Voltage drop

[guschash]

HO has me running her Christmas lights around her house. Do I have to worry about VD on these led lights?

 

[ptonsparky]

No, other than the instructions with the strings tell you how many be run in series. Might be in feet...IDR.

 

[augie47]

It will depend on the details, of course. Home Depot has a 50 ft string with 300 lamps. Each string pulls 24 watts and the instructions say 8 stings can be connected end to end,
At 192 total watts I doubt VD will be an issue. Of course your specs may be different.

 

[charlie b]

Much depends on the gauge of the wire in the light string. At 400 feet (8 strings of 50 feet each), and at 192 watts (1.6 amps on a 120V circuit), and with #18 wire, I calculate the VD at 10.2 volts, or 8.5%. That would be high for most circuits. But for LEDs it would likely not be noticeable. If the wire size is #16, the VD is 6.4 volts, or 5.3%.

 

[Besoeker3]

Much depends on the gauge of the wire in the light string. At 400 feet (8 strings of 50 feet each), and at 192 watts (1.6 amps on a 120V circuit), and with #18 wire, I calculate the VD at 10.2 volts, or 8.5%. That would be high for most circuits. But for LEDs it would likely not be noticeable. If the wire size is #16, the VD is 6.4 volts, or 5.3%.

I don't know about there but Christmas lights here are generally low voltage - maybe 12V. That would have a bearing on voltage drop.