/blog-post/truth-about-led-lifetimes/
Now onto LEDs. When we talk about LED lifetime, we mean the period after which the LED light puts out only 70% of its original light. (Note: this is not total failure, just the point at which the system emits less light and a fundamental difference in the definition of ‘lifetime’ largely because LEDs are a fundamentally different illumination technology.) In technical parlance, this is the L70 rating and can range from 50,000 to 100,000 hours based on design and operating temperature. Even after that time period, the LED light will continue to operate for years; just not at 100% (light output).
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I have seen some LED bulbs described as not 100% duty factor. That is, they are not to be left on all the time or their life expectancy goes way down. That is likely because of the temperature factor shortening the life when left on for long periods of time.