Technology · Low Voltage
Low voltage lighting for homes: how a 48V system works
Short answerLow voltage lighting powers each fixture at a low voltage instead of the 120V that conventional wiring carries to every light. In a Colorbeam home, high voltage enters once, at a central rack. From there, 48V runs over CAT6 cable to the downlights and 24V runs to the tape light.
Not the same as landscape lighting
Search for low voltage lighting and most results are 12V garden lights on a transformer. This page is about something else: architectural lighting for the inside of a home, where the whole lighting system is low voltage from the rack to the fixture.
How it works
- A keypad or the home control system sends an instruction.For example, an evening scene for the living room.
- The GATEway processor translates it.Colorbeam's patented GATEway turns the instruction into DMX signals and routes them to the right drivers. Scenes and schedules are stored on it.
- Drivers in the rack do the work.High voltage comes in here and stops here. Rackmount drivers feed the downlights and DIN rail drivers feed the tape light.
- Low voltage goes out to the lights.48V over CAT6 to downlights, with one cable serving up to four fixtures, and 24V to tape light.
A rackmount decoder supports up to 32 fixtures, and up to four rackmount units run on one 20A circuit. More on the system: how the technology works.
Low voltage compared with conventional wiring
| Conventional lighting | Colorbeam low-voltage system | |
|---|---|---|
| Power to each fixture | 120V through every wall and ceiling that has a light | 48V over CAT6 cable for downlights, 24V for tape light |
| Where high voltage runs | From the panel to every switch, dimmer and fixture | It stops at the central rack. Everything after the rack is low voltage |
| Cable | Romex electrical cable | CAT6 network cable; one cable serves up to four fixtures |
| Where the electronics sit | Dimmers on the walls, drivers at the fixtures | Together in a central rack |
| Control | By circuit: every light on the switch does the same thing | Each fixture is individually addressable |
| Color of the light | Usually one fixed color temperature | Tunable from 2200K (warm) to 5000K (cool) |
| Dimming | Depends on the dimmer and the lamp; many flicker at low levels | Flicker free, down to 0.1% |
What it changes in the home
Less EMF from the lighting wiring
No high-voltage lighting cable in the walls and ceilings of the rooms people use. This reduces EMF from the lighting circuit; it does not make a home EMF free.
Low EMF lightingLight that can change
Every fixture is tunable from 2200K to 5000K and dims flicker free down to 0.1%.
Circadian lighting · Flicker-free dimmingOne place for the equipment
Power and drivers sit in the rack, not behind every wall plate, and each fixture can be set on its own.
See the productsWhat to plan
- Where the rack goes.
- CAT6 runs to fixture locations, before the walls are closed.
- Which fixtures and scenes each room needs. A lighting design study covers this.
For project teams: architects, builders and contractors, integrators, developers.
Questions and answers
What is low voltage lighting?
Lighting where each fixture is powered at a low voltage instead of the 120V that conventional wiring carries. In a Colorbeam system, downlights run at 48V over CAT6 cable and tape light runs at 24V.
Is low voltage lighting only for outdoors?
No. Many people know the term from 12V garden lighting, but a low-voltage system can light a whole house: downlights, linear lighting, tracks and pendants.
What cable does it use?
CAT6, the same type of cable used for a home network, for downlights. One cable serves up to four fixtures. Tape light uses multi-conductor low-voltage wire.
Is low voltage lighting less bright?
No. Voltage describes how power is delivered to the fixture, not how much light it gives.
Can each light be controlled on its own?
Yes. Every fixture is individually addressable, so scenes can set color temperature and brightness light by light.
Does it work with a home control system?
Yes. The GATEway processor takes instructions from the home control system and is compatible with major residential control platforms.
Does low voltage lighting reduce EMF?
It reduces the EMF that comes from the lighting wiring, because high voltage stops at the rack instead of running to every fixture. It does not remove EMF from other sources in the home.
Considering low voltage lighting for a project?
Talk through the wiring, the rack and what it changes on site.