How to connect light bulbs in parallel

Lamps in everyday life are usually connected in parallel. Although there are situations when the most advantageous connection is a serial method. Since in recent years there has been a real boom in point light sources, the number of these devices in each apartment is increasing more and more.

If there is a need to replace a failed lamp, this does not raise any special questions. Much more difficulties arise when you need to expand the number of light sources. If you plan to do all the work yourself, you need to know what advantages each type of connection has, and also be able to draw up a diagram.

What does it mean to connect lighting devices in parallel?

What is hidden in the concept of “parallel connection”? With this scheme, the lamp is connected to phase and zero. If you need to connect two light sources at once, the wires supplying current to them are twisted. The main thing here is to check that the cross-section of the wires matches the load going on them. Not all lamps have the same voltage; their brightness is initially set by the manufacturer. If one of the bulbs burns out, all the others continue to function as before.

Reference. In everyday life, if it is necessary to combine several lighting fixtures into one circuit, no wires are twisted. They take a regular cable, and the necessary devices are already connected to it.

There are several types of parallel connection:

• it can be radial (in this case, each device has its own cable);
• It can also be daisy-chained (in this case, the first device in the circuit is supplied with phase and neutral, then the cable partially goes to all other lamps, and the last one in the circuit is supplied with both parts of the cable).

Important! If you need to connect halogen lamps with a transformer, then you need to remember that they are connected to the secondary winding of the converter using terminal blocks.

Parallel connection is often used to correct some equipment shortcomings. So, the main sore point of all fluorescent lamps is their annoying flicker. A device that regulates the start can correct this issue, but it is expensive. You can connect two lamps in parallel and connect a capacitor to one of them, which will shift the phase.

Advantages and disadvantages of parallel connection

In parallel-connected electrical circuits, each connected element receives the full voltage from the energy source. The electrical current that passes through any of the individual branches depends solely on the resistance of that branch. Wires are connected to each of the cartridges in the form of twists.

Positive aspects of this type of connection:

• failure of one of the elements does not disrupt the operation of the others;
• any of the connection circuits gives the maximum possible light, regardless of how much power it has, because full voltage is supplied to any of the branches;
• It is possible to remove a different number of wires from one lamp - you will need one zero and the required number of phases, which will allow you to connect as many lamps as needed;
• Energy-saving lamps can work according to this scheme.

No negative aspects were found in this scheme.

To distribute lighting devices into groups, you need to mount the circuit shown in the figure either in the body of the lamp itself, or do this using a junction box.

Each lamp is controlled by its own switch.

Use in everyday life

The most common parallel connection scheme is presented in ordinary Christmas tree garlands.

This scheme is also used in other situations. For example, you can:

• install budget lighting in a long corridor;
• do not spend money on buying a new lamp, as they often burn out, but connect another one;
• to increase the service life of light bulbs - we replace two sixty-watt lamps with one hundred-watt lamps.

Reference. Experienced electricians often use this to identify the phase in a three-phase network.

Often, halogen and conventional high-power incandescent lamps are used in various workshops and garages to heat the room. Two lamps of one kilowatt power are connected in series and placed in a metal box, which is placed on bricks. Such a heater can warm up to sixty degrees Celsius. True, the lamps themselves have to be changed frequently due to the fact that they quickly burn out.

The parallel connection scheme is quite widespread.It can be used in absolutely any room. This could be lighting, chandelier lamps, street lighting. Its beauty is that each light source can be controlled separately - the others do not interfere with this at all.

The only thing you need is to include the required number of switches in the circuit. In residential buildings, not only lighting devices work according to this scheme, but also all others that are powered by electricity.

Reference. Very often, when it is necessary to connect LED lighting devices with each other, a mixed type connection is used. They make a chain of lamps, which are connected in series, and then connected in parallel to another similar chain.

Parallel connection rules, diagram

All devices that are connected in parallel or in series operate according to their own rules. They are based on the basic laws of electrical engineering and some subtleties.

Sometimes these subtleties are not obvious to those who know little about the topic. When working with one or another connection scheme, you need to consider:

• a series connection is characterized by the same current indicators in all sections;
• in each specific type of connection, Ohm's law takes on its own meaning - in a series connection, the voltage corresponds to the voltage on all parts of the circuit;
• with a parallel connection, the voltage of individual sections of the circuit does not add up - it is the same everywhere;
• The current strength in a parallel type connection corresponds to the total current strength of all branches of the circuit.

Good luck connecting!