5V v/s 12V

[gocwbys]

I am making a mega tree - 16 strands at 50 per.

Should i go with 5V or 12V (I like 5V as it takes less power)

Any advice is appreciated

[rdj6107]

5v will take less power, but you will have to inject more. unless you are dedicating a controller to the tree at which point you can run the stings directly from the board. I am planning the same tree. are you doing 2" or 3" spacing?

[TazChaLet]

are you using 1 16 port controller to run them? if it is all gonna be central to the tree I would go 5v if you plan on running them together with just a few ports you have to think about power injection on every string with the 5v but with 12v you can do 2 strings without power injection

[Kensington]

What you save in power with 5v, you will pay in time, tees, and pigtails. ;)

[rstehle]

Seriously, why would anyone use 5v Pixels?

[TazChaLet]

my tree is 5v no problems power inject was easy all things are contained right at tree started with 2 px1s last yr I changed it over to a 682 but left it wired the way it was why fix something that isn't broke if I went with 12v for my tree I would need to spend more on power supplies than what I had to do using 5v my house and other things that are longer runs are 12v each has its place in a show

Seriously, why would anyone use 5v Pixels?

[Wolfie]

Personally, I have changed over from having both 12v and 5v elements to having nothing but 12v.

In the past 12v pixels did indeed consume substantially more power given the same output than 5v. This is because the old pixels typically used resistor networks to drop the 12v down to 5v for the chip and LED. However, this is no longer the case for the most part. All of the 12v pixels I purchased this past year operate on far less power than the 12v pixels from the past. They now contain a tiny voltage regulator now instead of a resistor network to convert 12v down to its internal voltage. This new regulator is far more efficient and less wasteful than the old method.

So, if you are buying new 12v pixels, the power consumption is going to be more than 5v but not nearly as substantial as it used to be. With that, the offset in cost of materials for additional power injection points required for 5v pixels easily outweighs the cost for an extra PSU or so.

My show is 100% 12v. No 5v anything left now. The only exception being that I scrapped my old 5v megatree and turned it into a halloween costume. I have remove all other 5v pixels and won't be using them except for one-off projects like the costumes and such.

If I were starting all over today, I would choose only 12v pixels from the get go.

[Phrog30]

If you have a static show then the power difference might mean something, otherwise I really don't think it amounts to much that you will notice, at least when it comes to your electric bill.

I'm all 12v, except for p10 panels.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

[deonb]

They now contain a tiny voltage regulator now instead of a resistor network to convert 12v down to its internal voltage.

Would be sweet if that voltage regulator can run on line voltage one day. Or even 55V would be nice.

[rstehle]

If you have a static show then the power difference might mean something, otherwise I really don't think it amounts to much that you will notice, at least when it comes to your electric bill.

I'm all 12v, except for p10 panels.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

X2..........