| How to power your Fairy Lights? |
Mains – 230 volt
Mains in the UK uses 230v so mains lights are used with a standard 3-pin plug. There are options using adapters to plug in a fair number of plugs, or an electrician could remove the plugs and wire many sets into a junction box. Mains lights can be used for the home, using
safety precautions to prevent the cable or lights from being severed, circuit breakers or
RCD (Residual Current Device) are designed to cut the current so fast that the possibility of an electric shock is minimal. Any business or public service or any entity in direct contact with the general public must use RCD and/or Low Voltage lights equipped with a transformer or fix lights higher than 9ft off the ground.
Low Voltage – 24volt
Low voltage (LV) fairy lights use a transformer which lowers the power requirements from 240v to 24v, this makes low voltage light sets safer to use and therefore recommended for outside or inside home use if there is any risk from children or pets from coming into contact with the power source.
They are not designed to be risk free, but do help against the possibility of severe electric shocks.
Battery Powered
These sets of lights tend to be in parallel, with usually 10, 15 or 20 led bulbs using two standard AAA batteries. They tend to used in window, small tree, party or wedding arrangements, due to their mobility, size and versatility. If left on permanently they would last for approximately 100 hours, before running down
|
|
