Hi,
Hope this has not been answered before, but I would like to know if the latest mains voltage dimmable LEDs are more energy efficient than using low voltage dimmable LEDs with step-down transformers, or is this not a straightforward yes/no answer?
Thank you,
Et
Et, thank you for the question. When you talk about efficiency, are you referring to to the amount of light output(lumens) per watt? That would not be efficiency, it would be efficacy.
There is a lot involved in this topic and I want to make sure that I have a complete understanding of your questions so I can help better.
Apologies, I see now that my description is a bit vague. If I have two lighting zones with say 5 GU10 (5W) lamps each; one zone has 5 mains voltage (220V or 110V) dimmable LEDs and the other has 5 12V LED lamps, each with a magnetic step-down transformer. Both are full on at 100% for 1 hour. Which zone will require the least amount of power, or which will be the "cheapest" to run?
Hope that makes sense.
Thank you for the help!
Et, both 5W lamps consume the same amount of power, however there will be some minimal, additional loss on the 12V circuit because of the transformer's consumption. In order to get the maximum amount of energy savings, you would want to select an LED that has the most light output(lumens) per watt. The higher the lumens per watt, the more efficient the bulb is and the less power is needed to obtain the same amount of light.
Makes perfect sense, thank you!