240v light fitting to 12v power supply

Gwilliamb

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Aug 15, 2017
Messages
2
Hello everyone,
I'm a novice needing some advice. I am trying to find nice 12 or 24v LED fittings here in Australia for outdoor/exterior use. My problem is that there are none I like in 12/24v but plenty of fittings in 240v. My question is, can I use 240v light fitting if I use a LED driver and LED globes? And secondly, what is the difference between 12v and 24v systems and their advantages/disadvantages? I've looked at various forums but have not been able to find a solution.
Thanks,
Glenn
 

broadgage

Enlightened
Joined
Nov 23, 2007
Messages
445
Location
Somerset UK
Yes you can use a standard 240 volt light fitting on a lower voltage, look upon "240 volts" as a maximum and not as a required voltage.
LED lamps for 12 volts or 24 volts are readily available from UK fleabay and presumably elsewhere, these have standard bases and look just like line voltage lamps. Some types are multi voltage and work on any voltage from 10 volts up to 30 volts.

12 or 24 volts may be used, 24 volts is probably preferable for long circuits as voltage drop is less of a problem. Suitable 24 volt DC power supply units are widely available, in the interests of reliability I would select a power supply with a rating at least 150% of the total lamp wattage. For example 6 lamps each of 5 watts is clearly a total of 30 watts, but I would select a power supply of about 50 watts.
 
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