220v downlights problem?

Question

hi guys a question.... i recently went over to 220v downlights from the traditional bulb and fitting set up, my power usage is now astronomically high, about 11 times higher than before... I noted when the lights where installed the sparky left the earth out completely and said it only had to be present....Could i be leaking electricity ? even with all my lights off and plugs out im using twice what i used to....something is seriously wrong ...my little 2 bedroom flat is costinf upwards of 1000 rand a month to light (and im only home about 2 hours a day)....HELP !

Answer 1

Trying to figure out exactly what you did there.  Did you put 220v on your lighting vs. 110v?  Not sure how you did that without a transformer.  Or did you change all you bulbs to a higher wattage??  More info please!  I do know that you should always attach your ground wire, reguardless, that actually grounds and protects your equipment in case of a ground fault.

Answer 2

I'm going to assume you've had extra low voltage 12v downlights installed with 50w dichroic bulbs.

What you need to consider and what is a massive misconception is that 12v downlights don't use any less power than 240v lights.

In a nutshell if you've replaced 1x 60w standard fitting with 4x 50w down light - you've almost quadrupled your power usage for that 1 room.

Which means 2 things, 1 you are now using 200w as opposed to 60w to light the room and with the earth situation - since they are through a transformer - there no termination point for the earth at a transformer and it isn't needed. However your electrician was correct in stating that is must be present.

It would appear that SA has some rules similar to AUS.

Your dimmers shouldn't be a problem as they'll only draw current when your lights are on. As for your missing power - perhaps you are using it lighting in retrospect of increasing your power usage due to installation of your downlights...

If I'm wrong and they aren't 12v downlights through a transformer, then the power usage still applies, but the earth situation changes, they must be connected to an earth...

Answer 3

First, you can not "leak" electricity.  Electricity is only consumed when it's doing work.  If you had a direct short to ground, the "work" would be the rapid heating of the shorted conducters, until the circuit breaker tripped.

On the light switch off vs. circuit breaker off test - was that watt/hrs, or kilowatt/hrs you're reporting?  If watt/hrs, 1/2 a watt is nothing - the power of a night light, and could be explained to the LED's that newer dimmers often have.  But if the delta was 0.6 kWh - that's not insignificant - the equivalent of 6 100w bulbs.  If it is in fact 0.6 kWh, my guess would be mechanical dimmers (rotary k**b or slider style); mechanical dimmers consume full load, whether set bright or dim (dimming is achieved by putting a variable resistor in the circuit - which converts the electricity to heat).  If you have mechanical dimmers and you were setting them to lowest dim, rather actually turning them off, they'd be pulling full load round the clock.

A continuous load of 0.6 kWh would be an additional 432 kWh/month - I could see that maybe being a doubling your monthly consumption - but not an 11-fold increase.  What was your pre- and post-new lights kWh/month consumption?