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BFL13
Explorer II
Apr 01, 2017

120v LED vs CFL vs 12v Lamps Results

Following up on another thread discussing using inverter and 120v lights with LEDs or CFLs. I have been using a CFL for a reading lamp for some years, but now have an LED bulb to make a comparison.

3000w Inverter on no light but various parasitic 12v things--1.7 amp draw seen on Trimetric monitor.

One double 12v lamp- 4.4 amps-- adds 2.7 amps
12v lamp no inverter--0.7a light off, 3.4a on--adds 2.7a
One 13w Sylvania CFL - 2.7 amps--adds 1 amp
One 5w IKEA LED- 2.2 amps-- adds 0.5 amp
(no comparable 12v LED to test here, sorry)

The three each have about the same light--no actual measurement of that.

So using the 120v LED with inverter is 2.2 amps as seen on Trimetric, while no inverter on, plus double 12v light is 3.4 amps for about the same lighting.

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