Quote:
Originally Posted by aerohead
Low voltage would require a larger conductor and waste of copper,so as not to suffer voltage drop over distance.The current solid-state power supply which drops and rectifies the AC,to low-voltage DC is probably already optimized.
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I kinda doubt it's "optimized" considering the low cost of each bulb, and the fact that each and every bulb requires that electronics to be installed to work. Then again, "optimized" is a subjective term. There is waste every time an LED bulb dies because the optimized (cheap) electronics get tossed along with it.
My suggestion for low voltage is for safety and ease of installation by homeowners. With LEDs, you can get tremendous lighting for 100W of power. My 17.5W bulbs output 1600 lumens. At 48v, a 20 AWG wire could supply 10A, or 480W of lighting. Sure, we could keep it at 120v or more and use something like 28 AWG, but that's getting mighty thin and you risk breaking it while pulling.
My other suggestion is to switch to 240v AC as the standard, then all household wiring sizes could be cut in half.