JASinIL2006
Vice Admiral
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2012
- Messages
- 5,725
We have a cabin that is off the grid and has no electrical service. We currently run everything (fridge, stove, lights) off propane, but propane lamps aren't all that bright and when several are lit in the summertime, they add to the heat in the cabin.
I am thinking about starting to install some 12v LED lights on a trial basis to supplement or replace the propane lanterns. I've found a number of RV fixtures that seem like they'd do the trick (they seem to be designed to handle voltages that aren't perfectly stable), but other than a few light fixtures I haven't picked up any supplies. Initially, I plan to install about six lights: three "reading lights" that put out 190 lumens each and draw 3.12 watts per lamp, and three 'dome' lights that draw 6.8 watts per fixture and put out 410 lumens each. If we like how these work, we'd likely add a number of additional fixtures in the future.
I do have a single group 27 deep cycle battery that I'm planning to use (at least initially), but that's it. Eventually, I hope to add a solar cell and controller to charge the battery (or batteries) all the time, but for now I'll be recharging the battery manually as needed.
I'm not entirely sure how to figure out how long I can expect to run these lights off the battery before it will need to be recharged, and I'm not sure what size wire is needed between the battery and lights (most likely, the battery will be about 30' from the lights). Although we'd never have all the lights on at the same time, we'd probably run lights the equivalent of 2-3 hours a night.
Any ideas of what sort of wiring I should be using and how much battery life I can expect? Any websites you know of that have good instructions for setting up this sort of thing (especially when it comes time to add the solar power part)?
Thanks,
Jim
I am thinking about starting to install some 12v LED lights on a trial basis to supplement or replace the propane lanterns. I've found a number of RV fixtures that seem like they'd do the trick (they seem to be designed to handle voltages that aren't perfectly stable), but other than a few light fixtures I haven't picked up any supplies. Initially, I plan to install about six lights: three "reading lights" that put out 190 lumens each and draw 3.12 watts per lamp, and three 'dome' lights that draw 6.8 watts per fixture and put out 410 lumens each. If we like how these work, we'd likely add a number of additional fixtures in the future.
I do have a single group 27 deep cycle battery that I'm planning to use (at least initially), but that's it. Eventually, I hope to add a solar cell and controller to charge the battery (or batteries) all the time, but for now I'll be recharging the battery manually as needed.
I'm not entirely sure how to figure out how long I can expect to run these lights off the battery before it will need to be recharged, and I'm not sure what size wire is needed between the battery and lights (most likely, the battery will be about 30' from the lights). Although we'd never have all the lights on at the same time, we'd probably run lights the equivalent of 2-3 hours a night.
Any ideas of what sort of wiring I should be using and how much battery life I can expect? Any websites you know of that have good instructions for setting up this sort of thing (especially when it comes time to add the solar power part)?
Thanks,
Jim
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