Anyone familiar with installing LED ceiling panels? I'd like to put about 10 into my workshop. It already has the standard 600x600mm suspended ceiling and two fluorescent tube lamps (with nasty light quality and poor spread). Multiple LED panels will make the light coverage more even and can be placed for particular tasks. No brainer...
I got a quote from an electrician: £900 and so busy he can't do it for 2 months. There's only about £300 of parts, and the connections are already in place (the 240V supply to the fluorescents and the switch). So why not DIY? It's trivially easy to remove the existing tiles and insert the LED panels, and all/most of them come with the driver as part of the package.
The one thing I can't check is the way in which these are designed for parallel wiring - none of the datasheets show the driver's wiring hookup. I'm hoping they have the most useful arrangement - something like double terminals for each of L/N/E so that they can be 'daisy-chained'.
Anyone know? Other SNAFUs I haven't thought of?
Comments
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
https://www.ledbulbs.co.uk/products/robus-atmos38w-led-panel-600x600mm-cool-white-ip20-ram40406060-01
As you can see, there's no wiring diagram shown - possibly because it is so trivial. I am just hoping to get an idea of the practicalities of the parallel wiring. For example, at 1:42 in this video, you can see the type of arrangement I am hoping for:
There's a pair of screw terminals for both L and N, making daisy chaining really easy.
If I did 10 x 40W, that's less than 2A, so the cabling is light enough. I'll double check the MCB in the consumer unit - might I have to lower its rating?
I'll also check out the light output figures and area. The nature of this space is that most of it has a lot of racking to within about 50cm of the ceiling, so lots of shadows will be cast. The ideal layout is a pair of panels for each aisle. That and a pair for the workbench and another one for the doorway.
LED produces roughly ten times the light output of a filament bulb and at least double that of a fluorescent tube for the same power consumption... so that would be like 4kW of filament lighting or 800W of fluorescent.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Earth the grid ..interesting...unless you want to introduce a potential hazard....."A metal ceiling grid is generally neither an exposed-conductive-part; nor an extraneous-conductive-part. Therefore will NOT require earthing or bonding."
Note - 40W led panels are bright ...we would generally replace 10 x 4 lamps mods with 6 Led panels,...but it does depend on ceiling height.
2nd note - looping the supply to all the fittings is no issue, if you want it easy use the Hager push connect Junction boxes.
3rd note - Led drivers start up current is circa 10 time the running current, you styanda5ad house wiring will be fine with this as its a nano second , however your protective device may be a 6A type 1 or 2....this might not like the start up current....please confirm the fuse / mcb type for the lighting circuit?
https://www.studiowear.co.uk/ -
https://twitter.com/spark240
Facebook - m.me/studiowear.co.uk
Reddit r/newmusicreview
That Hager Klik system looks superb, but probably a bit over-engineered for my needs? Certainly after adding the Marshalling Box and the proprietary cables, the costs will mount up. For now, Plan A is that the ceiling panels have the necessary terminals for daisy-chaining. If not, Plan B is to use the Wago 222 or 221 if the panel driver has just a single input for mains supply.
https://www.wago.com/gb/electrical-interconnections/splicing-connectors-221
I like the idea that the Wago pressure fit is consistent (cf using a screw terminal), and it looks speedy to fit which means less time with my head stuck in the ceiling void (dust, spiders, etc).
@spark240 - I will check the distribution board to see exactly what sort of protection fitted.
I will also buy a single panel now and check its light output in one of the aisles between the racking. If your suspicions are right about the light output, I will reduce the number of panels to about 6. Big saving on outlay and almost 50% off running costs.
With that much light, you might find a police helicopter overhead and a knock on the door from the D.S.
https://www.studiowear.co.uk/ -
https://twitter.com/spark240
Facebook - m.me/studiowear.co.uk
Reddit r/newmusicreview
I don't have any obstructions throwing shadows, but they really are bright, and don't seem as directional as most other light sources.
On this calculator...
https://www.vonn.com/blog/determine-many-led-lumens-youll-need-properly-light-space/
... it looks like 400W for about 50m^2 is equivalent to 'Hospital' level lighting. It suggests that 'Warehouse' levels would be possible from just 3 panels. But - as explained above - the layout and use of tall racking means that 3 panels would give poor coverage with many dark areas. So perhaps 6 is a middle ground? It would be easy to add more, if necessary.
Also, just discovered the Wago 224 2+1 connector is pretty much perfect for the Plan B hook up: push-fit on the solid connectors and sprung clip for the stranded wires to the panel drivers:
(Video shows a wall lighting application, identical to my ceiling panels.)
What's really shocking in some ways is that LED is *still* only about 20% efficient in terms of electrical input to light power output, which means filament bulbs are essentially room heaters producing about 2% of light as an insignificant byproduct...
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
One thing that I've noticed with these 600x600 panels is that it's hard to find lower wattage versions. All seem to be 35+W. So using more lower power panels to get even spread isn't an option. I suppose a dimmer might help, but I've developed a hatred of them over the years.
There are Led downlights about now with tuneable colours, so you can try about 3 different options and decide what you like best.
https://www.studiowear.co.uk/ -
https://twitter.com/spark240
Facebook - m.me/studiowear.co.uk
Reddit r/newmusicreview