Hello all, I'm looking into a making some ceiling pendant lights from different colored bottles. I want to hang three bottles (red, green, and blue) from the ceiling with a cable. The lights inside the bottles will be 12V LED lights; I want something bright, maybe ~10w like this one. The lights will be suspended inside the bottle using a socket like this one (I know the LED I linked is double-contact and the socket is single-contact; these are examples). I'm using 12v LEDs because they will fit inside the bottles through the neck (I don't want to cut the bottles).
For aesthetics I want to minimize the number of power wires hanging from the ceiling so I was planning on using the main cable that hangs the bottles as the ground wire with another wire being the positive feed. This means that the LEDs will be wired in parallel. I assume that it is safe to have an exposed 12v ground wire: the danger is a short between the two wires.
Assuming I can figure out how to safely hang the bottles from the ceiling and suspend the LEDs inside the bottles, what else should I be concerned about? These are the areas I can think of:
1) Heat from the LEDs. There will be little in the way of heat-sinking and they will be enclosed in the bottle. Is 10w too much for this set up? If it does get too hot, what are the dangers? Just burning out the LED?
2) Power supply. For the setup described above I need at least a 30w PS, preferably more like 40w. Since the PS will likely be installed in the ceiling with the junction box (right?) I assume I need one that is rated for such a purpose. What should I look for?
3) Would colored LEDs work better? I want the lights to be red, green, and blue. I'm planning on using white LEDs and letting the colored bottles filter the light. Would it be more efficient if I used red, green, and/or blue LEDs? I haven't been able to find colored LEDs that are as bright.
Thanks!
For aesthetics I want to minimize the number of power wires hanging from the ceiling so I was planning on using the main cable that hangs the bottles as the ground wire with another wire being the positive feed. This means that the LEDs will be wired in parallel. I assume that it is safe to have an exposed 12v ground wire: the danger is a short between the two wires.
Assuming I can figure out how to safely hang the bottles from the ceiling and suspend the LEDs inside the bottles, what else should I be concerned about? These are the areas I can think of:
1) Heat from the LEDs. There will be little in the way of heat-sinking and they will be enclosed in the bottle. Is 10w too much for this set up? If it does get too hot, what are the dangers? Just burning out the LED?
2) Power supply. For the setup described above I need at least a 30w PS, preferably more like 40w. Since the PS will likely be installed in the ceiling with the junction box (right?) I assume I need one that is rated for such a purpose. What should I look for?
3) Would colored LEDs work better? I want the lights to be red, green, and blue. I'm planning on using white LEDs and letting the colored bottles filter the light. Would it be more efficient if I used red, green, and/or blue LEDs? I haven't been able to find colored LEDs that are as bright.
Thanks!