Help with a lighting project.

[Don Gibson]

FLOURESCENT lighting will give you more light and consume far less electricity.
A VALANCE will direct your lighting to show off your layout - best of both world's ...

EXCEPT for 'Dimming'. (Not a flourescent's best feature)

I've toyed with the idea of using 3400 kelvin 'daylight' flourescent's (w/o commercial greenish cast) with 'back light' on a separate circuit, for day and nightime sequncing. Those bulb's cost more but pay off via the electric bill.

Anyone else?

[retsignalmtr]

i don't beleive the national electrical code allows recepticles to be concealed in a suspended ceiling either. they may allow you to place a junction box in there in place of a receptical and then you run the wires from the lamps to it and splice in the box with wire nuts. you can use romex or bx (armored) cable. i worked as an electrician over 36 years ago and there have been many changes to the electrical codes since then but i haven't kept up with them. check with an electrician. it's not just the insurance. in case of a fire it could be your butt.

[Anonymous]

Bill:

I like your ammended plan better. Make sure your dimmer can handle the load.

If your dimmer maxes out at 600W and your load is 600W then you don't have any fudgefactor room. You might have to split the circuit between two dimmers.

-slim

[nfmisso]

Bill;

Check with a license electrician or electical inspector. It would be really bad to have something go wrong. None of us on this board can legally advise you. Get professional advice.

[Anonymous]

Ok, amended the plan, thanks for all the help. Here is what i have come up with. Install a new circuit breaker in my panel and run a new line to a in wall dimmer. Then it would run to a series of boxes above the ceiling containing plugs up there. Then i could plug the lights directly into this, but still retain my ability to remove a panel for what ever reason.
What do you think?
Bill

[Blind Bruce]

wouldn't even consider running 110V above a ceiling unless it was "BX" or similar armored cable. Having said that, you must comply with your local building codes,
both for safety and insurance should anything happen.
BB

[cacole]

The only SAFE thing for you to do is check with a licensed electrician. The use of an extension cord is prohibited by the National Electrical Code for certain uses, and your proposed lighting may be one of them. If you use an extension cord for an unapproved installation it voids your fire insurance.

A local resident thought she was going to save money by using an extension cord to power a hot tub in her back yard. The cord caused an overload and set the house on fire. The fire inspector immediately realized the cause of the fire and notified her insurance company. Result: Loss not covered and policy cancelled. An estimated $25,000 loss, and to top it all off the fire was two days after her father died and she had just inherited the house.

[retsignalmtr]

20 watts times 30 lamps equals 600 watts total. when you figure about 1 amp per 100 watts you have only 3 amps which would make a 16 gauge or 18 gauge extension cord capable of supplying all the power you would need safely. but i don't know the legalities of burying an extension cord in a suspended ceiling. there are also low voltage alternatives that you could look at too.

[Anonymous]

Ok, here goes. I'm working on a lighting for my basement train room. Right now i have two, 2 bulb recesed 4' long. THis is for a room 14'X 20' long. Now my layout uses a scenic block that extends up to the ceiling, so i need to provide lighting on either side. To make this as easy as possible here is what i've come up with. Standard recessed lighting would be a HUGE pain to install, and the recessed lighting i have is kinda rough on light bulbs. Here is my solution.

As i have a drop ceiling with 2'X4' panels this is my idea.
First: mark all the locations i would like lights on the panel. Using a sharpee i could just make a dot.
Two: Go and buy Puck Lights like these from Lowes. The only difference is the ones i'm getting are 20 watt halogen and use a standard two prong plug to plug into a wall. http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=48674-1390-G9165WHI&lpage=none
Three: remove drop ceiling pannels and using a proper sized drill bit, remove the area the light will be recessed into.
Four: Using a piece of 1/8 inch masoite, glue to the back of the hole. If i run a strip of three, i could just use a single strip of masonite running the lenght of the panel. This is a light material, but gives me the needed anchorage to secure the lights to.
Five: Lights installed, and wired. They come prewired and you only add the plug type conection after you have installed the lights. Each panel would have its own seperate three plug connector. SO basicily i could remove a panel, unplug it from the system, and work on it seperatly.
Six: Use an inline dimmer to control the lights to the level i want.

Ok, here is what i need to know. I plan on running 30 of these lights. THese are rated as 20watt, 120 volt. They suggest plugging three of these lights together, then pluggign them into a wall socket. I have had a set of these lights on my hobby desk for over 2 years now and am thrilled by their performance.
If i decide to run a extension cord from a plug, how many lights could i support off of one extension cord?
Ok, thats my idea. Please feel free to find problems. THis is electrical, and i don't want to burn my house down. LOL
THanks Bill