LED hallway nite-lighting

[rexerex]

I live in a off-grid home which was wired for possibly low voltage lights along a long hallway. These were never installed. I would like to install single white LEDs in each of these (4) locations.
The light locations are recessed wall pockets about 1' above the floor with a standard outlet box and blank cover. Inside is 2 wire stranded power cord (zip cord). There is a switch box in the middle of the 2 runs of zip cord where AC is also available. I believe the original idea was to wire a power converter there for the low voltage with a switch.
I'm looking for suggestions/instructions to create a similar solution using LED technology.
Thanks for any help.

 

[HarryN]

There are a couple of options depending on what you have available in time, money, and voltage.

CPF georges80 makes a number of boards that are made to drive either single Luxeon or multiple Luxeon solutions. He also makes some packages that replace car interior lights that "might" fit in the box.

The firm LED Dynamics make AC and DC based controllers for LEDs.

Last but not least, one of Lumileds parents, Philips, make an AC / DC current control box that does all of the work for you. IIRC, it takes in 120 vac and produces constant current - looks like a ballast for a fluorescent light.

You need to be careful of electrical code in the US and your setup. As far as I know, it is not legal to have high voltage and low voltage wiring in the same box or conduit in the US, although this is done more commonly in Europe.

These might all be a little bright for a night light, so perhaps you only need some 5mm / 20ma solutions. In that case, I would be tempted to run it off of a rechargeable battery, perhaps 3 x AA NiMH and a small resistor. This will last a long time.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

an easier solution would be wire it for something like 12vdc and put 3x5mm LEDs in each location in series, use a dropping resistor if needed. You could use a 12v walwart or run it off a battery/charger combo. I find single 5mm LEDs to be not bright enough alone for decent illumination for a hallway unless night vision is active but in groups of 3 or 4 they add up nicely.

 

[HarryN]

Good suggestions Lynx