glen Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 Any Idea how long 12V bulbs last? Point being mum and baby walk in the door at three and on go the lights until about 9 at night. That’s about 6hours per day with about 12 hours on sat and sun. 50+ hours a week. Seems a lot for little bulbs. Thing is I'm setting in the floor. If the bulbs last years then I'll put more effort into concealing the fact the floors removable. If they need changing every couple of months I'll make it a little easier to take the floor out. Any ideas? weeks, months, years? Mostly the little grain of wheat bulbs on the bottom floor. Top floor bulbs all come out really easy through the hinged roof. Cheers Glen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlene Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 Hi Glen -- Um, hate to tell you this, but most mini bulb lives are measured in hours! Really depends on the bulb you have -- some have a 2500 hour life (at 50 hours a week that about a year). Have you considered a timer or maybe buying stock in the manufactuer?? Your lighting looks fabulous. Nice job. Charlene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glen Posted August 8, 2005 Author Share Posted August 8, 2005 I keep trying to get them to turn them off or at least restrict which lights they turn on. Baby's usually happy at a couple of lights but mum wants them all on. If they last over 1000 hours I must admit I'd be more than happy. The bigger torch bulbs I can't imagine lasting very long but they are dead easy to change so no big deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glen Posted August 8, 2005 Author Share Posted August 8, 2005 Has anyone used one of those cute little fluorescent lights? I have one to put over the family room area but I'm a little worried it’ll be too bright. It's 50mm long and about 3mm diameter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlene Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 Hello again, Glen -- Seen the fixtures you're talking about. Not used them myself as most of my buildings are fantasy types and we're talking candles not flourescents! But, a buddy of mine used them in a modern shop scene and I personally didn't think they were too bright. Guess it depends on the (1) size of the room, (2) placement of the bulb and (3) the style and period of the room. Why not do a temporary placement to find the best place for it? Charlene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glen Posted August 8, 2005 Author Share Posted August 8, 2005 MMMmmmm. I'll do that. I was thinking that getting power there would be a hassle but in fact I can just use a small 12V battery I use as an alternative power supply to the mains transformer. Just thinking that they run very cool so I could put a scuffed guard over them and that would diffuse the light and block a little as well. I did it to the upstairs lights and now need to take them down and polish out some of the scuff. They went from brighter than down stairs to duller. Shouldn't be hard to fix with a little brasso. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlene Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 A little favorite device of mine: Does the fixture have a plug attached? If not, plugs are super easy to attach and detach. When you have a plug and a power strip, you can test it out without the battery. I generally attach a plug to fixtures and use a power strip to test out various placements without directly wiring them. A bit of painter's tape or minihold will keep them in place nicely so you can see where the light works best. Charlene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_Cal Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 Being a train person I use 12 volt bulbs all of the time. My key to longevity of bulbs is to run them at a slightly lwer voltage. I feed 14 volt bulbs 12 dimming the bulbs slightly but making them last ages longer. Try running the GOW bulbs on 10 or so volts. If you want still longer life try working with white LEDs I dont know the proper dropping resistor to wire in with them though Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glen Posted August 9, 2005 Author Share Posted August 9, 2005 Thanks all. As you may have noticed I've changed the top picture to show the fluorescent bulb fitted. It looks bright in the picture but in fact is, if anything, slightly duller but then it's 50% higher than the others due to the raised roof. I'd certainly recommend one to anyone thinking about it. They look great and add something a little different. Flickers a little for the first couple of minutes but settles after that. Having the light where it is means it doesn't shine in the bedroom or bathroom if you turn off their lights so there is delineation between the three even though there's no wall. Cheers Glen PS the contrast in light colours between bulbs, grain of wheat bulbs and fluoro is real but quite subtle, not nearly as strong as the photo suggests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glen Posted August 9, 2005 Author Share Posted August 9, 2005 Sorry, couldn't resist, here's the bathroom and bedroom lights off. Cheers Glen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuttiwebgal Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 if only you knew how much I love the house you are building! it looks so good and I love the lighting also. I would love to wire a house. my DH wired my Granville and if I ever find some lights I like/can afford it will get them. I like the idea of being able to switch off the lights individually. very kewl feature. keep up the great work and plzz keep us posted! nutti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrellandmelissa Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 Like Ed_Cal said, giving the bulbs a slightly lower than rated voltage will extend their lifetime a LOT. Often with the 12 volt transformers we use, many use a smaller number of the 16 volt bulbs. The lights are a little dimmer than normal but you're not pushing the limits of the bulb so they're very unlikely to burn out for a long time. Another way to increase bulb life is to use more than the transformer is rated for. If you have one designed to run 12 bulbs and you put more than 12 on it, the lights get dimmer as the power is spread over a larger number of bulbs. This may cause you to have to replace a fuse now and then for the transformer if it doesn't like trying to power the number of bulbs you have. The newer transfomers don't have fuses but instead just shut down with an internal circuit breaker. Leave it off for a few minutes and it should power back on again. I use a combination of both methods. And I have some bulbs that were installed over 30 years ago still lighting fine. DIM but fine. LOL! On the other hand I've had some bulbs that didn't last a week. Manufacturing defect or a short in my installation of them took them out perhaps. For those of you who have made nice comments about the wiring tutorial on my webshots page, I am happy to know that it's been helpful to others. I still DO have plans to add more to it IF life will ever slow down enough to let me do that. LOL! We'll SEE! smiles and waves to all my friends old and new. Darrell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wenlaine Posted August 11, 2005 Share Posted August 11, 2005 Hi DarrellandMelissa, Just a thank-you for the tutorial on wiring. I wired my first house last week and I couldn't have done it without the help of your very detailed instructions. Thanks again. Wendy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_Cal Posted August 14, 2005 Share Posted August 14, 2005 Has anyone tried fiber optics for dollhouse lighting? I think it would make great scale sized fixtures It would take extra work and planing to run the optical fibers through the walls and ceilings though White LEDs come in a variety of sizes Installing themrequires putting in dropping resistors In conventional bulbs you can find bulbs in smaller sizes than GOW in lower voltages you may have to wire 5 or 6 in series to operate them on 12 volts Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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