[RFI] Looking for low-RFI high efficiency lighting

[Jim Brown]

On 7/7/2014 10:20 PM, Kelly Johnson wrote:
> Since this is a brand new kitchen, I may have more options than just
> looking for low-RFI bulbs.  All of the electrical will be getting done from
> scratch.  Are there things others have done in their new construction to
> use high efficiency lighting without an increase in RFI?  I'm looking for
> known solutions.  I'm looking for people that have actually installed
> things that work.

Now that I understand your application, I have more suggestions. There's 
a vendor (Wired Communications) of LED lighting in various forms, 
including strips, that exhibits at Pacificon and Visalia. They run on a 
wide range of voltage, are pretty efficient, and put out a lot of light. 
My shack is 12VDC from solar power, and I'm lighting it for routine 
operation with four of their strips with a total current draw of 1.25A. 
Give them more volts and they'll draw less current. You would, of 
course, want more in a kitchen than what I used, but you get the idea.  
The strips work very well for under cabinet lighting, and I have four of 
them on the ceiling to do my shack lighting.  My neighbor, W6GJB, has 
used them in the under-cabinet configuration in his shack. Very nice.

I'm getting the 12V from the batteries charged by the solar cells, but 
it's easy to run the lights from a generic wall wart. One thing I've 
done to reduce RFI in my place is to replace all switch mode power 
supplies with old linear wall warts. I buy them cheap at ham fests (you 
call them swap meets out here), typically a buck apiece or less. I've 
got a box full. One or more of those wall warts will run one to four 
strips of lights, depending on the wall wart voltage and current rating. 
The strips have built-in regulators that adjust the current to drive the 
LEDs depending on the DC volts. The same vendor also sells nice 
connectorized inline switches.  I remove some of the connectors and 
install Power Poles.

73, Jim K9YC