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Thread: How would I design this? Dedicated art light?

  1. #1
    Junior Member
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    Dec 2020
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    How would I design this? Dedicated art light?

    Newbie here designing my first system and I've come to a place where I'm unsure how to proceed. We're going to have a piece of art hanging in our foyer that will have one of those art lights that hang above the painting and shine back down onto it. How would I go about wiring this? During the Level 1 training they had a situation in the master bedroom (a retrofit) that had a switched outlet. It said in place of the switch, we'd put a keypad and wire the plug to always hot. Would this be the same? Not sure what to tell the electrician who is about to start roughing in the electrical. Thanks!

  2. #2
    Senior Member
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    Jan 2019
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    The display lights I normally install primarily mount to normal fixture boxes or have a remote transformer. I would recommend in a new construction situation that you wire the switch leg to a closet or attic and then run low voltage wire to the location. If you get the remote transformer parts you will get a special box that mounts at the fixture location. I have the most experience with Tech lighting, they make high quality lighting products

    http://www.techlighting.com/Products...isplay-Exhibit

  3. #3
    Senior Member
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    It depends on the fixture. Some mount to a j-box (as Evan noted), some to the frame of the art. Some are low voltage some are line voltage. If it is low voltage - where is the transformer/driver located? Some hard-wire, some plug-in.

    If the receptacle is not readily accessible (like behind the art) you can control it with a dimmer. If the receptacle is accessible where someone could plug something into it, you can not dim it.
    Convergence Technologies Raleigh, North Carolina
    www.convergenceusa.com

  4. #4
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    Thank you both for the replies. Here is the specific fixture we have. https://www.cocoweb.com/picture-ligh...cture-light/We actually bought it a few years ago for a piece that we never actually installed. We bought it with the battery option, but I'm going to be buying another one of the power supplies that we can either hardwire or plug into a recessed receptacle. I have the option at this point (assuming the retailer will just sell me the pack).From reading on their website, if I order the direct wire pack, like evankirkhart said....I put the switch to the closet, and then run 2 conductor wire (like 18/2?) from the switch location to the back of the painting. From there I wire it into the receiver/transformer. I guess I would then just turn it on and leave it on?

  5. #5
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    Hmm your link is broken but guessing from the others they show...First off if they are going to charge a fortune for a power supply, keep in mind it's nothing special and you can easily repurpose an old wall-wart from some dead piece of equipment. Shouldn't be hard to figure out the voltage (add up the batteries) and you know it's DC. Looks like the battery operated lighting is 6 volts, guessing from the description.Their back-of-art power supply does seem to demand a lot of space on the back of the artwork. I have a lot of framed art and I don't think I have anything that has a frame like that. I agree you should run 120v power to a nearby closet (basement might be nice too) then from there some appropriate low voltage cable such as in-wall speaker cable or thermostat cable to a good spot down a 1/3rd from where you anticipate the top of the art will be. I'd probably put a double gang box in the closet. Put an RA2 switch in it, wired to a receptacle in the same box. Bring the low voltage cable out next to it, and splice it to the transformer wire. You probably don't need to get carried away and put terminal strips at either end. Just use passthroughs like this: https://www.amazon.com/Echogear-Whit.../dp/B081QPF19F and be sure to leave enough "service loop" to pull the cable out a ways to splice it to the art light, then shove back into wall as you hang the piece.If there are other places you think you might want more art lighting in the future, run the cable to the approximate spot and leave a loop, loosely affixed, that can be pulled out someday just by knocking a hole in that spot.Oh and take lots of pictures while under construction! Of everything. You'll thank me someday.

  6. #6
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    Thanks Stimpy! That was very helpful! You are right, for some reason my link was broken but I think you did figure out which particular light. Now, I did hear back from the manufacturer and the light they sold me 2 years ago is different than the one I have now. Now they are using 6V lights but the one I have is 24V. They don't have anymore of those power supplies and so their solution (which was very generous) was just to exchange mine for one of their new lights that is 6V. Problem is, I can't find our original battery pack. We're in the middle of packing and it's gotten misplaced. Instead of going through that hassle, could I just put a dimmable 24V power supply in the closet and hardwire it?I like your idea of a double gang, RA2 switch (just a 6ND or PRO?), connect to the plug, which then plugs into the power supply, which then runs back to the light on a 18/2 (or something similar)?Would a power supply like this work? https://www.amazon.com/PLUSPOE-Dimma...&sr=8-2&th=1Or, in my RA2 Essentials, when I select the Device Type as Constant LED Voltage, it recommends a RRD-F6AN-DV with a L3D0-96W24V dimming driver. Does that take the place of the transformer I'd get from Amazon?

  7. #7
    Hmm,I also had a similar situation. A couple of years ago, I lived in Singapore and thought that I would stay there forever, so I started to equip my apartment. I collect paintings and statues, so lighting plays an important role for me. I called the masters of 1 room painting services in singapore in order for them to look at my apartment and advise how to paint the walls and how to better hold the light. And you know what they said? The color of the walls is no less important if you want to emphasize some object. Sometimes even lighting is not as necessary as choosing the right color. Then I decided to change the chandelier and just repaint the walls. And it seems to me that it has become much better, so you should also think about it.

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