The Light Voltage for Housing in a Basement

Basement Uses

• Basement rooms present special challenges for lighting, especially if you intend to use the room as more than just storage. Little or no ambient light comes in from windows, making you entirely dependent on the lighting you install. Task lighting, like that used to illuminate a sewing nook or a pool table, tends to be higher voltage. If you intend to take advantage of your basement’s naturally lower light levels and use it for a media or entertainment room, then low-voltage recessed lighting is a good option.

Low-Voltage Lighting

• Low-voltage lighting operates at a lower voltage than standard housing current, which is 120 volts. Instead, the light fixtures run on 12, 24 or 30 volts. The lights are intended to work as a team to provide lighting, so fixtures often include recessed or track lights that are all operated by a single switch. Advantages of using them in rooms like the basement include lower energy use, lower cost and a softer lighting environment.

Options

• If you choose to use recessed lighting in your basement, each light source, or luminaire, will be connected to a transformer that is hidden within the ceiling. The transformer steps down the voltage of your home’s current so the low-voltage lights can run off of it. If you choose to use pendant or track lights, each individual luminaire will have a transformer hidden within the fixture’s housing.

Considerations

• Recessed lights are quieter than pendent or track lights; some transformers emit a quiet but audible hum. The more lights in a room, the louder the hum will be. You can install a transformer in your ceiling for use with track or pendant lights, which will reduce the noise they make. Unfortunately, you could need to tear out quite a bit of finished ceiling in order to get the transformer in place, which increases the cost of installation.