✅ Using AA Battery Powered Ceiling Puck Lights Instead of Wired 12 volt Lights??

[magentawave]

I prefer simple so instead of running wires to ceiling puck lights in my next van build, I am thinking of using AA battery powered LED puck lights. I have been using 8 of them in my full time live aboard Sienna for almost two years now and they are all still working great.

UPSIDE:
-No wires means super simple, fast and perfectly targeted installation.
-Comes with dimmer on remote (which I have never used).
-Adheres to surface with included super sticky taped back (almost 2 years and not one has fallen off).
-Inexpensive and easily replaced.

DOWNSIDE:
-Non rechargeable AA batteries don’t last long and end up in landfills. (Not cool, but cool if I use EBL 2800maH Ni-MH rechargeable batteries that last a few thousand cycles.)
-Instead of flush or close to flush of ceiling, they are 1 3/8” thick so will encroach a bit. (If that’s an issue then I could probably install them close to flush though.)

What do you think? Am I missing anything here?

 

[WanderingRose]

I like the puck lights, but especially love the little fairy lights you can get very inexpensively at WalMart.

They are enough light, for me, and just look pretty.

 

[hugemoth]

There is a way to run 12v lights without running wires, sort of. I have used copper tape, about 1/2" wide, comes in rolls, used for making stained glass windows. Stick it to the wall and paint over it if desired.

 

[INTJohn]

I have 2 of these solar charged lights:
https://www.amazon.com/AiMoxa-Colla...ht-Rechargeable/dp/B08N43S7WJ?ref_=ast_sto_dpThere are others; solar charged & cheap.
INTJohn

 

[eDJ_]

A friend of mine is an Electrical Contractor and was recently showing me these LED "Disk Lights". They are less than 1/4 thick but have a small metal box that mounts under them in a home install. As they are new, I figure they will go thru a range of product development for other applications such as for RV's. Possibly a time when they will use button batteries like a wrist watch. He told me these are super efficient and a whole house full of them will use less electricity than one LED light bulb.

These are 4 inch lights for home use.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I prefer simple so instead of running wires to ceiling puck lights in my next van build, I am thinking of using AA battery powered LED puck lights. I have been using 8 of them in my full time live aboard Sienna for almost two years now and they are all still working great.

Running wires is trivial in a new build; usually not difficult in an old build. I paid good money for my 12V solar powered system - why not use it? i already run wires for a refrigerator, ceiling fan, power ports; lights are little added work.

.....
-Adheres to surface with included super sticky taped back (almost 2 years and not one has fallen off).
-Inexpensive and easily replaced.

If its good adhesive it is hard to remove: requires either chemicals or scraping, risk of surface damage.

-Non rechargeable AA batteries don’t last long and end up in landfills. (Not cool, but cool if I use EBL 2800maH Ni-MH rechargeable batteries that last a few thousand cycles.) .....

NiMH batteries must be recycled.
I have not found a 12V to 1.5V charger. Going from 12V to 110v to 1.5V adds a lot of losses.
It takes 6 to 8 hours to charge my rechargeable AA and AAA batteries at 110V.

 

[maki2]

You are indeed missing something. There are Led puck lights with rechargeable lithium batteries in them. I get my rechargeable lights at Home Depot in the lighting department. They have a good selection of styles. Great investment! Some pucks, some linear strip fixtures, etc

The photo is of is my favorite pair I found at Home Depot. Very easy for moving about inside my rig. They have magnets on the side and on one end plus a hanging loop. Three years of daily use and still going strong so the $20 investment was an excellent one. No more needing a battery recharger, only a cord and a USB outlet to charge them. There is a longer length but this small one provides what I need and it has 3 brightness choices.

 

[Walt]

There are variety of USB powered lights that are rechargeable. No batteries to waste or recycle.

2 Pcs Car LED Lights Interior, 7 Colors LED Interior Car Lights with 6 Bright LED Lamp Beads, Portable Night Reading Light Car Interior Atmosphere, USB Rechargeable Lighting Light (7 Colored Lights) https://a.co/d/dnMJqTT

Teguangmei Upgraded Car Interior LED Truck Cargo Area Light, 8 Colors USB Rechargeable Reading Lamps, Multi-Function Auto Dome Lights for Car, RV, Truck, Closets, Cabinets, Camping, Bedroom https://a.co/d/gvw7eZl

Others available.

 

[heDONist]

My light had a USB charging port, runs for hours. I have 2 but use them 1 at a time. One is always full charge ready to go. They charge from my power outlet after cell phone.

 

[LargeMarge]

Eugene and Springfield, Oregon.
The two "Jerry's" are our local-owned family-operated home improvement super-center.
From about Thanksgiving on, they dedicate a major section of the store to exmez displays:
* multiple yuge living trees trimmed in all the goodies
* walls of active displays, those goofy midget towns with tiny figures going through the motions of regular life
* trains -- ride-on and tiny -- looping around the trees and displays.
.
It really is a sight, reminiscent of growing-up in the 1950s, surrounded by four grandparents and a passel of healthy aunts and uncles.
.
Irregardless...
Jerry's pulls the exmez displays during the week after the holidays.
And all those goodies go on clearance mark-down.
.
Irregardless...
They usually have strings of colored lights powered by a box of a couple AA batteries.
Between the three of us, we probably have a milk-crate of the darn things.
.
I wish I knew of a way to step-down 12vdc to about 3vdc.

