LED cabinet lighting

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Southern Man

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I'm redoing a kitchen and want to use LED lighting under the cabinets for energy efficiency and heat reduction, and I found two types.

1. Bluish color lights.
2. High intensity type, Available at Slowes for $50 as three pucks (1 watt each) strung together with a 34V transformer.

Type 1 is too dim for me so I'm looking at type 2, and temporarily installed a set to see how the wife likes them, and she does. Some issues with these:

1. Is the 34V still considered low voltage?
2. The units create a problem with my AM radio.
3. The pucks get pretty hot so I'm not sure how energy efficient they actually are. The package doesn't say how many watts the units actually use. the transformer is labeled output: 350mamps constant current 35VDC.
 

Jadnashua

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Power=current*voltage
12.25=0.35*35

They make 20W soldering irons. Now, depending on what you are soldering, it might take awhile to heat up the joint. One used for plumbing would need to be significantly larger...still a small one can start a fire.
 

Southern Man

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Power=current*voltage
12.25=0.35*35

They make 20W soldering irons. Now, depending on what you are soldering, it might take awhile to heat up the joint. One used for plumbing would need to be significantly larger...still a small one can start a fire.

OK that's the maximum output of the transformer- thanks and duh! for me. There is another note on the label that it will run up to 8 pucks, so the wattage for three is only 3/8*0.35*35 = 4.6 watts. It beats the alternatives.
 

edlentz

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I was considering the hockey pucks until I found a 20" LED strip that directly plugs into 110vac. They give lots of light and were about $20 per light. Got them at *******.
 

Southern Man

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I was considering the hockey pucks until I found a 20" LED strip that directly plugs into 110vac. They give lots of light and were about $20 per light. Got them at *******.
What color is the light? The only ones that I saw like that were the bluish, lots of LEDs, but fairly dim. And I searched the Big 3 plus on the web.
 

edlentz

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The light is a bright white. I forget the name of them. I'm at the office now but when I get home tonight I will get you the name and the site where you can get an idea what they look like

Ed
 

Southern Man

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The light is a bright white. I forget the name of them. I'm at the office now but when I get home tonight I will get you the name and the site where you can get an idea what they look like

Ed
Let me know if they affect your am radio reception. I have to turn mine off when I listen to Rush. :(
 

edlentz

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I got them at ******* . It is a big box like HD or Lowes. At least around here. It is kinda puzzling that that website talks about providing the cuatomer with the best but there isn't even a list of places to buy them. It looks like ******* is in the Midwest. Interesting the company name gets blanked out when I post. Here is their website http://www.m e n a r d s.com/storeLocator.do
 
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Southern Man

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Thanks there's none near me and they don't list it on line but I'll call them to see if I can order. I googled the manufacturer and came up with zero. I've been looking for a decent LED for weeks now.
 

hj

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If you were in Lowes site, and you wanted to tell someone where to get an item, do you think Lowes would let you tell them that Home Depot is the place to get them? I am sure they would also block out references to competitors.
 

edlentz

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HI HJ

I get your point and I agree. What I was referring to was when I typed in M e n a r d s in the messafe I was posting here when I saved it all that showed up was *******. When you typed Lowes and Home Depot that didn't happen. I thought that might be a way for the system here to keep people from using store names.
 

Southern Man

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HI HJ

I get your point and I agree. What I was referring to was when I typed in M e n a r d s in the messafe I was posting here when I saved it all that showed up was *******. When you typed Lowes and Home Depot that didn't happen. I thought that might be a way for the system here to keep people from using store names.
They don't sell them on line. Could you do me a favor, if you have an am radio, turn it on next to your light and see if it affects the radio reception? Before I call them and try and convince someone to take six off a shelf and mail them to me I need to know if I'm going to run into the same problem.
 

edlentz

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Sorry I didn't post last night. I fired up the old AM radio and literally put the LED strip on it. Besides the normal hiss of AM it was quiet as a church. I did heap a pop when I first turned on the light. I tuned through the band and was quiet all the way through. So probably, will work out for ya then.
 

Alternety

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I suspect that long of a string is using the full 120V and has no electronics to change things (except maybe a diode). There is no active electronics and they should never cause radio interference.

The lights with fewer LEDs require the voltage to be reduced. If there is a transformer, this can be a simple diode pair and should not cause interference.

The third case is the one that can cause interference. This unit will have an active switching power supply to generate the appropriate voltage. The switcher can radiate. If the "transformer" in case 2 is real small and very light, it may actually be a switching power supply. New energy regs are making these more common.
 

Jadnashua

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LED's only run on a couple of volts, so unless you string them in series, you need some sort of supply or regulator. If you have enough lights, the drop across each can be low enough to avoid extra electronics, but then if one dies, the whole thing may go out...in the same idea as older Christmas tree light strings. If the power requirement isn't high, a switching power supply transformer can be quite small, so it could have one and you'd never know it.
 
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