Buildings interior lighting, LED?

[TT-Pete]

I was intending to use 16v AC grain of wheat bulbs for interior lighting in buildings as a.) it could be run off the same circuit as other accessories such as street lighting and b.) I had an unopened packet of pre-wired ones sitting in the cupboard for over 10 years.

 

So far so good, until having built and lit a few structures I have noticed that the grain of wheat bulbs generate enough heat to start melting bits of the plastic structures if they are mounted too close. I don't think the heat is enough to start a fire, but all the same not a good idea...

 

I'm thinking of moving to LEDs instead, although (if I understand correctly) this will mean having to install a separate 12v DC circuit (or batteries?) to power them. In particular I am building a small card kit building at the moment which needs 2 or 3 lighting sources concealed in what is a quite compact space. The grain of wheat bulbs would need to be right up against the card roof and are also a bit too bright, so are a non-starter really :^(

 

What light sources do others use and how do you power them?

[Dr.Glum]

Some years back I made up the Metcalfe engine shed and wanted a couple of grain of wheat bulbs in the small office building. I was worried about heat, but did a test with one sandwiched between two pieces of 2mm greyboard. I need not have worried, no great heat and no scorch marks, so definiitely was going to be alright with the bulbs at least a few mm away from the structure.

BUT I only ran them as a pair in series on a 13v adapter I happened to have left over from something that died at work. The exact detail doesn't matter, the salient point is lower voltage, which is what I needed to get old-fashioned dim lighting. I imagine your 16v supply is making them shine like a searchlight.

Are you trying to light buildings to operate while the room lights are on (as at an exhibition) ? - if not do some tests with your room lights off or otherwise low ambient light.

On my previous layout I had a separate (much lighter wire) 12v 'bus' (more of a very simple wiring loom) for the lights. On the current build so far everything is 3v LEDs running on 12v wiring with resistors and there will be multiple small areas of the layout needing a light circuit, probably each off a small power adapter. I havn't rigged up the engine shed and office yet; I'll review the gow bulbs when I do.

Hope this helps.