 

[afblangley]

I too prefer battery powered options where feasible. I tried three different battery powered lights, they had two issues: the longevity of the battery was too short, and more critically, they didn't give off a sufficient amount of light. On the fourth try, I finally found something that works well for me. It uses 7W which is the most powerful battery powered light I've seen available on Amazon. One is enough to light up my entire van, but I have two because I like a lot of like and I like having a backup. I have three mounts to provide flexibility in placement (they attach magnetically, mounts are needed for nonmetal surfaces). They charge via USB, they last a really long time, I typically plug them in once a week just to have a routine schedule.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B69LBKC6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

[tx2sturgis]

I wish I knew of a way to step-down 12vdc to about 3vdc.

There are several ways to do that, all of them have pros and cons:

A 'current limiting' or dropping resistor

A step down DC-DC converter

A PWM variable voltage controller

Placing 4, 3v bulbs, in series so that they will run directly on 12v

Or, use a 18650 lithium cell with a charger nearby

Probably others I can't recall.

 

[Happy Camper]

I wish I knew of a way to step-down 12vdc to about 3vdc.

Here you go. $7 and simple.
12V to 3V 3A Step-Down Waterproof Miniature DC-DC Converter Power Supply Module https://a.co/d/1sLbyuy

 

[LargeMarge]

There are several ways to do that, all of them have pros and cons:

A 'current limiting' or dropping resistor

A step down DC-DC converter

A PWM variable voltage controller

Placing 4, 3v bulbs, in series so that they will run directly on 12v

Or, use a 18650 lithium cell with a charger nearby

Probably others I can't recall.

.
Much obliged, pard.

 

[LargeMarge]

Here you go. $7 and simple.
12V to 3V 3A Step-Down Waterproof Miniature DC-DC Converter Power Supply Module https://a.co/d/1sLbyuy

.
"That's the ticket!"
.
From fast-talking Jimmy Cagney portraying neighborhood do-gooder 'Rocky Sullivan'.

(You might want to overlook the part about handing the kids a fin and sending them out for beer and pickles...)

 

[Overland One]

I have been using Joule Thief (Blocking Oscillator ) circuits in almost all my led lights here for about 15 years now. The really cool thing about them is, they can light an led, or up to 400 leds depending on which one you decide to make, off a single "dead" AA battery. I used to have my friends save up all their old "dead" batteries which their cameras and other devices told them they were "dead" (below about 1.2 volts ) and they would normally toss them out. A JT circuit will take that AA battery down to almost nothing and still light the led or leds. I am not going to get into too much detail here how to make them in case someone that is not familiar with electronics does something wrong and starts a fire or something but info is all over the web now. A fellow named Big Clive is credited with making one of the first ones of these popular circuits and his website shows how to make a very simple one. One way it keeps lighting leds more efficiently is that there is a thing known as a duty cycle. Being an oscillator, the JT circuit will flash the led on/off thousands of times/second and, you can alter the resistor value to change the duty cycle to get the results you want. More on time than off = a brighter light but shorter run time, More off time than on = longer run time but dimmer appearing light. Still the fact remains that usually the sweet spot is somewhere near 50% so that led is off just as much as it is on and will last a very long time. Most JT circuits operate in the range of about 5KHz and up. The lights in a house on the grid flash off/on at about 60 times per second so 5,000 is a much higher frequency. I used to have videos (about 75 of them) on my old YT electronics channel until they changed the view amount requirements and YT decided to de-monetize my channel but they wanted to run their own ads on my videos and keep all the money so I just took all of them down. One of my best and popular videos was running a string of 400 leds from a single "dead" AA battery and also, I had a cool one running a 4 foot fluorescent tube from my earth battery and a 400 volt JT circuit I made. I used to be a moderator on an energy website where we all played with circuits like these. Not much sense in building them any more as many of the battery powered lights that come from China now are already using similar circuits built into them commercially. The first ones to do this were those led solar garden lights that charged during the day, and ran into the night. Those came to my area about 14 years ago and we all took them apart to see how they worked. It was fun building all of those circuits over the years. I still use some of those old lights I built and they work well.

 

[sithigh]

I did not find any device to support all your claims on your links. I am an electrician and have installed many similar LED lights that have similar savings over incandescent bulbs especially in terms of electricity wasted as heat. But it generally takes 11 to 19 watts of LED to replace 40 to 100 watts of incandescent lamps. After we converted a home from aluminum wiring and various different lighting to copper wiring and LEDs mostly recessed in a dropped ceiling they called us back several months later to report their summer power bill had dropped dramatically. (LEDs don't heat the air also saving on AC. But not heating) I think they were 17 watts LED replacing mostly old 100 watt incandescent bulbs and a few 48 watt fluorescent shop lights.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Philips...ecessed-Downlight-Kit-2-Pack-555623/310804008

 

[Happy Camper]

These are some of the best low wattage lights I've used. They are 12v and dimmable. They can get bright and very dim if needed. You can use 1, or daisy chain a bunch of them. They are relatively cheap. And you can get them in the light spectrum you prefer (white/warm). 12v and 3 watts per light. It's a great way to go. I actually used them with a portable charger and a buck converter. It ran 3 lights for about 5 hours a night when I did night swap meets.

AIBOO LED Under Counter Light Rigid Bar Kit, Plug in Corded 12V LED Under Cabinet Lighting Dimmable with Switch for Counter Shelf Showcase Display Lighting (6 Panels,Daylight White). https://a.co/d/9cJnLfi