Track lighting
- Thread starter micga
- Start date
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ryan_618
Senior Member
- Location
- Salt Lake City, Utah
That is correct.
micga said:
It does limit how many fixtures (total wattage) that you can place on that un-limited length of track.
As a example...
If you have a 20 amp (120V) lighting circuit, you can load it to 20 amps maximum (assuming that the lights are not on for 3 hours or more at a time).
This is 2400 watts maximum for the entire track section.
If the lights are on for 3 hours or more at a time (continuous load), then you can only load the circuit to 16 amps maximum.
This is 1920 watts total for the entire track section.
If that section of track is 10' long or 100' long, it doesn't matter, it still can only supply the the total watts (load) that the circuit is rated for..
This could be (120) 20 watt bulbs or (24) 100 watt bulbs or any combination up to 2400 watts maximum on a non-continuous lighting circuit.
....or...
(192) 10 watt bulbs or (19) 100 watt bulbs or any combination up to 1920 watts maximum on a continuous lighting circuit.
In either case, each individual bulb holder will have a maximum wattage (bulb size) that can't be exceeded.
So, as you can see, just because there is no limit on the total length of track that can be installed on a individual branch circuit, there is a limit on how many fixtures (electrical load) you can place on the circuit that feeds that section of track..
Hope this helps
steve
SurfSide EC
Member
- Location
- Newport, NC
Just check all your calculations. I have had bad times with track lighting because of poor design on planners part and inexperience on mine. Voltage drop will be an issue.
- Location
- New Jersey
- Occupation
- Journeyman Electrician
Voltage drop is a very real issue with 12 volt track. You can see the difference in brilliance from one to the other when the feed is at one end.
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