12v LED lighting?

[Smeeg]

Have an off grid hunting cabin just got the ok to build a 12v 2,500wh system. There’s currently no wiring whats my best bet for 12v LED lights or would usb 5v lights work?
I’d like there to be a built in switch so I can just run home run wires from the light fixture to the fuse block. Probably going to be 7-10 light fixtures depending on size
There’s 5x rooms

 

[chrisski]

I run these lights to a 12 volt fuse box like you have in a car. Can’t remember the fuse size, probably 5 amps.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07RGQMSMP?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

Each light in my setup has its own fuse.

The main fuse block has a 50 amp fuse before the battery.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001P6FTHC?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

There’s lots of ways to do this. I wish there were more options for 12 volt or 24 volt lights that look like you’d get in a house, but most look like the ones I posted.

 

[Rmart30]

While I have 120v led lighting at my off grid cabin I also have these lights linked below .
They have their own panel/battery and it keeps the draw off my regular battery bank and they work quite well.
Comes with their own remote control so dont have to wire in any switches.

Amazon.com

 

[FishHog]

In my off grid cabin with a 12v system I wired using standard 120v light switches and bulb fixtures. 12v led lights. Been working great for 10 years. I did put pull cord bulb fixtures in so you can control what bulbs you want on as I don’t always want all the lights on

 

[dopeassjackson]

I would wire it like your going to use 120v bulbs so when you find out 12v stuff is limited and expensive you can just put an inverter in.

 

[Sweet Tatorman]

I agree with the above comments to wire it as if 120 Vac and use it at 12 Vdc as you wish. It will probably be a bit of a challenge to find really high efficiency screw in LED bulbs. The cheap chinesium stuff that I have seen is pretty bad though I have not looked at any of what is available in the past 5 years or so. I ended up making my own with the best available LEDs as my personal lab is set up to do surface mount stuff if not very complex.

 

[FishHog]

I bought 12v led edison bulbs from eBay 10 years ago as there was very little selection at the time. Bought a couple spares. I’ve yet to replace one
If 12v is all you need 12v is a good affordable option. I turn on an inverter for a couple hours a day to charge my laptop but every thing else is 12v. Don’t regret it a bit
I could even get a 12v laptop charger but haven’t bothered

 

[Delmar]

For readily available LED lighting IKEA has a good selection of attractive and affordable 12V and 24V lights.

For 12V you will have to go instore and look for the wall warts. The language-free manuals make it tough to determine. Cutoff the wall wart and wire to the battery. The pictures below are the discontinued DIODER set in my office.

 

[Smeeg]

Mods delete

 

[Smeeg]

I agree with the above comments to wire it as if 120 Vac and use it at 12 Vdc as you wish. It will probably be a bit of a challenge to find really high efficiency screw in LED bulbs. The cheap chinesium stuff that I have seen is pretty bad though I have not looked at any of what is available in the past 5 years or so. I ended up making my own with the best available LEDs as my personal lab is set up to do surface mount stuff if not very complex.

These look pretty good from the reviews .27amps at 12volts per bulb

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08X7DWL3H?ref=cm_sw_r_cso_cp_apan_dp_4K3S3XZMYMYXNTW59EY8&ref_=cm_sw_r_cso_cp_apan_dp_4K3S3XZMYMYXNTW59EY8&social_share=cm_sw_r_cso_cp_apan_dp_4K3S3XZMYMYXNTW59EY8&starsLeft=1

 

[Smeeg]

In my off grid cabin with a 12v system I wired using standard 120v light switches and bulb fixtures. 12v led lights. Been working great for 10 years. I did put pull cord bulb fixtures in so you can control what bulbs you want on as I don’t always want all the lights on

Don’t you need DC rated switches?

Amazon.com

 

[FishHog]

Don’t you need DC rated switches?

Amazon.com

Well they tell you that and I’m sure they have upsides but all mine are standard household switches and have had any issues in 10 years now. I can’t even imagine how many times the bathroom switch has been on/off in those years

 

[Smeeg]

Well they tell you that and I’m sure they have upsides but all mine are standard household switches and have had any issues in 10 years now. I can’t even imagine how many times the bathroom switch has been on/off in those years

Ok so it doesn’t pose a safety issue just a durability issue? Allegedly

 

[FishHog]

That was what my research at the time said. I’ve yet to have a durability issue though.

 

[Everyone]

I got these for a project I'm working on... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09N34GJ1S?th=1

Only have one hooked up at the moment, but it's VERY bright.

 

[BerndL]

I got these for a project I'm working on... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09N34GJ1S?th=1

Only have one hooked up at the moment, but it's VERY bright.

That's interesting, 12-85V input, so it's using a buck converter of some kind? I really wonder how that works, if it's just using a constant voltage source? Is there a readable label on that chip at the socket end?

If there's 120 LEDs on the strip, I wonder what voltage it's operating at.

 

[Airman68]

In my off grid cabin with a 12v system I wired using standard 120v light switches and bulb fixtures. 12v led lights. Been working great for 10 years. I did put pull cord bulb fixtures in so you can control what bulbs you want on as I don’t always want all the lights on

I was planning on doing at least all my lighting in my new cabin 12v and wiring it as if it were 110, so someday if I wanted, it would be easy to convert it. I can reduce the size of my inverter drastically. I'm assuming the 12v bulbs have a polarity. I have yet to find out what that is. Are you running the "+" to the black or white?

 

[chrisski]

I was planning on doing at least all my lighting in my new cabin 12v and wiring it as if it were 110, so someday if I wanted, it would be easy to convert it. I can reduce the size of my inverter drastically. I'm assuming the 12v bulbs have a polarity. I have yet to find out what that is. Are you running the "+" to the black or white?

There's a small selection of reverse polarity DC bulbs available.

When the older cars were assembled, little attention was paid to how incandescent bulbs were wired since it did not matter.

If you do run into an issue of polarity and you can not reverse the DC wiring for some reason, an LED bulb may be available for that.