Recessed LED Driver Location
Would it be crazy to put 6 LED drivers in a conditioned crawl and then run the low voltage wire up to the attic for recessed lighting?
Looking at 6″ Lotus Lighting recessed lights to replace existing on a 1955 remodel. I plan on air sealing the lights with mineral wool caps. They offer low voltage wire in 20′ lengths up to 40′
My main concern is servicing the drivers and overall longevity in a hot/cold vented attic. I’m trying to avoid any reason to go up into the attic after we blow insulation. I figure the caps would make actual light replacement clean and easy and the drivers in the crawl would be much easier to replace. I don’t think I could/should the drivers in the hoods too.
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With Class II lighting, you need to use the wiring supplied by the manufacturer. If they make extensions that long, you can move them, but you might run into voltage drop issues with long runs.
I'm not sure if moving the driver is worth the effort. The driver is pretty easy to replace when mounted near the light, pop out the LED and pull the driver out through the cutout.
Most LEDs are pretty good nowadays. There is some infant mortality after which they last, I wouldn't worry too much about it.
A 20' wire is $5 from Lotus Lighting. They recommend up to 40', so I'm assuming there is no or little voltage drop at that length since it's recommended by the manufactuer.
I'll have a mineral wool cap over the light that will be air-sealed with caulk. As I mentioned the driver probably shouldn't (and probably couldn't) fit in the cap with the light assembly. So if the light did die, I would need to cut the cap and pull the driver through the hole.
Not the end of the world, but still a pain. I don't see it as that much extra work as the encapsulated crawlspace might be more enjoyable than the attic to do the majority of the wiring.
Worth noting this is a single story ranch that is being heavily remodeled.
Sounds like they use constant current drivers, those are not sensitive to wire length.
Running them all the way to the crawl still feels overkill. Maybe gang them up near the attic access hatch.
You can also make the mineral wool cap slightly larger to also fit the driver.
>"those are not sensitive to wire length."
They aren't sensitive to wire length, within reason. There is still only so much margin, since the driver has to increase the voltage to compensate for volt drop in long wire runs. The driver will only have a limited amount of ability to do that, so keep that in mind.
I agree it makes sense to not run the cables to a particularly distant mounting location. Maybe try repurposing a multimedia wall box (one of the big ones that can fit a patch panel and some network equipment) as a driver mounting box? You could then conceal it with a picture or similar. You may have an issue with excessive heating if you concentrate the drivers in one spot though. Remember that with electronic things, higher average operating temperature generally also means shorter average life of the equipment.
Bill
Michael,
There is definitely something appealing about having all the drivers consolidated and neatly lined up in one place. I agree with Akos though - It should be somewhere close and easy to find. I've worked on a number of older buildings with low voltage thermostats, and doorbells. Trying to find the transformer, which was often remotely mounted in a crawlspace or nook somewhere, was almost impossible.
Perhaps you could find a space in the top of a closet for the drivers? They could be left in open air for cooling and still be accessible for repair.