Lighting Loads

Hi
I am in the planning stages of using Cbus mainly for Lighting.
Most my lights are standard 240V 60W bulbs. No Flouresent or low voltage stuff
I am thinking that surely just one lamp/bulb will draw more than 1 AMP So what is the point of the 8 Channel Dimmer which only supplies 1Amp per Channel Or am I missing something. I plan on doing the upstairs first which consists of 8 loads. Most loads are 1 Lamp/1Bulb but some are two Lamps/2Bulbs I was hoping on using the 8way Dimmer but 1Amp seems a bit low.

Thanks
Mark

 

Howdi ukdavros,
Just to keep you on track, 1 amp or 1 channel is good for about 200watts, give or take a bit. Your 60 watt lamp is a no brainer.

cheers

 

Hi
Thanks for the reply.
I thought I was missing something.
So the 8 Channel Dimmer would be a good starting point.

So I could run as many lights of one channel as I like as long as I dont exceed 200W.

What would happen is say I was running 3 Ceiling lights at 60W each on one channel and some bright spark like her indoors decided to put 100W bulbs in. What would happen to the controller, Has it got protection against this.

Thanks
Mark

 

Hi Mark,

You can use the formula P=IV to work out how many watts relates to 1A

Considering the voltage is nominally 240v (on a good day where I live) then the formula would look like

Power (in watts) = Current (in amps) x Volts (in volts)

Therefore

Power = 1 x 240

Power = 240w

HOWEVER !!!!!

This is theoretical and I would never run 240w on a single 1A channel, so as Ross said a good rule of thumb is 200w per 1A gives everything a bit of breathing space.

But at least now you can do the sums as you need and work it out from there.

 

The dimmer channels do not have protection, so if there are 3 x 60w lights on a channel everything is cool, but if you (or the missus!) replaces more than one of these bulbs with 100w versions, you will blow the channel.

As long as you (or anyone who changes bulbs) are aware of it, then you shouldn't have any problems.

 

Thanks for the replies
If I stick to 1 Channel 1 Lamp I will be OK.
I am sure there will be a lot more questions but now its time to get the credit card out and place the order to cover the upstairs.

A question about the PC interface, Is it really worth the vast difference in price for the Ethernet connection. I was thinking of extending the cbus network to where my main PC normally lives and then use the serial interface.

Best Regards
Mark

 

Hi Mark
A lot of the UK guys are connecting a 1 amp circuit breakers to each channel output and this should prevent overloading of the dimmer .........

HTH
Frank

 

A question about the PC interface, Is it really worth the vast difference in price for the Ethernet connection. I was thinking of extending the cbus network to where my main PC normally lives and then use the serial interface.

What i m using is a pc interface connected to a mss100 ethernet to serial device....Works quite well and cheaper than using a cbus ethernet interface..
Check out the link for the mss100 device.....Im actually using 5 of these in my HA setup.........

http://tinyurl.com/bboza

HTH
Frank

 

Hi
thanks for the help again.
I like the idea of the 1 Amp Circuit breakers, what sort are being used.

Also is the dimmer Unit supplied from the lighting circuit or the ring main

Thanks
Mark

 

Hi All
Well I have taken the plunge this is what I have ordered to start with.

C-Bus L5508D1A 8 Channel 1A Dimmer with Power Supply
C-Bus 5500PC DIN Rail Mounted PC Interface
C-Bus 5005C305B Category 5e C-Bus Pink Cable 305M LSOH
Clipsal CT36NS 36 Module Distribution Unit Inc Smoked Door
C-Bus NEO E5054NL 4 Gang, Metal/Grey Finish X 2
C-Bus NEO E5054NL 2 Gang, Metal/Grey Finish X 4
LEB-1C1 1A MCB X 8 can you confirm these are DIN rail mountable
MSS100 Lantronix Device Server

I will have to hide the Credit card bill from she that must be obeyed now.

Can I use the existing lighting Circuit to supply the Dimmer Unit bearing in mind there will now be nothing connected to the Upstairs breaker I will also have 1Amp breakers on each output. Not sure if it is 10A I will have to check.

Thanks
Mark