New loop in system - adding low volt spots

[Pshooter]

i'm completely new to spots (ceiling rose all the way in the past for me) so i'm not sure of the difference between elv and lv.. the closest i've come is changing a couple transformers round my sisters house

i'm after the most energy efficient but equally practicle ones i can get, so low voltage of some sort.

the last thing i want to do is put a bunch in that are going to constantly go wrong in one way or another or make any loud buzzing noises... i've been advised to use aurora transformers, i've yet to decide on the lights themselves as we're not too sure what the final decor will be like.

we're looking to do so much work that it'll be table lamps for months before get to that stage.

 

[Spark123]

LV or low voltage spots are mostly 230v
ELV or extra low voltage are often 12v, can be Separated Extra Low Voltage SELV which is required in some special locations.
A 50w SELV uses the same amount of power as a 50w LV. (In reality the SELV one will make the meter tick more owing to losses in the transformer).
If you are after low energy then look at the compact fluorescent ones.

 

[Pshooter]

thanks for that.. i'll have a looksy into the fluorescent down lights now - i never even knew such a thing existed! - at a glance they look just as neat, i'll see if i can get some feedback on usage costs and light quality

thanks again

 

[ban-all-sheds]

i'm completely new to spots (ceiling rose all the way in the past for me) so i'm not sure of the difference between elv and lv.. the closest i've come is changing a couple transformers round my sisters house

The IEC definitions of voltage bands are:

• Extra Low Voltage: AC below 50V and DC below 120V
• Low Voltage: 50 - 1000V AC or 120 - 1500V DC
• Medium voltage: 1kV - 35kV
• High voltage: 35kV - 230kV
• Extra-high voltage: >230kV

This is not some pedantic technical point - if you start getting involved in doing your own electrical work, and start learning about regulations etc you'll come across references to "Low voltage", and it'll be no good you thinking that that means 12V...

i'm after the most energy efficient but equally practicle ones i can get, so low voltage of some sort.

No small halogen spots & downlighters, whether LV or ELV, are efficient in terms of usefully lighting a room.

we're looking to do so much work that it'll be table lamps for months before get to that stage.

It's becoming popular (again) to have lighting circuits with 5A sockets at low level to plug in table lamps and floorstanding ones, controlled by light switches/dimmers on the walls.

 

[Pshooter]

thanks for the voltage specs! very useful

i love the idea of running some standered lamps off of dimmer/wall switched... very simple but something i hadn't thought about!